Dec. 3, 2010
Complete Game Notes
DUQUESNE (3-2) at PENN STATE (5-2)
Sat., Dec. 4, 2010 • Bryce Jordan Center (15,261) • State College, Pa. • 6:00 (EST)
TELEVISION: Big Ten Network with Tom Hamilton & Glenn Sekunda
DUQUESNE RADIO: WPBG-FM (104.7) with Ray Goss & Jarrett Durham
STREAMING AUDIO: RedZoneMedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
GAMETRACKER: www.GoPSUSports.com
DUKES AT PENN STATE FOR FIRST TIME IN 17 YEARS: Duquesne (3-2), coming off an 80-66 loss to No. 3 (AP/ESPN) Pitt on Wednesday, heads to State College to renew an old rivalry with Penn State (5-2) on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 6:00 (game televised by the Big Ten Network). Penn State, which is coming off a 62-39 home loss to Maryland on Wednesday, is 5-1 at Bryce Jordan Center. Saturday's game will be 17 years to the day that the Dukes last played at State College. It is also the first meeting since Nov. 30, 1994 (a 79-69 PSU win at the Palumbo Center). The Dukes and Nittany Lions split 24 Eastern 8 regular season games from 1977-79; `83-91.
DU AT A GLANCE: Duquesne has relied on a balanced attack in 2010-11 with six players averaging between 9.4 and 18.2 points led by senior F/G Bill Clark (18.2 ppg., 18 3-pointers). Ten players are averaging 12 or more minutes per game with Damian Saunders (13.0, 7.0) averaging a team-high 30.0. The Dukes have returned to their running ways (86.0 ppg.) under fifth-year head coach Ron Everhart. True freshmen T.J. McConnell (10.8 ppg.), nephew of Penn State great - and former Big Ten Network color commentator - Suzie McConnell-Serio and Mike Talley (9.4 ppg.) have started the past three games in the backcourt. The duo has combined for 39 assists and 18 turnovers on the young season.
DUQUESNE LATELY: Senior preseason All-A10 pick Damian Saunders had 20 points, 11 rebounds five assists and three blocks vs. Pitt ... he is four rejections shy of breaking the school record of 229 set by Derrick Alston from 1991-94 ... Saunders' 208 career steals rank third on the all-time list, 11 short of breaking the school mark of 218 set by Kenya Hunter from 1993-96 ... DU, which shot .261 from the 3-point arc last season (282nd nationally), is shooting .397 from long distance and averaging 10.8 "3s"/g. through five games ... the Dukes,who are averaging 20.0 assists/g., have assisted on 67% of their field goals ... DU has forced at least 19 turnovers (21.8/g.) in every game ... senior Bill Clark, who flirted with a triple-double with 15 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high 9 assists vs. Bluefield State, leads DU at 18.7 ppg. ... Clark, who is 17-of-33 from the 3-point arc in his past four g., has hit five "3s" in a game three times ... freshman T.J. McConnell (10.8 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 4.8 apg., 3.4 spg.) is shooting .636, including .600 (9-of-15) from the 3-point arc ... the 6-0 Pittsburgh native nearly posted the second triple-double in school history in 27 minutes at Bowling Green (10-11-9a) ... DU is competing without starting PG Eric Evans who is recovering from Oct. 27 foot surgery (out 6-8 weeks).
THE SERIES: PSU leads the series 23-18 ... this will be the first meeting between the former Eastern 8 rivals since a 70-69 Penn State win at the Palumbo Center on Nov. 30, 1994 ... it is the first game of a home-and-home series ... this will be Duquesne's first appearance at the Bryce Jordan Center which opened in January of 1996 ... DU's last game at Penn State was at Rec Hall on Dec. 4, 1993 ... the two shared membership in the Eastern 8 for 12 seasons (1977-79 & 1983-91) ... in regular season conference play the two tied at 12-12 ... Duquesne is 4-14 at PSU with the last win coming on Jan. 11, 1986 (79-78 in an Eastern 8 regular season contest) ... the Nittany Lions have won the past seven over the Dukes at home ... last year, Duquesne defeated Iowa 52-50 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena ... it was the schools first victory in 10 tries a Big Ten arena ... it was also DU's first win over a Big Ten team since 1973 (85-83 over Illinois in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden).
PENN STATE BITS: Penn State is 6-1 at home with a win over Atlantic 10 member Saint Joseph's (66-57) ... eight of PSU's first nine games are at Bryce Jordan Center ... senior guard Talor Battle (18.7 ppg.), who is Penn State's third all-time leading scorer, is the first Nittany Lion to post 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists in a career ... PSU is 115-129 against teams that comprise the current Atlantic 10 ... Penn State is 53-13 in non-conference home games under eighth-year head coach Ed DeChellis, including 29-3 in the last four seasons (losses to Maryland this year, Virginia Tech last year & Temple in 2008-09) and and 39-5 in the last five (Stony Brook & Southeast Louisiana in 2006-07) ... PSU's four senior starters average 100 games played and 74 starts among them ... in all, the five seniors on Penn State's roster brought a combined 420 games played and 298 starts into the 2010-11 season.
TOUGH STRETCH: The Penn State game continues a challening stretch that began with the first basketball game at Pittsburgh's CONSOL Energy Center vs. No. 3 (AP) Pitt on Wednesday. Following the PSU game, the Dukes will head to Green Bay (21-13, CBI) before returning home to face West Virginia (31-7, NCAA Final Four) at CONSOL. DU then hosts IUPUI (25-11, CBI) and George Mason (17-15, CIT). In all, Duquesne's first six December opponents averaged 21.7 wins - and five of the six reached post-season play - in 2009-10.
