March 6, 2009

Complete Game Notes

DUQUESNE (18-10, 9-6) at DAYTON (24-6, 10-5)
Saturday, Mar. 7, 2009 • 8:00 p.m. (EST)
University of Dayton Arena (13,266) • Dayton, Ohio

TELEVISION: WHIO-TV Dayton (PCNC locally)
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
STREAMING AUDIO: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
STREAMING VIDEO: Streaming video at DaytonFlyers.com (All-Access)

DUKES FINISH REGULAR SEASON AT DAYTON: Duquesne (18-10, 9-6), coming off a 70-68 win over Saint Louis on Wednesday, concludes the regular season portion of the schedule at Dayton (24-6, 10-5) on Saturday, Mar. 7 at 8:00 p.m. The game, which will have seeding implications for the 2009 Atlantic 10 Championship, will be televised by WHIO-TV and will air locally on PCNC. Duquesne, whose 18 wins are its most since 1981, can finish as high as fourth or as low as eighth depending on the outcome of this weekend's games. DU would need a Temple win at George Washington combined with a win at Dayton to secure fourth place and the final bye at the A-10 Championship. Dayton, coming off a 76-59 loss at Xavier on Thursday, has won 19 in a row at home (17-0 this year). Duquesne, whose eight road wins are its most since 1971, is looking for its school record third consecutive A-10 road win. The Dukes are 2-1 in their last three visits to UD Arena. Dayton won the first meeting between the two this season - 78-69 at the Palumbo Center on Jan. 17. A-10 Player of the Year candidate senior guard Aaron Jackson leads the Dukes in scoring at 18.3 ppg. He scored DU's final 11 points in the win over SLU. Sophomores Damian Saunders (13.6 ppg.) and Bill Clark (13.3 ppg.) are also averaging in double figures for the Dukes. All three are shooting better than .500. Sophomore Chris Wright (13.2 ppg.) and junior Marcus Johnson (12.2 ppg.) lead UD.

DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne, one of the youngest teams in the nation with seven scholarship freshmen and one scholarship upperclassman on the current 12-man roster, clinched the school's second consecutive winning season with its Feb. 22 victory at La Salle ... the last time that happened was in 1979-80 & 1980-81 ... DU has also clinched a winning record in league play for just the fourth time in 32 seasons as a conference member ... DU's 18 wins are its most since 1981 (20-10) ... senior A-10 Player of the Year candidate Aaron Jackson (18.4 ppg.) a school record four-time conference Player of the Week, was named NABC All-District 4 First Team this week ... Jackson is ranked in the Top 5 in seven A-10 categories: ast/TO ratio (3rd), assists (3rd), scoring (t3rd), FG% (4th), minutes (4th), FT% (4th) and steals (5th) ... Jackson enters the UD game with 161 assists ... he needs three to pass Clayton Adams (163 in 1988) for DU's third highest single season total ... 6-7 soph. F Damian Saunders, ranks among the nation's top 30 in steals (t23rd at 2.3/g.) and blocks (t30th at 2.2/g.) ... DU's six A-10 losses have all been by single digits (-4.2 ppg.) ... only two other A-10 schools - Rhode Island and Temple - have yet to be defeated by 10 or more points in conference play.

THE SERIES: Dayton leads the overall series 41-18, including an 19-5 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular-season games ... in games played at Dayton, the Flyers lead 24-5 ... UD had won 18 of 19 meetings, before Duquesne's 93-89 win in Pittsburgh in 2007 ... Duquesne made it back-to-back wins over the Flyers for just the third time in the 58-game series with a 63-61 win at UD Arena last year ... DU has defeated Dayton in three of the past six meetings, including a 94-93 double overtime win at UD Arena on Jan. 5, 2005 ... this is the second meeting of the season ... on Jan. 17, the Flyers defeated the Dukes 78-69 in Pittsburgh

A victory over Dayton would:
• Give Duquesne its most road wins since the 1952 Dukes went 9-1.
• Set a new school record for conference road wins with five and also be the first time in school history that a DU team has won three consecutive A-10 road games.
• Snap Dayton's 19-game home win streak.
• Tie the DU school record for conference wins (10).

UD AT HOME: Dayton, which has played an Atlantic 10-high 17 home games this season, brings a 19-game home win streak into Saturday's game. The streak is tied for third-longest in the nation (entering Friday's games). Over the past five seasons, the Flyers have dropped a total of 14 home games. Three teams have defeated the Flyers more than once at home over that span: Duquesne (2005 & 2008), Massachusetts (2007 & 2008) and Xavier (2007 & 2008).

DU ON THE ROAD: Duquesne, which has already clinched the school's first winning road record since 1971, has seen a little bit of everything at opposing venues ranging from two of the most intimidating (at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium and at Pitt's Petersen Events Center), to two of the most quaint (DU was the first Division I team to play a non-conference game at USC Upstate's 1,535-seat Hodge Center and the Dukes also took on Radford in the Highlanders' 500-season Peters Hall due to renovation conflicts). The early season treks have paid off as the Dukes, who have seven true freshmen on the current roster, have surprised everyone by posting the most road wins by a Dukes team since the `71 NCAA Tournament team went 8-2. The `09 Dukes have also tied the school record for conference road wins with four. All eight of Duquesne's road victories have come by double-digit margins including double digit A-10 road wins at St. Bonaventure (+18), at Fordham (+21), at La Salle (+11) and at UMass (+17). DU's three conference road losses have come by a combined total of nine points, with two coming in overtime (99-98 at Saint Joseph's & 78-74 at Saint Louis). The Dukes have shot 50.0 percent or better 11 times this season with seven coming on the road. In 13 road games, DU is shooting 48.8 percent from the field, 37.3 percent from the 3-point arc and averaging 82.0 ppg.

MOVIN' ON UP: Aaron Jackson (1,287 pts., 472 asts. and 160 stls. in 114 g.) enters the Dayton game 19th on DU's all-time leading scorers' list. Jackson ranks third on DU's all-time assist list and sixth in career steals. Jackson, who has scored in double digits in Duquesne's past 19 games, scored 16 of DU's final 20 points in a 73-71 loss to URI on Sunday and totaled the Dukes' final 11 tallies in Wednesday's 70-68 come-from-behind win over Saint Louis. Jackson enters the UD game with 161 assists this season. He needs three to pass Clayton Adams (163 in 1988) and move into the third spot on DU's single-season list. The school record is 178 set by Norm Nixon in 1977. Martin Osimani ranks second with 172 in 2004.

SLU LEFTOVERS: Notes from Sunday's 70-68 win over Saint Louis ... Duquesne trailed by five with 2:17 left when Aaron Jackson took over by scoring Duquesne's final 11 points ... Jackson converted a three-point play to pull the Dukes within two, then added a layup and six free throws down the stretch ... Jackson scored 16 of DU's final 20 points in the Dukes' 73-71 loss to Rhode Island on Sunday ... Jackson finished with 23 points and seven assists vs. SLU ... Bill Clark set up Jackson's heroics by hitting 6-of-6 shots, including all of his career-high five 3-pointers, in the second half ... Clark's shooting display came against an SLU defense that entered the game ranked No. 1 nationally in 3-point field goal defense (.269) ... Duquesne's nine 3-pointers (9-of-21, .429) were the most against Saint Louis this season ... DU was 7-of-11 from the arc in the second half ... Eric Evans, who was coming off a 1-of-9, two-point game vs. URI, went 7-of-11 in scoring 17 points ... it was his highest point total since he had a season-high 19 vs. North Carolina Central on Dec. 22 ... there were seven ties and six lead changes in the game ... both teams managed a largest lead of seven (DU in the first half, SLU in the second) ... Clark, who scored 17 of his 19 in 18 second-half minutes, has fouled out four times and finished with four fouls seven times in Duquesne's past 11 games ... "The only player that's defended Billy Clark this season is Billy Clark," said DU head coach Ron Everhart following the SLU game. "I'm hoping he can continue to keep his composure and play the way he did in the second half."

NABC ALL-DISTRICT: Aaron Jackson was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 4 First Team on March 5. He is now one of 240 student-athletes eligible for the State Farm Coaches' Division I All-America teams which will be announced on April 4.

DU'S ALL-TIME FIRST TEAM NABC ALL-DISTRICT PICKS
With his NABC All-District selection, Aaron Jackson enters the rarified air of Duquesne's greats. Of Jackson's 10 fellow first team honorees, five have had their jerseys retired:

Ed Dahler -- 1950
*Chuck Cooper -- 1950
*Dick Ricketts -- 1953, 1954, 1955
Jim Tucker -- 1954
*Sihugo Green -- 1954, 1955, 1956
*Willie Somerset -- 1962, 1964, 1965
*Norm Nixon -- 1977
Rick Suder -- 1986
Derrick Alston -- 1994
Aaron Jackson -- 2009
* - jersey retired