Jan. 14, 2011

Complete Duquesne Game Notes
Temple Game Notes

Streaming Video

TEMPLE (12-3, 3-0) at DUQUESNE (10-5, 2-0)
Sat., Jan. 15, 2011 ­• A.J. Palumbo Center (4,406) • Pittsburgh, Pa. • 12:00 (EST)

TELEVISION: CBS College Sports Regional with Jason Knapp & John Griffin
Will air locally on The Comcast Network channel 188 or 210 depending on cable provider
(see end of post for specific regional listings); Additional outlet: The Comcast Network

DUQUESNE RADIO: WPBG-FM (104.7) with Ray Goss & Jarrett Durham
STREAMING AUDIO: RedZoneMedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
GAMETRACKER/STREAMING VIDEO: GoDuquesne.com

DUKES HOST NO. 19 (AP) TEMPLE: Duquesne (10-5, 2-0), winner of five in a row, welcomes No. 19 (AP)/23 (ESPN) Temple (12-3, 3-0) to the Palumbo Center for a CBS College Sports syndicated television game on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 12:00 p.m. (EST). The Dukes, who are coming off a 67-45 Atlantic 10 win over Saint Louis on Wednesday, face a Temple team that has won nine of its past 10 including an 83-55 conference win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday. Duquesne, whose win streak is tied with George Washington for the longest current among A-10 schools, is 6-1 at Palumbo Center this season (6-2 at home overall including a loss to West Virginia at CONSOL Energy Center). The Dukes are averaging 89.1 ppg. at their on-campus home. Temple began the week 15th nationally in scoring defense (currently 58.4 ppg.). DU is 1-9 vs. ranked foes under fifth-year head coach Ron Everhart with eight of the 10 games coming on the road or at neutral sites. In two games against ranked teams at the Palumbo Center, Everhart's Dukes are 1-1 with a 73-68 loss to No. 12 (AP) Pitt on Dec. 5, 2007 and a 72-68 win over No. 9 (AP) Xavier on Feb. 7, 2009. The Dukes are 0-1 against ranked teams this season with an 80-66 loss to No. 3 (AP) Pitt on Dec. 1 at CONSOL Energy Center. This is the first time since 1971 that the Dukes have opened the month of January with four-straight wins.

DUQUESNE LATELY: Senior preseason All-A10 pick Damian Saunders, who will be making his 100th career start vs. Temple, became DU's all-time blocked shot and career steals leader in December ... the 6-7 Connecticut native has 256 career blocks (old record of 229 was set by Derrick Alston from 1991-94) and 231 steals (old record 218 by Kenya Hunter from 1993-96) ... Saunders ranks 21st on DU's all-time scoring list with 1,292 points ... he needs two rebounds to pass Alston and move into the fifth spot on the all-time rebound list (Saunders has 878) ... senior Bill Clark, who has hit five or more 3-pointers in a game four times, leads DU at 16.6 ppg. ... Clark ranks third on DU's all-time list with 192 career 3-pointers ... Clark (1,357 points) enters the SLU game needing 26 points to pass B.B. Flenory (1,382 from 1977-80) and move into the 15th spot on the all-time scoring list ... two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week freshman T.J. McConnell ranks among the top five in five A-10 categories: steals (2.9, 1st), FG% (,566, 1st), 3-PT% (.500, 3rd), assist/TO ratio (2.1, 4th) and assists (4.6, 5th) ... DU, which shot .261 from the 3-point arc last season (282nd nationally), is shooting .398 from long distance.

THE SERIES: No. 19 (AP) Temple leads the series 39-13, including a 14-8 advantage in games played at Pittsburgh ... Duquesne has won just two of the past 17 meetings - with both wins coming at home ... DU snapped an eight-game series losing streak with a 61-54 win at Pittsburgh on Jan. 8, 2003 ... on Jan. 27, 2007, DU rallied from 12 down with 11:55 left to defeat the Owls 96-92 at Palumbo Center ... Duquesne is 1-13 against ranked Temple teams with the lone win coming on Feb. 25, 1956 at No. 10 Temple (66-64) ... since then the Owls have won 12 in a row when ranked against Duquesne ... DU is 3-16 against ranked teams at Palumbo Center ... of the 16 losses, eight have come by eight or fewer points ... Ron Everhart's Dukes are 1-1 vs. ranked teams at home with a 73-68 loss to No. 12 (AP) Pitt on Dec. 5, 2008 and a 72-68 win over No. 9 (AP) Xavier on Feb. 28, 2009 ... the Xavier win ended a 24-game losing streak against ranked teams ... it was also DU's first win over a ranked team since Jan. 25, 1997 (at No. 16 (AP) Xavier) and the first over a Top 10 team since Dec. 15, 1992 (91-84 at home over No. 10 (AP) Florida State) ... it was also the highest ranked team a Duquesne team had defeated since an 88-87 overtime win over No. 9 (AP) Providence on Jan. 31, 1974 at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena ... Everhart is 1-4 vs. the Owls.

TEMPLE THIS YEAR: Temple, traditionally one of the top defensive teams in college basketball, leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense (58.4 ppg.) and field goal percentage defense (.385) ... Temple ranked third nationally in scoring average defense (56.8 ppg.) last season ... 6-9, 225 senior forward Lavoy Allen, named preseason First Team All-American by Basketball Times, is also on the Naismith Award Watch List ... Allen, who was the first Temple player in 40 years to average a double-double last season, enters the DU game averaging 11.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game ... Allen is the seventh-leading career rebounder in Temple history ... junior guard Juan Fernandez, the Most Outstanding Player at last year's Atlantic 10 Championship, is a career 38 percent 3-point shooter ... the 6-4 Argentine has missed Temple's past two games with a knee injury ... Temple has been one of the top road teams in the nation over the past two seasons ... this year, the Owls are 3-1 on opposing floors with the lone loss coming by four at then No. 7 (AP) Villanova (78-74) ... including neutral site wins over Maryland and Georgia, Temple is 5-2 away from home this season ... last year, Temple tied Butler and Morgan State for the most road wins in NCAA Division I (12-3).

SAINT LOUIS LEFTOVERS: Duquesne held the Billikens without a field goal for 14 minutes from the end of the first half to the 8:45 mark of the second in the 67-45 win ... the 45 points were a SLU low as well as a DU opponent low ... it was the fewest points DU has held an Atlantic 10 opponent to in the shot clock era and fewest by an A10 opponent since George Washington scored 42 in a 42-40 win over Duquesne on Dec. 12, 1981 ... Damian Saunders, who posted his 30th career double-double (11-10) blocked four shots for the fourth-straight game ... T.J. McConnell went 8-of-12 from the field in scoring a game-high 18 points ... he also had four assists and zero turnovers in 29 minutes ... he has one turnover in two A10 games ... leading scorer Bill Clark tied his season low with five points B.J. Monteiro scored a season-low one point ... the Dukes got 27 points from the bench led by Sean Johnson's 11 ... DU's seven turnovers were a season low ... Duquesne has held its past two opponents to 49 second-half points (29 by Houston Baptist and 20 by Saint Louis) ... it was just the fifth time in 37 games that an Everhart-coached Duquesne team has won when scoring fewer than 70 points.

NO. "300": The Temple game will be Duquesne's 300th at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

4-0 in 2011: The last time Duquesne began the month of January with four consecutive wins was in 1971 when the NCAA Tournament Dukes (21-4), in the midst of a 15-game win streak, went 14-0 to start the New Year (they won their final game in December, went 7-0 in January and won their first seven in February). 2-0 IN THE A-10: This is the just the sixth time DU has opened conference play with back-to-back wins (two have been by Everhart-coached teams. Everhart's 2008-09 NIT Dukes are the only team in school history to open league play 3-0.

STREAKING: This is the fifth win streak of five or more games posted by Ron Everhart's Duquesne teams in his five seasons as head coach. Everhart's teams now own five of the 11 longest win streaks posted by DU teams since 1969-70.

"POINT" ME TO PALUMBO: Duquesne is averaging 89.1 ppg. in seven games at the A.J. Palumbo Center (624 points in 7 g.) this season. The Dukes, who have scored under 79 once (a 67-45 win over Saint Louis) at their on-campus home, have topped 100 twice and 90 four times at Palumbo where they are 6-1. DU is averaging 73.8 ppg. away from home (including two games at CONSOL Energy Center).

70 IS THE KEY: Duquesne is 69-34 under Ron Everhart when scoring 70 or more points (9-2 this year). Conversely, the Dukes are 5-32 (1-3 this year) when scoring under 70 under the fifth-year head coach.

QUICK HITS

Senior forward/guard Bill Clark has led the Dukes in scoring a team-high eight times ... the California native ranks 16th on DU's all-time scorers' list with 1,357 points ... he needs 26 to pass B.B. Flenory (1,382 from 1977-80) and move into the No. 15 spot ... Clark, who has scored 20 or more five times (22 at Robert Morris, 20 vs. Pitt, 21 vs. George Mason, 21 vs. Northwestern State & 24 at Saint Joseph's), posted his seventh career double-double, and first this season, at Penn State (19-10) ... he added his second double-double with 17 points and a career high-tying 14 rebounds vs. IUPUI and third vs. Northwestern State (21-10) ... put together back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career vs. George Mason (21) & Northwestern State (21) ... Clark, who has a team-high 40 3-pointers, moved into third on DU's all-time list with his first of three 3-pointers vs. Northwestern State on Dec. 31 ... he enters the Temple game with 192 "threes" ... Tom Pipkins (311 from 1994-97) holds the school record ... he's followed by Tony Petrarca (287 from 1987-91) ... Clark is already alone in third in career attempts with 551 ... has hit five 3-pointers in a game four times this season, with all four coming away from home (at Robert Morris, at Bowling Green, vs. Pitt at CONSOL Energy Center 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 ... flirted with a triple-double with 15 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes vs. the Division II Big Blues ... is averaging 6.6 rebounds per game including a career high-tying 14 vs. IUPUI ... has a team-best 34 offensive boards ... leads the team with 13 charges taken ... became the sixth player in Dukes' history to post a school-record seven steals in a game at Houston Baptist ... he had five steals in the first half alone ... has scored in double figures in 13 of 15 games ... had a streak of seven double-digit games in a row snapped with a season low-tying five points vs. Saint Louis ... 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 Temple game with 256 rejections ... he added the DU career steals record at the 1:30 mark of the first half vs. George Mason on Dec. 22 ... his 231 career steals broke the old mark of of 218 set by current Georgetown assistant coach Kenya Hunter from 1993-96 ... Saunders, whose 20 double-doubles ranked sixth nationally last season, has three this year (20-11 vs. No. 3 (AP) Pitt, 12-11 vs. George Mason & 11-10 vs. Saint Louis) giving him 30 for his career ... added five assists and three blocks in 34 minutes vs. Pitt ... 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 ... scored 13 of his 14 points vs. Norfolk State in the first half ... added four blocks against the Spartans ... had 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists, four blocks and two steals in the A-10 opening win over Saint Joseph's ... followed that with 12 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals at Houston Baptist and 11 points, 10 boards, four blocks and three steals vs. Saint Louis ... Saunders a 34 percent 3-point shooter his first two seasons, slumped to 18.9 percent last year (18-of-95) ... he looks to have regained his former form with a 35.3 percent success rate this season (12-of-34) ... Saunders, who entered the year a .485 career free throw shooter, is 36-of-64 (.563) from the line this year ... has 133 career dunks (team-high 14 this season) ... true freshman T.J. McConnell has ranked among the nation's leaders in steals per game all season (2.9 spg. entering Temple) ... he's had at least two steals in all but two games ... his 2.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (69-33) ranks fourth in the conference ... has scored in double digits 10 times with highs of 20 (18 in the second half) at Green Bay, 19 vs. George Mason and 18 vs. West Virginia and Saint Louis ... was named A-10 Rookie of the Week (Dec. 13) after averaging 19.0 points. 5.5 assists and 3.0 steals in the Green Bay and WVU games ... won the award a second time on Jan. 10 after averaging 13.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals in road wins at Saint Joseph's and Houston Baptist ... 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 nine times and led the team in assists a team-high 10 times ... is shooting .566 from the field and .500 (23-of-46) from the 3-point arc ... has started 14 times (he didn't start at Penn State coming off a foot injury suffered in the shootaround prior to the Pitt game) ... fellow freshman Mike Talley, who has started 13 times, has hit three or more 3-pointers four 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 six times ... hit five 3-pointers in the opening day win over Bluefield ... handed out a season-high seven assists vs. IUPUI ... 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 ... was 1-of-10 from the 3-point arc in five games prior to going 3-of-6 from the arc at Houston Baptist ... followed his first career scoreless game (zero points in 18 minutes at Saint Joseph's) with 13 points in 22 minutes at HBU ... has handed out 18 assists with eight turnovers in his past seven games ... junior guard/forward B.J. Monteiro has scored in double digits 10 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 ... tied his career high with three steals vs. UMBC and at Penn State ... third on the team with 27 offensive rebounds ... has blocked at least one shot in 12 of 15 games, including a career high four vs. West Virginia and George Mason ... has two double-doubles (17-10 vs. Bluefield State & 12-10 vs. WVU) ... Monteiro, who entered the season a 28.8 percent career 3-point shooter (23-of-80), is shooting 39.5 percent from the arc (17-of-43) ... sophomore guard Sean Johnson came off the bench to post a career-high 19 points (9-of-9 from the foul line) vs. Norfolk State on Jan. 2 ... tied his previous career-high with 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 eight times ... DU is 8-0 in those games ... eclipsed last season's assist total (27 in 30 games) in his 14th game of the season ... enters the Temple game with 29 assists ... is 1-of-12 from 3-point in his past eight games ... ended a five-game 3-point drought by hitting 1-of-2 at Saint Joseph's ... despite his 3-point struggles, he's scored in double digits in four of his past five games ... junior guard Eric Evans missed the first 10 games while recovering from Oct. 27 foot surgery ... Evans, who missed eight weeks of practice, returned to action against Northwestern State on New Year's Eve ... posted his first double digit game with 10 points vs. Norfolk State ... has 10 assists with just three turnovers in his past three games ... true freshman forward Joel Wright played in the first seven games before not seeing action for the first time vs. WVU ... had 11 points (5-of-8 from the line) and five rebounds in 12 minutes vs. UMBC and added 11 more on 5-of-6 shooting vs. IUPUI ... scored nine points in nine first-half minutes vs. George Mason (finished with nine in a season high 20 minutes) had 10 in back-to-back games vs. Northwestern State and Norfolk State ... averaging 7.3 ppg. on .500 shooting (16-of-32) in his past six games ... averaged 2.4 ppg. on .333 shooting (5-of-15) in his first seven ... has attempted 42 free throws in 178 minutes is 19-of-27 (.704) from the line in his past seven games ... is fourth on the team with 21 offensive rebounds ... true freshman Jerry Jones has played in all 15 games off the bench ... scored a season-high five in 10 minutes vs. UMBC ... shooting .300 (9-of-30) ... has played double-digit minutes six times ... 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 17 points and 23 rebounds in eight games since ... had a streak of 19 consecutive games snapped when he did not dress for the IUPUI game due to a concussion suffered in practice on Dec. 14 ... was also held out of the George Mason and Northwestern State games ... made his return against Norfolk State on Jan. 2 ... has played in just one of the past seven games ... averaging 13.4 min./g. ... has started four 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 on Nov. 22 ... blocked three shots in the opener vs. Bluefield State ... is 10-of-12 from the field with five dunks ... senior forward David Theis has scored in five of the seven games he's played ... scored five points in eight minutes against Bluefield State, had four points in five minutes at Bowling Green and four points and four rebounds in four minutes vs. IUPUI ... is 3-of-5 from 3-point ... has played in 48 career games.

NOTES FROM THE DUKES CLIPBOARD

• Duquesne, which played in the NIT in 2009 & CBI last year, is looking to make its third-straight postseason appearance in 2011 - something that hasn't occurred on the Bluff since 1968-71 (NIT, NCAA, NIT & NCAA).

• DU, which has gone 10-19, 17-13, 21-13 & 16-16 in four seasons under head coach Ron Everhart, has posted 15+ wins in three straight years for the first time since `68-73. Duquesne was coming off a 3-24 season, and had finished above .500 once (1994) in the 21 years prior to Everhart taking over in 2006-07.

• The Dukes, who are averaging 16 wins per season under Everhart, won more than 16 games once (17-13 in 1994) in 25 seasons prior to Everhart's arrival.

• Thousand-point scoring seniors Damian Saunders (2010 First Team All-Atlantic 10, A-10 Defensive Player of the Year & A-10 All-Defense Team) and Bill Clark lead the way for the Dukes in 2011. Saunders, who is DU's career blocked shot and steals leader, is averaging 12.3 ppg., 7.4 rpg. and 2.9 bpg. in 2010-11. Saunders ranks 21st in career points (1,292) and sixth in career rebounds (878) at Duquesne. Clark, who has 192 career 3-pointers, is averaging a team-best 16.6 ppg. Both Saunders and Clark (1,357 points, No. 16 all-time), who have never experienced a losing season at Duquesne, topped the 1,000-point mark last season. Saunders did it on Feb. 11, 2010 vs. UMass and Clark did it three days later vs. La Salle. Both reached 1,000 in their 88th game.

• The 6-7 Saunders, who was first player in DU history to be named A-10 Defensive Player of the Year, finished two steals shy of becoming the first player over 6-6 to lead the nation in steals per game in 2010 (Saunders finished second nationally at 2.8 spg.). Saunders' 89 steals in 32 games shattered the DU season record of 71 he set in 34 games as a sophomore. He tied his career high with six steals (five in the first half) on Dec. 8 at Green Bay and broke the DU career record with his 219th steal against George Mason on Dec. 22.

• Saunders became Duquesne's all-time leading shot blocker with his four rejections at Penn State on Dec. 4 ... Saunders, who has 256 career blocks, broke the old mark of 229 set by Derrick Alston in 114 games from 1991-94 ... Saunders broke the record in his 101st game.

• Saunders was the first Duquesne player in 39 years to open a season with six-straight double-doubles when he turned the trick last season. He added a second in-season streak of nine in a row. His 20 double-doubles were the most by a DU player since Bruce Atkins' 22 in 1980-81. He didn't go longer than three games without a double-double in 2010. Saunders posted his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds (and five assists & three blocks) vs. No. 3 (AP) Pitt on Dec. 1 and went for 12 and 11 vs. George Mason on Dec. 22. He added his 30th career double-double (11-10) vs. Saint Louis.

• The Dukes played their first 10 games (5-5) without junior point guard Eric Evans, who underwent foot surgery on Oct. 27. Evans, who had streaks of 66 games (every game of his DU career) and 32 starts snapped by the injury, was cleared to resume practice on Dec. 21. He saw action for the first time vs. Northwestern State on Dec. 31.

• DU is 62-9 (10-1 in 2011) when leading with 5:00 minutes left under Ron Everhart.

• Everhart's Dukes have posted 25 road wins in five seasons. Of the 25 wins, 18 have been by double digits. In the 10 seasons prior to Everhart's arrival, Duquesne went 17-106 on the road with three double-digit victories. Everhart's Dukes own the five largest margins of victory ever posted by Duquesne teams in A-10 road games.

• Ron Everhart's Dukes have scored 100 or more points 10 times in his five seasons. Only Red Manning, who saw his DU teams score 100 or more 23 times in 16 seasons (1959-74) has coached more triple-digit scoring Duquesne teams. Everhart's Dukes have scored 100 or more on the road five times.

• Duquesne has led at the half in 14 of 15 games, and held a lead of at least seven points at some point in every game this season.

• Duquesne's 16 3-pointers in its 110-67 season-opening win over Division II Bluefield State were one shy of the school record ... DU's 30 assists (on 41 field goals) tied the third-highest total in school history.

• DU tied the school record with 17 steals at Houston Baptist ... in that game Bill Clark tied the single-game mark with seven ... Clark shares the record with five other players.

• The Dukes have had five or more double-digit scorers in seven of their 10 wins (the Dukes had four in double digits and one with nine in their 81-54 win over IUPUI, four in double digits in the win at Saint Joseph's & three in double digits in the victory over Saint Louis).

• Six players have attempted at least 34 3-pointers and 10 of the 12 players on the roster have hit at least one 3-pointer.

• All 10 of DU's wins have been by double digits, with seven by 20 or more.

• Dec. 29 marked the first time the entire 2010-11 roster was healthy for the same practice.

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