Dec. 16, 2010
Complete Game Notes
IUPUI (5-6) at DUQUESNE (4-4)
Sat., Dec. 18, 2010 • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,406) • Pittsburgh, Pa. • 7:00 (EST)
DUQUESNE RADIO: WPBG-FM (104.7) with Ray Goss & Jarrett Durham
STREAMING AUDIO: RedZoneMedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
STREAMING VIDEO/GAMETRACKER: GoDuquesne.com
DUKES BACK AT PALUMBO TO HOST IUPUI: Duquesne (4-4), coming off a five-day break for final exams, makes its first Palumbo Center appearance in 20 days when it hosts Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (5-6) on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 7:00 pm. (EST). The Dukes have played twice at CONSOL Energy Center (vs. Pitt & West Virginia) and twice on the road (at Penn State & at Green Bay) since their last Palumbo Center home game on Nov. 27 vs. UMBC. DU, which dropped a 64-61 decision to West Virginia on Dec. 12 in their last outing, are 39-21 at Palumbo Center in five seasons under Ron Everhart. The Dukes have won their past five at their on-campus arena. IUPUI posted its first road win on Dec. 12 at Ohio (66-56). The Jaguars have been idle since. DU and IUPUI both own wins over Green Bay - their one common opponent. IUPUI defeated the Phoenix 63-46 in the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic at Oxford, Ohio on Nov. 22. Duquesne won 81-71 at Green Bay on Dec. 8. IUPUI, which is 1-4 on the road lost at Gonzaga in the season opener, lost by one at Miami, Ohio (59-58) and by three at Atlantic 10 member Saint Louis (58-55). The Jaguars led current No. 2 (AP) Ohio State by nine in the second half and were tied with 6:55 left in a 75-64 road loss on Dec. 9. Final exams at Duquesne ran from Dec. 9-15. The IUPUI game is the second of five in a row at home (starting with the WVU game at CONSOL) for DU. The Dukes host George Mason on Dec. 22 in their final pre-Christmas game.
DUQUESNE LATELY: Senior preseason All-A10 pick Damian Saunders, who became DU's all-time shot blocker with four rejections at Penn State on Dec. 4, needs three steals to pass Kenya Hunter (218 from 1993-96) and become the school's all-time steals leader ... Hunter set the record in 103 games ... the IUPUI game will be Saunders' 104th ... Saunders has 234 career blocks ... the old record of 229 was set by Derrick Alston (1991-94) ... senior Bill Clark, who has hit five or more 3-pointers in a game four times, leads DU at 16.4 ppg. ... Clark, who has 176 career 3-pointers, needs four to pass Wayne Smith (179 from 1999-02) and move into the No. 3 spot on DU's all-time list ... Clark needs two points to pass Kieron Achara (1,240 from 2004-08) and take over the 20th spot in DU's all-time leading scorers' list ... DU, which shot .261 from the 3-point arc last season (282nd nationally), is shooting .441 from long distance (8th nationally) and is averaging a nation's best 11.0 "3s"/g. (2nd nationally) ... the Dukes, who are averaging 19.0 assists/g. (5th nationally), have assisted on 70% of their field goals ... freshman T.J. McConnell (12.1 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 5.1 apg., 3.3 spg.) averaged 19.0 ppg., 5.1 apg. and 3.3 spg. in two games last week to earn A-10 Rookie of the Week honors.
DU AT A GLANCE: Duquesne has been led by senior 1,000-point scorers F/G Bill Clark (1,239 points, 16.4, 5.6; 24 3-pointers) and F Damian Saunders (1,209 points, 12.7, 7.3, 2.6b). Nine players are averaging 10 or more minutes per game. The Dukes, who averaged an Everhart Era "low" 70.3 ppg. last season, have returned to their running ways under their fifth-year head coach (80.6 ppg. ranks amont the Top 25 nationally). DU ranks second nationally with 11.0 3-point FGs/g. and began the week ranked fifth in assists/g. (19.0 apg.). True freshmen T.J. McConnell (12.1 ppg., 3.3 spg.) and Mike Talley (9.5 ppg.) have started five times side-by-side in the backcourt. The duo combined for 37 points on 12-of-16 shooting against Green Bay's senior backcourt of Rahmon Fletcher and Bryquis Perine which brought a combined 207 games of experience into the Dec. 8 game. McConnell scored a team-high 18 points against West Virginia fifth-year senior - and 2010 NCAA East Regional Most Outstanding Player - Joe Mazzulla. McConnell and Talley have 64 assists and 36 turnovers (1.8-to-1 ratio) between them. McConnell (13-of-26, .500) and Talley (17-of-35, .486) are the Dukes' top two 3-point percentage shooters. McConnell began the week ranked fourth nationally in steals per game (3.3 spg.).
NOTING IUPUI: Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis leads the series 1-0 ... this is the second game of a home-and-home series ... IUPUI won 73-64 at Indianapolis last season ... the Jaguars are led by 6-6 junior forward Alex Young (17.8, 5.9, 29 assists) and 6-5 senior guard Leroy Nobles (16.9, 4.7, 24 3-pointers) ... IUPUI, which won 10 road games in 2010, is 1-4 on the road this season ... the Jaguars gave nationally ranked Ohio State all it could handle in a 75-64 road loss on Dec. 9 ... IUPUI led by nine in the second half ... the game was tied with 6:55 left ... IUPUI lost by one at Miami (59-58) on Nov. 20 ... the Jaguars also dropped a 58-55 decision at Saint Louis of Atlantic 10 on Nov. 27 ... IUPUI notched its first road win its last time out, 66-56 at Ohio on Dec. 12 ... Nobles (23 points) and Young (21 points) led the way ... Nobles, who hit five 3-pointers, hit three in a row during a game-deciding 18-0 second half run.
MORE ON THE JAGUARS: IUPUI is coming off a 25-win season including a CBI appearance ... the Jaguars advanced to the second round of the CBI before droppping a 74-68 double-overtime decision at home to a Princeton team that defeated Duquesne 65-51 in the opening round ... IUPUI returns three starters from a team that finished with wins in 15 of its last 19 games and finished second nationally in field goal percentage (50.4%) ... two returnees (Alex Young with 72 & Leroy Nobles with 70) made 70 3-pointers last season ... Dayton-transfer Stephen Thomas joins the roster for 2010-11 ... the 6-1 Thomas, a former two-time Indianapolis City Player of the Year, played two seasons for the Flyers before sitting out last season in compliance with Division I transfer rules ... he is averaging 9.3 ppg. with a team-high 17 steals in 31.5 minutes per game.
QUICK HITS
Senior forward/guard Bill Clark, who has 24 3-pointers, currently ranks fourth on DU's all-time list with 176 ... he needs four to pass Wayne Smith (179 from 1999-02) and move into the No. 3 spot ... Tom Pipkins (311 from 1994-97) holds the school record ... he's followed by Tony Petrarca (287 from 1987-91) ... Clark is already third in career attempts with 513 ... Clark has hit five 3-pointers in a game four times this season ... all four have come away from home (at Robert Morris, at Bowling Green, vs. Pitt and at Penn State) ... Clark, who entered the season averaging 2.1 assists per game, is averaging 2.6 apg. ... he had a career-high nine in the season opener vs. Bluefield State ... Clark flirted with a triple-double with 15 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes vs. the Division II Big Blues ... Clark, who has scored 20 or more in a game twice (22 at Robert Morris and 20 vs. Pitt), posted his seventh career double-double, and first this season, at Penn State (19-10) ... Clark leads the team with seven charges taken ... senior forward Damian Saunders became DU's all-time blocked shot leader when he swatted four at Penn State on Dec. 4 ... the final block - of a Taran Buie layup with 11:26 to go - broke the previous record of 229 set by Derrick Alston in 114 games from 1991-94 ... the Penn State game was Saunders' 101st ... Saunders enters the IUPUI game with 234 blocks ... his 216 career steals are three shy of breaking the school record of 218 set by current Georgetown assistant coach Kenya Hunter from 1993-96 ... Saunders, whose 20 double-doubles ranked sixth nationally last season, posted his first of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds vs. No. 3 (AP) Pitt ... he added five assists and three blocks in 34 minutes vs. the Panthers ... he followed that by tying his career high with four 3-pointers in scoring 23 at Penn State ... it was just the second time in his career he has had 20 or more in back-to-back games (he had 21 at Dayton, 23 vs. Saint Louis and 21 at Rhode Island in consecutive games last year) ... Saunders had another of his typical stat-sheet stuffing games with 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists, a career high-tying six steals and three blocks at Green Bay ... Saunders a 34 percent 3-point shooter his first two seasons, slumped to 18.9 percent last season (18-of-95) ... he looks to have regained his former form with a 47.4 percent success rate this season (9-of-19) ... he has made 8-of-12 3-point attempts in his past four games ... true freshman T.J. McConnell began the week ranked fourth nationally in steals per game (3.3) ... his 2.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (41-20) ranks fourth in the conference ... has scored in double digits six times with highs of 20 (18 in the second half) at Green Bay and 18 vs. West Virginia in back-to-back games ... was named A-10 Rookie of the Week (Dec. 13) after averaging 19.0 points. 5.5 assists and 3.0 steals in the two games ... had 14 points and five steals vs. No. 3 (AP) Pitt ... the six-footer had 11 rebounds to go along with 10 points and nine assists in 27 minutes at Bowling Green in nearly becoming the second player in school history to post a triple-double ... McConnell played just nine minutes in the second half of the lopsided win ... it was his third career game ... has handed out five or more assists in a game five times ... is shooting .603 from the field and .500 (13-of-26) from the 3-point arc ... fellow freshman Mike Talley, who has started six times, has hit three or more 3-pointers three times ... scored a season high 17 points in the opener vs. Bluefield State and matched that total at Green Bay (4-of-5 from 3-point) ... has scored in double digits four times ... hit five 3-pointers in the opening day win over Bluefield ... has turned it over one or fewer times in five of eight games ... broke out of a two-game 3-of-15 (1-of-8 from 3-point) shooting slump to hit 4-of-6 at Green Bay ... followed that by goint 2-of-4 vs. WVU ... junior guard/forward B.J. Monteiro has scored in double digits six times with a high of 21 on 9-of-10 shooting at Bowling Green ... the BGSU game followed a 2-of-10, eight-point performance in the loss at Robert Morris ... has tied his career high with three steals in two of the past five games (vs. UMBC and at Penn State) ... second on the team with 19 offensive rebounds ... has blocked at least one shot in each of the past seven games including a career high four vs. West Virginia ... has two double-doubles (17-10 vs. Bluefield State & 12-10 vs. WVU) ... sophomore guard Sean Johnson has scored 27 in three starts and 48 in five off the bench ... posted a season-high 17 in a start in the opener vs. Bluefield State and had 16 off the bench at Green Bay (5-of-7 including three 3-pointers) ... has scored in double digits four times ... DU is 4-0 in those games ... sophomore forward/center Rodrigo Peggau posted career highs in points (14) and rebounds (12) in his first career double-double in the opening day win over Bluefield State ... he has 15 points and 21 rebounds in seven games since ... averaging 13.9 minutes per game ... has started four times ... true freshman forward Joel Wright played in the first seven games before not seeing action for the first time vs. WVU ... has played a season high 16 minutes twice (vs. Bluefield State and at Bowling Green) ... had 11 points (5-of-8 from the line) and five rebounds in 12 minutes vs. UMBC ... is 7-of-15 (.467) from the foul line on the season ... true freshman Jerry Jones has also played in all eight games off the bench ... averaging 9.6 minutes per game ... scored a season-high five in 10 minutes vs. UMBC ... shooting .278 (5-of-18) ... has played double-digit minutes three times ... sophomore Andre Marhold played double digit minutes off the bench in each of the first four games before a strained groin kept him in street clothes vs. Pitt and at Penn State ... he dressed but did not play at Green Bay ... made his return in logging six minutes vs. West Virginia ... played a season-high 17 minutes at Bowling Green ... blocked three shots in the opener vs. Bluefield State ... is 5-of-7 from the field ... senior forward David Theis has played in three games ... scored five points in eight minutes against Bluefield State and had four points in five minutes at Bowling Green ... has not played in the past four games ... has played in 44 career games. ... Duquesne is averaging 105.5 points per game at the Palumbo Center and 72.3 ppg. away from home (including two games at CONSOL Energy Center).
