Nov. 8, 2010
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PITTSBURGH - For the second time in two exhibition games, Duquesne freshman guard T.J. McConnell flirted with a triple-double with 16 points, eight assists and 10 steals in leading Duquesne to a 118-65 win over Division III Lycoming at the Palumbo Center.
McConnell, who had 12 points, 10 assists and 9 steals against La Roche on Oct. 30, figured in seven consecutive field goals during a game-deciding 26-2 first half run.
Seven Dukes scored in double digits led by freshman Jerry Jones and senior Bill Clark with 18 each. A third freshman, Mike Talley, had 17 points and 10 assists. Sean Johnson (17 points), B.J. Monteiro (15 points) and Andre Marhold (10 points, five blocks and a game-high 11 rebounds) were the other double-digit scorers.
The Dukes shot 60 percent and assisted on 36 of 48 field goals. Six players had four or more assists and five hit at least one 3-pointer.
Mike Bradley led Lycoming with 12 points.
Lycoming led 24-21 before McConnell single-handedly fueled a 26-2 run by directly figuring in seven consecutive DU field goals. Duquesne had missed seven consecutive 3-point attempts before McConnell followed a fast break lay-up with a three to put the Dukes up by six. He then stole the ball and fed Sean Johnson for a bucket and assisted on the next two field goals before making it 38-26 on another fast break lay-up. In all, McConnell had four field goals, three assists and three steals in a 3:13 span. DU made it 47-26 on a Jerry Jones lay-up before Lycoming ended the run with a Bradley fast break lay-up.
DU led 54-35 at the half.
"It took Lycoming making us understand they were pretty damn good before we started to play," said Duquesne coach Ron Everhart. "We didn't execute as well as we needed coming out of the box."
The 6-0 McConnell put en exclamation point on the evening by throwing down a one-handed dunk following his ninth steal to put the Dukes up 78-46 with 14:06 left. Duquesne, which shot 71.4 percent from the field in the second half, reached 100 points on a Clark 3-pointer with 8:13 left.
Duquesne opens the regular season at the Palumbo Center versus Bluefield State on Saturday, Nov. 13.
NOTES: McConnell, Johnson, Peggau, Monteiro and Clark started for the Dukes ... McConnell scored the Dukes' first five points ... DU, which went 3-of-15 from the arc in the first half, finished 9-of-26 ... all nine Dukes in uniform played in the first 3:40 ... Marhold had four dunks and Talley had three 3-pointers ... Duquesne competed with nine scholarship players ... David Theis, who has begun limited work in practice, is still recovering from a late-September ankle injury, Eric Evans had foot surgery on Oct. 27 and is out 6-8 weeks and Damian Saunders sat out due to a violation of team rules (he will also miss the regular-season opener against Bluefield State) ... Lycoming returns three starters and 60 percent of its scoring and rebounding from a team that went 21-7 in earning a bid to the NCAA Division III Championship ... the Warriors, despite a league-high four first-place votes, were picked to finish second in the Commonwealth Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches.
