March 9, 2009
Complete Game Notes
2008-09 ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIP
#7 DUQUESNE (18-11, 9-7) vs. #10 MASSACHUSETTS (12-17, 7-9)
Wed., Mar. 11, 2009 - Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, N.J. - 6:30 p.m. (EST)
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.redzonemedia.com or www.GoDuquesne.com
LIVE STATS/VIDEO: www.Atlantic10.org ("men's basketball championship" link)
2008-09 ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIP: Duquesne (18-11, 9-7) heads to Atlantic City, N.J. for its 31st appearance at the Atlantic 10 Championship (Wed.-Sat., March 11-14 at Boardwalk Hall). The seventh-seeded Dukes, who were picked to finish 12th in the A-10 in a preseason poll of league coaches and media, are making their third consecutive championship appearance under head coach Ron Everhart. The Dukes, who snapped a streak of eight consecutive opening round losses with a 79-76 win over Massachusetts in 2004, take on No. 10 seed UMass (12-17, 7-9) at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday. This is the ninth A-10 Championship meeting between the Dukes and Minutemen (4-4).
THE BRACKET: The winner of the Duquesne vs. UMass game will face second-seeded Rhode Island (22-9, 11-5) at 6:30 p.m. (EST) Thursday night. Duquesne is 3-4 this season against the five other teams in its side of the bracket (2-0 vs. St. Bonaventure, 1-0 vs. UMass and 0-1 vs. Rhode Island, Richmond & 0-2 vs. Dayton).
LEAGUE FINISH: DU finished the regular season in a three-way tie for 5th in the Atlantic 10 with a 9-7 record. The Dukes went 5-3 at home and 4-4 on the road in conference play. The fifth place finish is the best since 1994 (T3rd).
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 also posted a winning record in league play for just the fourth time in 32 seasons as a conference member (9-7) ... DU's 18 wins are its most since 1981 (20-10) ... senior Aaron Jackson (18.3 ppg.), a school record four-time conference Player of the Week this season, was named NABC All-District 4 First Team on Mar. 5 ... he is the 11th player in school history to earn first team NABC honors ... Jackson is ranked in the Top 5 in seven A-10 categories: ast/TO ratio (3rd), assists (3rd), scoring (3rd), FT% (3rd), FG% (4th), minutes (4th) and steals (5th) ... Jackson enters the Championship with 168 assists ... he needs five to pass Martin Osimani (172 in 2004) for DU's second highest single season total (school record is 178 set by Norm Nixon in 1977) ... 6-7 soph. F Damian Saunders, who ranks among the nation's top 30 in steals (t23rd at 2.3/g.) and blocks (t26th at 2.3/g.) ... needs five steals to break the DU single-season record of 70 set by Clayton Adams in 1988.
THE SEED: Seventh-seeded Duquesne (18-11, 9-7) faces No. 10 Massachusetts (12-17, 7-9) in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Wednesday, Mar. 11 at 6:30 p.m. (game will not be televised). This is the third consecutive year the Dukes will appear in the 7-10 game, but first as a No. 7 seed. The last time a Duquesne team earned a seventh seed was in 1989 when DU defeated No. 10 George Washington (74-63) before losing to No. 2 Temple (51-64) at Philadelphia's Palestra. This marks Duquesne's third-straight A-10 Championship appearance under third-year coach Ron Everhart. DU did not qualify with a 1-15 league record in 2006. In 2004, Danny Nee's Dukes snapped a streak of eight consecutive tournament-opening losses with a 79-76 win over Massachusetts at UD Arena. Everhart's Dukes have lost opening round games as a No. 10 seed the past two seasons (78-77 to No. 7 Saint Louis in 2007 and 82-79 to No. 7 La Salle last year). The No. 7 seed is the best by a Duquesne team since a fifth seed in 1994. The Dukes have faced UMass more than any other conference school in A-10 post-season play (4-4). DU won the lone regular-season meeting between the two this year (94-77 at Amherst, Mass. on Feb. 25).
LUCKY 7?: Duquesne is 2-3 all time when competing as the A-10 Championship's No. 7 seed. The last time DU was seeded No. 7 was in 1989. That year the Dukes defeated No. 10 George Washington (74-63) before losing to No. 2 Temple (64-51). Both games were played at the Palestra. DU was also a No. 7 seed in 1987 (an 82-65 win over No. 10 St. Bonaventure at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena followed by a 74-60 loss to No. 2 West Virginia in Morgantown). In 1979, the No. 7 Dukes faced No. 2 WVU in the first round and dropped a 73-59 decision at Morgantown.
THE SERIES: Massachusetts, which leads the overall series 33-22, had won the past four prior to DU's win at Amherst on Feb. 25 (94-77) ... Duquesne won three of four from 2002-04 before the Minutemen began their four-game streak ... the regular-season series has been one of home court advantage with UMass leading 18-6 at home and DU holding a 13-11 edge at Pittsburgh ... the two are 4-4 in Atlantic 10 Championship meetings ... Danny Nee's Dukes snapped a 16-game series losing streak (dating back to 1991) with a 78-69 win over the Minutemen on February 6, 2002 at the Palumbo Center ... Nee's Dukes also snapped an eight-game first round A-10 Championship losing streak with a 79-76 win over UMass at University of Dayton Arena on Mar. 10, 2004.
YOU AGAIN?: This is the ninth tournament meeting between Duquesne and Massachusetts, making UMass the Dukes' most frequent A10 Tournament foe. The Dukes won the first three meetings (1977, 1978 & 1988), with the Minutemen winning the next four (1994, 1995, 1999 & 2000). No. 5 (West) Duquesne evened the post-game series with a 79-76 win over No. 4 (East) UMass at UD Arena in 2004. DU's next most frequent tournament opponent is George Washington (2-3 record in five meetings).
EVERHART VS. UMASS: DU coach Ron Everhart is 2-2 all-time vs. Massachusetts with an 84-68 win at Amherst on Dec. 1, 2004 while at Northeastern, a 101-87 loss at UMass two years ago, a 94-80 defeat at the Palumbo Center last season and a 94-77 win at Amherst this year ... the win at UMass snapped an 11-game Minutemen streak at home over the Dukes dating back to Jan. 14, 1989.
A victory over UMass would:
• Be Duquesne's second first round win since 1995 and first since 2004. It would also be the first A-10 Championship win for third-year head coach Ron Everhart.
• Be Duquesne's second consecutive win over UMass. The Dukes have posted back-to-back wins over the Minutemen just once since 1990 (that was in 2004, the second of which came in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship).
