Jan. 18, 2010
Complete Game Notes
DUQUESNE (9-8, 0-3) at RHODE ISLAND (14-2, 2-1)
Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010 • Ryan Center (7,657) • Kingston, R.I. • 7:00 p.m.
TELEVISION: Cox Sports Television with Eric Frede & Abu Bakr (game will air on PCNC locally)
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
STREAMING AUDIO: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
STREAMING VIDEO AND GAMETRACKER: GoRhody.com
DUKES AT RHODE ISLAND: Duquesne (9-8, 0-3), which has been idle since a 79-75 double overtime loss to Saint Louis on Jan. 13 returns to action at Rhode Island (14-2, 2-1) on Wed., Jan. 20 at 7:00 p.m. The Dukes will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak against a URI team that is 7-1 at home. The Rams followed their lone home loss - a 68-64 overtime setback to Temple on Jan. 10 - with back-to-back wins over Saint Joseph's (101-74) and at Fordham (85-67). Duquesne, which has played a school record five overtime games this season, is coming off back-to-back OT losses (78-72 at Dayton and 79-75 in 2OT vs. Saint Louis). No Duquesne team has ever played three consecutive overtime games. DU's past three games with Rhode Island have been decided by a total of eight points. This will be the fourth game back for sophomore G/F Melquan Bolding who missed 13 games with a wrist fracture. Bolding, who had 13 points off the bench at Dayton, came down with strep throat the day before the Saint Louis game and was limited to five first half minutes. DU has been led by 6-7 junior Damian Saunders who leads the nation with 14 double-doubles (including the last eight games). Saunders began the week ranked second nationally in rebounding (13.0), fourth in steals (2.9) and ninth in blocks (3.5). Saunders' rebound average is the best by a Duquesne player since Lionel Billingy averaged 13.1 rpg. in 1973-74.
DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne is limiting opponents to 65.9 ppg. ... it is the lowest opponent scoring average since 1961-62 (61.1 ppg.) ... opponents are also shooting .387 from the field, which 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 four teams have shot over 40 percent against the Dukes this season ... Damian Saunders began the week leading the nation in double-doubles (14) and ranked 2nd in rebounds/g. (13.0), 4th in steals/g. (2.9) and 9th in blocks/g. (3.5) ... he has posted double-doubles in each of his past eight games ... Saunders enters the URI game needing four steals to pass Aaron Jackson (169) and move into 6th on DU's all-time steals list ... he needs five blocks to pass Kieron Achara (185) and become DU's No. 2 all-time shot blocker ... Duquesne has played a school record five overtime games (2-3) ... the NCAA record is eight, done by three schools.
THE SERIES: Rhode Island leads the all-time series 26-23, including a 16-9 advantage in games played at Kingston, R.I. ... in A-10 regular-season play, URI leads 23-19 ... seventh-seeded Duquesne snapped a five-game series losing streak with a 78-74 win over the second-seeded Rams in the quarterfinal of last year's Atlantic 10 Championship ... Damian Saunders scored 20 points and Bill Clark added his second career double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead DU ... Rhode Island had won 13 of the 16 previous games prior to DU's post-season win ... in the lone regular-season meeting last year, Kahiem Seawright and Keith Cothran scored 21 and 20 points respectively as Rhode Island survived a late-game onslaught from Duquesne's Aaron Jackson to defeat the Dukes 73-71 at the Palumbo Center ... Jackson, who scored 16 of DU's final 20 points, saw his 3-point attempt glance off the front rim as time expired ... Jason Duty and Bill Clark, who entered the game ranked third and fifth respectively in the A-10 in 3-point shooting percentage, were a combined 1-of-10 from the arc in that game ... Eric Evans, who was 4-of-5 from the arc in DU's previous game (a win at UMass), went 0-of-6 from 3-point ... for the game, the Dukes were 6-of-28 from the arc ... DU coach Ron Everhart is 1-3 vs. URI.
AT RYAN CENTER: Duquesne is 1-3 at the Ryan Center, with two of the losses coming by a total of four points ... in DU's last trip to Kingston, Jimmy Baron hit a turnaround jumper with 3.2 seconds left to lift No. 22 (AP) Rhode Island to an 80-78 win on Jan. 13, 2008 ... Baron's shot followed a missed free throw by Duquesne's Reggie Jackson who was trying to complete a three-point play after giving the Dukes a 78-77 lead on an off-balanced left-handed layup with 11.1 seconds remaining ... Will Daniels scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half to lead Rhode Island ... Reggie Jackson led four Dukes in double figures with 19 ... Damian Saunders (8 points and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes) and Bill Clark (9 points in 25 minutes) are the only current Dukes who played in that game ...URI is 79-37 (.681) all time in the Ryan Center, including a 35-24 (.593) mark in Atlantic 10 play.
CLOSE ONES: The past three meetings between Duquesne and Rhode Island have been decided by eight total points (an 80-78 URI win at Ryan Center in 2008, a 73-71 URI win at Pittsburgh on March 1 of last year and a 78-74 Duquesne win at Atlantic City, N.J. 11 days later).
URI THIS YEAR: Rhode Island posted non-conference wins over three BCS (Bowl Championship Subdivision) schools in Boston College (ACC), Providence (Big East) and Oklahoma State (Big 12) ... senior guard Keith Cothran (16.3 ppg.), junior forward Delroy James (14.3, 5.7) and senior forward Lamonte Ulmer (12.4, 7.6) are all averaging double figures for the Rams who lead the A-10 in scoring at 79.9 ppg. ... James, the younger brother of former Duke Shawn James (played at Duquesne in 2008 and currently playing professionally in Israel), has scored 20 or more a team-high four times ... Cothran and former URI standout Tyson Wheeler are the only Rhody players to compile at least 1,000 points, 250 rebounds, 200 assists, and 170 steals in their careers ... the Rams are second in the league in field goal percentage (.467) and are last in field goal percentage defense (.449) ... URI also leads the A-10 in assists per game (15.4) ... junior guard Marquis Jones, who has two 10-assist games to his credit, leads the A-10 with a 5.1 apg. average.
PLAYER NOTES
#25 Damian Saunders
Junior Damian Saunders currently ranks among Duquesne's Top 10 in three career statistical categories: 3rd in blocks (181), 7th in steals (166) and seventh in career FG% (.525) ... he is also closing in on the 1,000 career point mark (needs 107) ... he needs four steals to pass Aaron Jackson to move into the No. 6 spot ... he is five 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 14 double-doubles in 17 games, including the past eight in a row ... the 14 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 13.0 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 eight 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 has struggled from the 3-point arc where he is shooting .174 (8-of-46) ... he has never shot under 34 percent from arc (.348 as a freshman and .343 as a sophomore).
#30 Bill Clark
Junior Bill Clark (14.1 ppg.) leads the team with 50 career double-digit scoring games, including 13 this season ... needs 75 points to become the 33rd 1,000-point scorer in school history ... ranks 7th on DU's all time list for 3-pointers made (132) and fifth in all-time attempts (398) ... 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 ... was averaging 19.0 ppg. and shooting .464 (20-of-60 from 3-point) over those first seven games ... since then (a span of 10 g.) he is averaging 10.7 ppg. on .286 shooting (6-of-44 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 ... added his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the double overtime loss to Saint Louis ... his 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in overtime forced the second OT session ... hit a career-high six from the arc (on 14 attempts) vs. Pitt (23 points) ... since the Pitt game he is 6-of-44 from the arc and has failed to make a 3-pointer in five of the past 10 games ... Clark, who entered the season a .361 career 3-point shooter, is shooting .250 from the arc ... he is shooting .516 (47-of-91) on his two-point attempts ... despite his struggles, Clark leads the Dukes with 26 3-pointers ... 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 five times ... he leads the team in charges taken (10) and free throw peercentage (.764), attempts (89) and makes (68) ... he has made more free throws than any DU player - other than Damian Saunders (75 att.) - has attempted ... the 6-5 Clark is Duquesne's second-leading rebounder at 6.5 rpg.
#23 Melquan Bolding
Missed 13 games while recovering from a fractured wrist suffered in the opener vs. Nicholls State ... missed seven weeks before returning on Jan. 6 vs. Richmond ... DU went 8-5 in the 13 games without Bolding ... scored 25 points - one shy of his career high - despite finishing out the Nicholls State with the wrist fracture ... underwent surgery to have a pin placed in the wrist on Nov. 17 ... was cleared to rejoin practice the day before the Richmond game ... had 13 points, eight rebounds and a career high-tying four assists in his second game back, at Dayton before coming down with strep throat the day before the Jan. 13 Saint Louis game ... played just five first-half minutes vs. the Billikens.
#32 B.J. Monteiro
Sophomore B.J. Monteiro (11.6 ppg., 5.5 rpg.) emerged as a pleasant surprise as a starter in place of Bolding ... has led the Dukes in scoring four times ... 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 ... blocked Eric May's field goal attempt at the buzzer to preserve DU's 52-50 win in his first start, at Iowa on Nov. 17 ... also blocked a Chase Adams field goal attempt with two seconds left to force the Pitt game into a second overtime ... a former high school teammate of Damian Saunders, Monteiro 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 nine times ... pulled down a career high nine rebounds vs. Richmond and matched that total with nine more vs. Saint Louis ... DU's top 3-point shooter at .395 (15-of-38).
#3 Eric Evans
Sophomore point guard Eric Evans has scored in double-digits eight times including a career high 20 (4-of-8 from 3-point) at IUPUI on Dec. 19 ... entered IUPUI game 3-of-33 from the 3-point arc ... 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 ... leads the Dukes with 66 assists, including six games with five or more ... handed out a career-high nine assists in the opening night win over Nicholls State ... added career highs for rebounds (6) and steals (6) at Old Dominion ... has struggled from the field where he is shooting .337 ... in his past four games he is 11-of-41 (.268), including 3-of-14 (.214) from the 3-point arc ... Evans (66-50) is one of just two Dukes with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio ... second on the team in steals (22) and free throws made (40) ... has converted a team high six (of nine) tradtional three-point plays ... had a four-point play in the second overtime vs. Saint Louis ... has 12 assists and five turnovers in Atlantic 10 play ... DU is 5-1 when Evans has five or more assists.
#13 Jason Duty
Senior guard Jason Duty (23-12) joins Evans as the other player with a positive assist/turnover ratio ... 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. ... 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 ... 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 ... also scored in double figures on Nov. 25 at Western Carolina (11 points) ... did not try a 3-pointer on Jan. 13 vs. Saint Louis, ending a streak of 52 games with at least one 3-point attempt.
#20 Sean Johnson
True freshman Sean Johnson has come off the bench in all 17 games ... has scored in double digits five times including each of the past four 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 ... had 14 in 22 minutes at Dayton and 12 in 18 vs. Richmond ... his 12.0 ppg. scoring average in A-10 play is the second-best on the team.
#5 Morakinyo Williams
Seven-foot Kentucky transfer Morakinyo Williams, who played a total of 28 minutes in six non-conference appearances, is averaging 21.3 minutes per game in conference play ... tied his season high with 13 minutes versus Richmond and surpassed that with 23 at Dayton and 28 vs. Saint Louis ... set career highs for rebounds (6) and assists (2) vs. the Flyers ... added five rebounds vs. SLU.
#33 Rodrigo Peggau
Redshirt freshman Rodrigo Peggau , who underwent successful right knee surgery last December, was cleared to participate in individual workouts in early September ... the Brazilian played in four games last year prior to opting for season-ending surgery ... his last full season of basketball was in 2006-07 at The Calverton School (Md.) ... missed the 2007-08 season at The Patterson School (N.C.) due to a torn meniscus in his right knee ... has seen action in 14 games with one start ... 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-19 (.526) 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 ... has played a total of five minutes in DU's first three conference games.
Others
Sophomore #2 Chase Robinson played in one of DU's first seven games, before seeing action in seven of the past 10 ... 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 ... has seen one minute of action (vs. Saint Louis) in conference play ... six-nine , 255-pound sophomore #54 Oliver Lewinson has played in eight games ... 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 ... had yet to see action on A-10 play .. freshman #3 Andre Marhold has come off the bench in 12 games ... grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots in a season-high 16 minutes at WVU ... has played double-digit minutes four times ... has not played in the past four games.
SAINT LOUIS LEFTOVERS: Duquesne came back from a seven-point deficit with 4:16 left to tie it on a Sean Johnson drive with :35 left in regulation ... Bill Clark forced the second overtime when he hit a 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds to go ... it was Clark's first 3-point attempt of the game ... Clark was 5-of-41 from the arc in his nine previous games ... DU led by nine three minutes into the second half ... Duquesne committed seven turnovers and missed three free throws (including the front of a one-and-one) to fuel a 25-9 Saint Louis run that gave the Billikens the seven-point lead ... there were a total of eight ties and 10 lead changes in the game ... the largest lead by either team was nine (Duquesne's came three minutes into the second half, Saint Louis' was with just over a minute left in the second overtime) ... Duquesne finished with 10 assists and 21 turnovers ... SLU outscored the Dukes 28-13 off turnovers ... DU went 22-of-36 from the line ... SLU was 11-of-20 ... Duquesne's 53 rebounds were a season high and the two steals were a season low ... Damian Saunders posted his eighth consecutive double-double (and 14th this season) with 23 points and 17 boards ... he had 15 points and 13 boards 30 second half minutes (including the two OTs) ... it was the second time this season Saunders played 50 mintues ... freshman Sean Johnson scored 10 points in a career-high 31 minutes ... B.J. Monteiro tied his career high with nine rebounds.
BOLDING BACK: Melquan Bolding - one of four returning starters - made his return to the lineup against Richmond on Jan. 6. Bolding, who had played in every game in his Duquesne career (35 in a row), saw that streak snapped - literally - by a wrist fracture suffered in the season-opener vs. Nicholls State. The 6-3 sophomore, who was injured on a hard foul four minutes into the Nicholls game, underwent successful surgery to place a pin in his fractured right wrist on Nov. 17. He missed 13 games while recovering. Bolding, who scored 25 points in the opener despite playing the majority of the game with the fracture, scored three points and grabbed two rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench vs. Richmond. Bolding, who entered the game at the 12:57 mark of the first half, scored his lone field goal 27 seconds later. He suffered another setback two games later when strep throat limited him to five first-half minutes in the 2OT loss to Saint Louis.
