Feb. 8, 2008
Complete Game Notes
DUQUESNE (14-7, 4-4) at LA SALLE (9-12, 4-4)
Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 • 2:00 p.m. (EST)
Tom Gola Arena (4,000) • Philadelphia, Pa.
TELEVISION: None
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
DUQUESNE INTERNET AUDIO BROADCAST: redzonemedia.com
ADDITIONAL MEDIA: Streaming video and Gametracker available at GoExplorers.com
Duquesne (14-7, 4-4), which snapped a two-game losing streak with a 102-88 home win over Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, hits the road to face La Salle (9-12, 4-4) at 2:00 p.m. Sat., Feb. 9.
La Salle, coming off an impressive 80-58 win at George Washington on Wednesday, is 3-4 at home this season.
The Dukes shook off a two-game shooting slump (47-of-134, .351) to hit 23-of-53 shots (.604) in the win over the Hawks. Shawn James led the way by posting the first triple-double in Duquesne history with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks. James' five career triple-doubles (he had four at Northeastern prior to transferring), are one shy of the NCAA Division I career record of six shared by Drexel's Michael Anderson (1985-88) and LSU's Shaquille O'Neal (1990-92).
Duquesne, whose 14 wins are its most since 1993-94 (17-13), is looking for its first conference road win of the season. The Dukes are 0-3 on the A-10 road with a two-point loss at Rhode Island and one-point loss at Fordham.
La Salle is 1-3 in home conference games with a triple overtime loss to Richmond, a six-point loss to Charlotte and seven-point loss to Saint Louis. The Explorers' conference home win came over St. Bonaventure (84-61).
This is the first of two meetings between Duquesne and La Salle. The two will meet in Pittsburgh on Feb. 24.
DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne's 14-7 start is its best since the 1980-81 NIT team (20-10) opened with the same record ... DU's 14 wins are its most since the 1993-94 (17-13 NIT) ... the Dukes, who held two of 29 opponents under .400 in finishing ranked 324th of 325 NCAA D-I teams in field goal pct. defense (.507) last season, are holding opponents to an A-10 second best .411 this year ... eight different DU players are averaging over 7.5 ppg. and seven have hit at least 10 3-pointers ... four of DU's seven losses have come to teams with a combined record of 73-17: at Drake 21-1, Pitt 18-5, at West Virginia 16-7 and at Rhode Island 19-4 ... the losses at Drake, to Pitt and at Rhode Island were by a combined 11 points ... DU currently ranks 5th nationally in scoring (85.2 ppg.) & blocks (7.4 bpg.), 6th in assists (18.8 apg.) & 11th in steals (9.7 spg.) ... Shawn James, who ranks 5th nationally in blocks per game (4.2), posted the first triple-double in DU history Wednesday vs. Saint Joe's (17-11-10) ... James has 416 blocks in 75 career games.
THE SERIES: La Salle leads the overall series 34-26, including a 22-7 advantage in games played at Philadelphia ... in Atlantic 10 regular-season play, the Explorers lead 15-9 ... La Salle has won nine of the past 12, but the Dukes have won two of the past three at Tom Gola Arena ... three years ago, Duquesne snapped a six-game La Salle series win streak and 12-game losing streak at La Salle with a 72-67 victory ... the win was DU's first at La Salle since Jan. 20, 1979 ... the victory also ended a streak of 26 consecutive losses for Duquesne in the City of Brotherly Love dating back to 1995 (included games at La Salle, Temple, Saint Joseph's and the Atlantic 10 Tournament) ... two years ago, La Salle won at home 84-61 ... last year, Duquesne scored a series-high 111 points in a 111-105 win at Philadelphia ... prior to that game, neither team had ever topped 100 points in the series.
A victory at La Salle would:
• Be DU's second consecutive win in the city of Philadelphia. The last time Duquesne won two games in a row in Philly was in 1995 (Jan. 30 at Temple and March 4 over Rhode Island at the Atlantic 10 Tournament). The Dukes lost 26 in a row to Philadelphia schools (including the A-10 Championship) between the second win in 1995 and a Jan. 29, 2005 win at La Salle.
• Be Duquesne's second in a row at La Salle. The last time Duquesne won two in a row at La Salle was on Jan. 22, 1977 (64-62) and Jan. 20, 1979 (90-89).
LEFTOVERS FROM SAINT JOE'S: Random notes from Duquesne's 102-88 win over Saint Joseph's on Wednesday: Duquesne never trailed in ending a 10-game series losing streak and six-game Saint Joe's winning streak ... Duquesne's last win over the Hawks was Jan. 17, 1998 (88-77 at Palumbo Center) ... it was also just DU's second series win in the past 18 meetings ... DU's 102 points were the most by either team in the history of the series ... Saint Joe's entered the game giving up an average of 65.8 ppg. ... the Dukes used a 19-0 run from the 4:41 to :57 mark of the first half to turn a two-point lead into a 46-25 bulge ... DU's +22 halftime margin (49-27) was its largest of the year ... the Dukes, who were coming off their two worst shooting performances of the season (.342 in a loss to UMass and .362 in a loss at St. Bonaventure) shot .604 for the game ... it was their best performance since a school record .690 in the opening day 129-59 win over Howard ... DU shot a season best .500 (9-of-18) from the 3-point arc ... Shawn James posted the first triple-double in school history with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks ... he secured the triple-double with a block of a Darrin Govens shot with 1:21 left ... James had rejected Garrett Williamson in the same flurry at the 1:25 mark ... James was 7-of-10 from the field with five dunks (four in the second half) ... DU's 15 total blocks tied the school single-game record set at Oakland on Nov. 20 ... Gary Tucker tied his career scoring high with 18 points in a career-high 36 minutes ... his previous high for minutes played was 30 set last year vs. Northern Illinois ... Damian Saunders scored 14 points (4-of-6 from 3-point) and added five rebounds, five assists and three steals in a career-best 34 minutes ... Saint Joseph's was without second-leading scorer (14.2 ppg.) and rebounder (6.5 rpg.) 6-9 forward Ahmad Nivins who was back in Philadelphia with an ankle injury ... the victory upped Duquesne's home record to 10-2 ... it is just the third time since 1980-81 that a DU team has posted double-digit home wins (10-4 in 1987 and 12-3 in 1994) ... Duquesne's Kieron Achara was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital to receive treatment from a maxillofacial surgeon after having a tooth knocked out early in the second half.
THEY NEED 11: Duquesne, with 156 blocks in 21 games, needs 11 more rejections to break the school single-season team record of 166 set in 28 games in 1979-80.
QUICK NOTES: Duquesne has four first-year players playing prominent roles in transfers Shawn James (Northeastern) & Kojo Mensah (Siena) and true freshmen Damian Saunders & Bill Clark ... Aaron Jackson has 28 assists and 11 turnovers in a team-high 218 minutes of Atlantic 10 play ... Jackson, who went 6-of-7 in scoring 18 vs. St. Joe's, is shooting .556 ... Jackson is DU's second-leading rebounder in conference play at 5.3 rpg. ... Reggie Jackson, who was averaging 3.6 ppg. following the Dec. 5 Pitt game, brings a 7.7 ppg. scoring average into Saturday's game ... Jackson has handed out 46 assists (4.2 apg.) in his past 11 games, including a career-high nine vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 28 ... Jackson, who averaged 16.0 ppg. over a four-game early-January stretch, has followed that by averaging 5.0 ppg. in his past five games (9-of-32, .281 from the field over that span) ... it took Shawn James four games to break the Atlantic 10 and Duquesne records for blocks in a game (he had 12 blocks in 22 minutes in Duquesne's 92-77 win at Oakland on Nov. 20), 15 games to break the school mark for blocks in a season and 20 to post the first triple-double in school history ... James' 84 blocks have shattered the school mark of 60 set (in 1991-92) and tied (in 1992-93) by Derrick Alston ... Alston played in 28 games in both `92 & `93 in setting and tying the old mark ... the previous A-10 record of 11 blocks in a game was set by Rutgers' Roy Hinson in 1982-83 and tied by UMass' Stephane Lasme three times last year ... the old Duquesne record of seven was set by Derrick Alston vs. Saint Joseph's Jan. 5, 1991 ... James broke the DU record when he rejected his eighth shot with 7:53 left in the first half at Oakland ... he posted the triple-double (fifth of his career, first at Duquesne) with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks vs. Saint Joseph's .... with his five rejections against George Washington on Jan. 26, James became the 18th player in NCAA Division I history to reach 400 for his career ... James has 416 blocked shots in 75 career games ... had a 20-10 double-double at Fordham before suffering a knee injury in practice on Monday, Jan. 21 that kept him in street clothes for the Jan. 23 St. Bonaventure game ... came back to score a season-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and five blocks vs. GW ... is shooting an Atlantic 10-best .582 from the field ... Kojo Mensah has had streaks of 18 & 13 consecutive free throws made this season ... Mensah, who posted his fourth 20-point game with 22 on Dec. 28 vs. Robert Morris, is tied with James for the team lead in 20-point games ... Mensah had scored in double digits in five-straight games before scoring a season-low three on 1-of-8 shooting at St. Bonaventure ... bounced back with a team-high 19 vs. Saint Joe's ... DU is 2-3 when Mensah scores in single digits and 12-1 when Mensah attempts six or more free throws ... Mensah's 126 free throw attempts are 36 more than any other DU player ... Damian Saunders was named A-10 Rookie of the Week for the third time on Dec. 30 ... he is the fifth player in school history to win the award more than twice in a season ... Saunders leads the team with 35 steals and is second on the team with a 5.3 rebounds per game average ... he is third in blocks (23) and 3-pointers made (20-of-46, .435) ... fellow freshman Bill Clark has hit three or more 3-pointers in a game four times ... Clark, at 6-6, ranks third on the team with a 4.6 rpg. average ... Clark, who hit at least one three in 13 of his first 15 games, has gone without a 3-pointer in four of his past six ... he is 2-of-17 from the arc over that span ... Kieron Achara, who played just six minutes at Rhode Island after suffering a mild concussion and loosened tooth early in the second half, made his return at Fordham (five points and two blocks in nine minutes) ... with James on the bench in street clothes the Stirling, Scotland native - fresh off a root canal the previous day - posted 18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals in 28 minutes vs. St. Bonaventure on Jan. 23 ... Achara had his front tooth knocked out early in the second half vs. Saint Joe's ... he is expected to play at La Salle ... Phillip Fayne is 5-of-10 from the 3-point arc in his past four games.
NO, IT REALLY IS LIKE GETTING A ROOT CANAL: Be careful using the expression "its like getting a root canal" around graduate student F/C Kieron Achara. Achara, a 6-10 Stirling, Scotland native has had a total of three root canals over the past two weeks as a direct result of being in the right place at the wrong time on the basketball court. Achara suffered a concussion and had a tooth loosened in a collision at Rhode Island on Jan. 13. The loose tooth forced him to undergo two root canals the day before scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in a win over St. Bonaventure on Jan. 23. In Wednesday's game vs. Saint Joseph's, an errant Pat Calathes elbow knocked out one of Achara's front teeth early in the second half. Achara, who had the presence of mind to grab the tooth before leaving the floor, was taken to UPMC Presbyterian hospital where the tooth was re-inserted. He had his third root canal on Thursday morning and is expected to play Saturday at La Salle.
GIVING AND TAKING AWAY: The 2007-08 Dukes own the No. 1 & No. 6 high assist games in school history (35 vs. Howard and 28 vs. St. Francis) in addition to five of the top eight shot blocking games - including No. 1 (15 at Oakland and Saint Joseph's) & No. 3 (13 vs. St. Francis). Duquesne has posted 20 or more assists in a game 10 times and registered 10 or more blocks on five occasions. Duquesne ranks fifth nationally in blocks per game (7.4) and sixth in assists (18.8) (CBS Sportsline through Wednesday).
STARTING THE YEAR RIGHT: Duquesne finished the month of January with a 4-3 record. It was the first time a DU team had a winning January since the 1983-84 Dukes went 5-4.
CLOSE ONES: Four of the Dukes first five losses came by a total of 12 points: 77-73 at currently nationally ranked Drake, 73-68 to then-No. 12 (AP) Pitt, 80-78 at then-No. 22 (AP) Rhode Island and 75-74 at Fordham, while each of the last two have been by 14 (94-80 to UMass) and 15 (74-59 at St. Bonaventure) points. DU's only other double-digit loss was on Dec. 8 at West Virginia (92-68). The Dukes have played in four games decided by single digits (all by five or fewer points) and are 0-4 in those games.
