Jan. 12, 2010
Complete Game Notes
SAINT LOUIS (10-5, 1-0) at DUQUESNE (9-7, 0-2)
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 • A.J. Palumbo Center (5,358) • Pittsburgh, Pa. • 7:00 p.m.
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
STREAMING AUDIO: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
STREAMING VIDEO AND GAMETRACKER: GoDuquesne.com
DUKES HOST SAINT LOUIS: Duquesne (9-7, 0-2), coming off a 78-72 overtime loss at Dayton on Saturday, returns home to face Saint Louis (10-5, 1-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 7:00. Saint Louis is coming of a 63-58 Atlantic 10 opening home win over Richmond on Saturday. Richmond handed Duquesne its only Palumbo Center loss (6-1) on Jan. 6 by an 80-68 score. Saint Louis, which begins the week ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense (57.4 ppg.), is 0-2 on the road and 0-2 at neutral sites. The Billikens, who held Richmond to 26.3 percent from the arc (5-of-19), rank seventh nationally in 3-point percentage defense. Duquesne, which is coming off its school record-tying fourth overtime game of the season, has been holding its own defensively as opponents are averaging 65.1 ppg. and shooting 38.1 percent (21st nationally). This will be the third game back for sophomore G/F Melquan Bolding who missed 13 games with a wrist fracture. Bolding has averaged 8.0 points in 50 total minutes off the bench since his return. Duquesne has been led by 6-7 junior Damian Saunders who leads the nation with 13 double-doubles (including the last seven in a row). Saunders began the week ranked second nationally in rebounding (12.8), fourth in steals (3.0) and ninth in blocks (3.4). Sophomore Kwamain Mitchell, SLU's leading scorer at 16.0 ppg., has led the Billikens in scoring in eight of the past nine games. Saint Louis has 12 freshmen and sophomores on its 13-man roster.
THE SERIES: This is the tenth meeting between Duquesne and fifth-year Atlantic 10 member Saint Louis ... Duquesne leads the series 6-3, including a 3-2 edge in regular season Atlantic 10 play ... DU is 3-1 vs. SLU at home ... Saint Louis is one of three A-10 teams the Dukes will face twice this season (Dayton and St. Bonaventure are the others) ... last year, senior Aaron Jackson scored Duquesne's final 11 points to help the Dukes rally from a five-point deficit and defeat Saint Louis 70-68 at the Palumbo Center ... earlier in the season, the Billikens defeated the Dukes 78-74 in overtime at St. Louis ... Saint Louis notched its first series win four years ago at the Palumbo Center by a 70-57 score ... three of the past four meetings between the two have been decided by a total of seven points ... fourth-year DU head coach Ron Everhart is 3-2 against Saint Louis ... SLU is 0-2 on the road and 0-2 at neutral sites this season.
SLU THIS YEAR: Considering only scholarship players, the Billikens' roster is 91.7 percent underclassmen (11 of 12), the highest percentage in the nation ... in addition, the Billikens have the fewest upperclassmen (one - junior Paul Eckerle) in the country. ... the Saint Louis roster consists of eight freshmen, four sophomores and a junior ... SLU opened the season with four straight wins for the first time since the 1997-98 team opened with eight consecutive victories ... the Billikens own a 69-55 home win over Nebraska of the Big 12 ... SLU is coming off a 63-58 home win over Richomond on Saturday.
THE "THREE" IS THE KEY: In the overtime loss at Saint Louis last season, Duquesne went 5-of-19 from the 3-point arc ... the 19 3-point attempts were a then-season low ... in the win at home, DU - led by Bill Clark's 5-of-6 performance - went 9-of-21 from the arc ... SLU entered the second game of the home-and-home series leading the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense ... Clark hit all five of his 3-pointers in the second half of the game at the Palumbo Center.
SAINT LOUIS' KWAMAIN MAN: Sophomore guard Kwamian Mitchell leads the Billikens with a 16.0 ppg. scoring average. The 5-10 Milwaukee native averaged 13.5 ppg. in two games against Duquesne last season, including a 7-of-10 17-point performance at Pittsburgh. Mitchell has led Saint Louis in scoring in eight of the past nine games. Mitchell, who has been named A-10 Player of the Week once this season, scored a season-high 33 points vs. UMKC on Dec. 22.
NEW GUY: Saint Louis has been bolstered by the addition of highly-touted 6-8, 240-pound forward Cody Ellis who gained eligibility at mid-term. Ellis, a native of Perth, Australia, was ranked as the No. 1 power forward and the No. 3 player overall in the 2009 class in Australia. Recruiting service Scouts, Inc. rated him the No. 76 power forward among college prospects. Ellis averaged 14.0 ppg. and 8.0 rpg. while hitting 42 percent from 3-point range for the Australian Institute of Sport, the elite academy in Canberra, Australia. He also played on the 2009 Australia U-19 National team at the FIBA World U-19 Championships in New Zealand. Ellis scored 10 points and added 5 rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench on Saturday vs. Richmond. His two rebounds and three free throws in the final minute helped the Billikens to a 63-58 win.
DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne is limiting opponents to 65.1 ppg. ... it is the lowest opponent scoring average since 1961-62 (61.1 ppg.) ... opponents are also shooting .381 from the field ... that translates to DU's best field goal percentage defense since 1959-60 (.380) ... last year, Duquesne ranked 309th of 330 teams in scoring defense (74.7 ppg.) and 294th in field goal percentage defense (.462) ... only three teams, Western Carolina, IUPUI & Richmond, have shot over 40 percent against the Dukes this season ... DU's seven losses have come to teams with a combined 84-27 record (thru Jan. 10) ... Damian Saunders began the week leading the nation in double-doubles (13) and ranked 2nd in rebounds/g. (12.8), 4th in steals/g. (3.0) and 9th in blocks/g. (3.4) ... he has posted double-doubles in each of his past seven games ... Saunders enters the SLU game needing six steals to pass Aaron Jackson (169) and move into 6th on DU's all-time steals list ... he needs nine blocks to pass Kieron Achara (185) and become DU's No. 2 all-time shot blocker.
QUICK NOTES: Junior Damian Saunders currently ranks among Duquesne's Top 10 in three career statistical categories: 3rd in blocks (177), 7th in steals (164) and tied for 5th in career FG% (.525) ... he is also closing in on the 1,000 career point mark (needs 130) ... he needs six steals to pass Aaron Jackson to move into the No. 6 spot ... he is nine blocks shy of passing Kieron Achara to be come DU's No. 2 all-time shot blocker ... Saunders, the first DU player in 39 years to open a season with six consecutive double-doubles, has posted 13 double-doubles in 16 games ... the 13 double-doubles are the most by a DU player since Bruce Atkins had 16 in 1981-82 ... the 6-7 Connecticut native has set new career highs for points (24 vs. Binghamton), rebounds (19 vs. Nicholls State) and blocks (9 at Old Dominion) and tied his career-best for steals (6 at Iowa & vs. Richmond) this season ... his current 12.8 rebounds per game average is the best since Lionel Billingy averaged 13.1 rpg. in 1973-74 ... he has pulled down 15 or more boards in a game seven times ... his career high entering this season was 14 ... came within a disputed first half goaltend of posting the second triple-double in Duquesne history at Old Dominion (11-10-9) ... the nine blocks tied ODU's Constant Center arena record set by former Duke Shawn James ... James set the mark in 2006 while at Northeastern prior to his transfer to Duquesne ... Saunders leads the Dukes with 29 dunks, bringing his career total to 89 ... Saunders, who was named one of the nation's top 10 "Stat Sheet Stuffers" by Rivals.com in October, also flirted with a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks vs. Canisius ... he has posted six steals in a game twice this season (at Iowa and vs. Richmond) ... Saunders, who ranks tied for fifth on DU's career field goal percentage list (.525), has struggled from the 3-point arc where he is shooting .182 (8-of-44) ... he has never shot under 34 percent from arc (.348 as a freshman and .343 as a sophomore) ... fellow junior Bill Clark (14.1 ppg.) opened the season with seven consecutive double-digit scoring games (including 20 or more three times: career-high 25 at Western Carolina, 23 vs. Pitt and 20 at Iowa) ... he was averaging 19.0 ppg. and shooting .464 (20-of-60 from 3-point) over those first seven games ... since then (a span of nine g.) he is averaging 10.3 ppg. on .284 shooting (5-of-41 from 3-point) ... posted his fourth career double-double (first this season) with 17 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals in 50 minutes in the double overtime win over Canisius ... shook off a two-game 2-of-14 3-point shooting slump to hit a career-high six from the arc (on 14 attempts) vs. Pitt (23 points) ... since the Pitt game he is 5-of-41 from the arc and has failed to make a 3-pointer in five of the past nine games ... Clark, who entered the season a .361 career 3-point shooter, is shooting .248 from the arc ... he is shooting .536 (45-of-84) on his two-point attempts ... despite his struggles, Clark leads the Dukes with 25 3-pointers made ... his 3-pointer from the left wing with 11.7 seconds left proved to be the game-winner in DU's 52-50 win at Iowa on Nov. 17 ... the win was Duquesne's first ever in a Big 10 arena ... Clark's shot was ranked No. 4 on ESPN's Top 10 Plays that evening ... the 6-5 Californian has grabbed at least nine rebounds four times ... he leads the team in charges taken (10) and free throw attempts (79) and makes (61) ... Duquesne was 8-5 without sophomore starting guard/forward Melquan Bolding who was injured (wrist surgery) in the season-opening win over Nicholls State ... Bolding made his return on Jan. 6 vs. Richmond ... the 6-3 sophomore scored 25 points - one shy of his career high - despite finishing out the Nicholls State with the wrist fracture ... he had 13 points, eight rebounds and a career high-tying four assists in his second game back, at Dayton ... sophomore B.J. Monteiro (11.5 ppg., 5.3 rpg.) emerged as a pleasant surprise as a starter in place of Bolding ... Monteiro has led the Dukes in scoring four times ... he scored 14 of his team-high 17 in the second half of DU's win over Robert Morris and followed that with a career-high 27 in the double-overtime victory over Canisius ... in his first start, at Iowa on Nov. 17, Monteiro blocked Eric May's field goal attempt at the buzzer to preserve DU's 52-50 win ... Monteiro, a former high school teammate of Damian Saunders, has set a new career scoring high three times this season (18 vs. Arkansas-Monticello, 21 vs. Radford & 27 vs. Canisius) ... his career best, and only double-digit scoring game, entering the season was 12 (last year at Dayton) ... he has scored in double digits eight times ... Monteiro pulled down a career high nine rebounds vs. Richmond ... sophomore point guard Eric Evans, who entered the Dec. 19 game at IUPUI 3-of-33 from the 3-point arc, hit 4-of-8 from long distance in scoring a career high 20 points ... he followed that by hitting 7-of-8 from the field (including 3-of-4 from 3-point) in scoring 17 in 25 minutes vs. Saint Francis, Pa. and added 10 more at Old Dominion ... Evans, who leads the Dukes with 63 assists, has struggled from the field where he is shooting .340 ... in his past three games he is 8-of-31 (.258), including 2-of-11 (.182) from the 3-point arc ... the Detriot native has handed out five or more assists in a game six times with a career high nine in the opener vs. Nicholls State ... he added career highs for rebounds (6) and steals (6) at Old Dominion ... Evans (63-47) is one of just two Dukes with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio ... he has nine assists and two turnovers in his past two games ... senior guard Jason Duty (22-11) is the other player with a positive assist/turnover ratio... Duty badly jammed his right (shooting) shoulder during the Nov. 25 game at Western Carolina and shot .242 (8-of-33) overall and 5-of-26 from the 3-point arc in the ensuing six games before going 3-of-4 (3-of-3 from 3-point) in scoring all nine of his points in the first half vs. Saint Francis, Pa. ... Duty, who missed the Dec. 9 WVU game with a sprained ankle suffered late in practice on Dec. 7, entered the season as a .364 career 3-point shooter ... he is 20-of-65 (.308) from the arc this season ... hit 3-of-4 3-pointers in scoring a season-high 12 points at Dayton ... true freshman Sean Johnson has come off the bench in all 16 games ... he has scored in double digits four times including each of the past three games ... scored a career-high 17 in 20 minutes at Old Dominion (7-of-12) ... 14 of his team-high 17 at ODU came in the second half ... is averaging 13.0 ppg. in A-10 play ... 7-foot Kentucky transfer Morakinyo Williams tied his season high with 13 minutes versus Richmond and surpassed that with a career high 23 at Dayton ... also set career highs for rebounds (6) and assists (2) vs. the Flyers ... Williams has six points and 16 rebounds in eight games ... redshirt freshman Rodrigo Peggau who played in four games last season prior to opting for knee surgery, has seen action in 13 games with one start ... the Brazilian had nine points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes vs. Pitt and added eight points and seven boards in 15 minutes vs. Robert Morris ... he is 10-of-17 (.588) on two-point attempts and 0-of-6 from the 3-point arc .... he has played 20 or more minutes in a game three times ... sophomore Chase Robinson, who played in just one of DU's first seven games, has seen action in six of the past nine ... he scored a season high four points and added a career-best four rebounds in nine minutes vs. Saint Francis, Pa. ... played a career-high 13 minutes at IUPUI ... six-nine , 255-pound sophomore Oliver Lewinson had two points, five rebounds and two steals in a career-high 22 minutes at No. 6 (AP) West Virginia ... he added three boards in five minutes vs. Canisius ... freshman Andre Marhold came off the bench to grab four rebounds and block two shots in 16 minutes at WVU ... Marhold has played in 12 games.
DAYTON LEFTOVERS: Duquesne which trailed by seven less than a minute into the second half ... tied the game by the 14:51 mark ... neither team lead by more than three over the final 11:40 of regulation ... there were a total of nine ties and eight lead changes in the game, including six of each in the second half ... Duquesne, which outscored Dayton 34-26 in the paint, 19-9 off turnovers adn 27-16 off the bench, had three more field goals than the Flyers ... DU was outscored 26-15 from the foul line ... Bill Clark fouled out and four other players finished the game with four fouls as the Dukes were whistled a season-high 29 times ... starters Bill Clark (0-of-7) and B.J. Monteiro (0-of-5) were a combined 0-of-12 from the field with three points in 41 combined minutes ... Sean Johnson (14 points in 22 minutes) and Melquan Bolding (13 points in 36 minutes) came off the bench to pick up the scoring slack ... Bolding, in his second game back from wrist surgery, tied his career high with four assists ... DU held Dayton to 33.3 percent shooting in the second half ... 7-foot Kentucky transfer Morakinyo Williams set new career highs for rebounds (6), assists (2) and minutes (23) ... it was Duquesne's school record-tying fourth overtime game of the season (DU is 2-2 in those games) ... Damian Saunders posted his nation-leading 13th double-double (21-11) ... it was his seventh in his past seven games ... DU is 2-3 in its past five games at Dayton.
