Jan. 21, 2011
Complete Duquesne Game Notes
Charlotte Game Notes
Streaming Video
Annual "RED OUT" presented by UPMC Sports Medicine and Trib Total Media
CHARLOTTE (9-9, 1-3) at DUQUESNE (12-5, 4-0)
Sat., Jan. 22, 2011 • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,406) • Pittsburgh, Pa. • 2:00 (EST)
TELEVISION: CBS College Sports Regional with Tom McCarthy & John Griffin
Will air locally on The Comcast Network channel 188 or 210 depending on cable provider
Additional outlets: Comcast Sports Southeast, Time Warner North Carolina (ch. 520)
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 CHARLOTTE: Duquesne (12-5, 4-0), off to is first 4-0 conference start in school history, looks to extend its win streak to eight when in welcomes Charlotte (9-9, 1-3) to the Palumbo Center for a CBS College Sports syndicated TV game. The Dukes who completed the first A-10 "Philly Sweep" in school history with an 88-71 win at La Salle on Wednesday, are 7-2 at home (with one of the losses coming at CONSOL Energy Center). Charlotte, which is 2-5 on the road, is coming off a 73-54 home loss to UMass on Wednesday. Duquesne, whose win streak is the longest current among A-10 schools, is averaging 87.8 ppg. in eight Palumbo Center games. The Dukes have held each of their first four league foes to at least one sub-30 point half (Saint Joe's had 26 in the first half, Saint Louis scored 25 and 20 points in two halves, Temple had 23 in the first and La Salle 24 in the second). Duquesne has led at the half of 15 of 17 games (tied once) and enjoyed at least a seven-point lead at some point in every game this season. All 12 of DU's wins have been by double-digit margins. This is the first time since 1971 that the Dukes have opened January with six-straight wins. The 2010-11 Dukes are looking to become the first team to post and eight-game win streak since 1971-72.
DUQUESNE LATELY: Senior preseason All-A10 pick Damian Saunders, who will be making his 102nd career start at La Salle, became DU's all-time blocked shot and career steals leader in December ... the 6-7 Connecticut native has 260 career blocks (old record of 229 was set by Derrick Alston from 1991-94) and 236 steals (old record 218 by Kenya Hunter from 1993-96) ... Saunders ranks 21st on DU's all-time scoring list with 1,318 points ... he needs one rebound to pass Lionel Billingy (893 from 1972-74) and move into the fourth spot on the all-time rebound list (Saunders has 893) ... senior Bill Clark, who has hit five or more 3-pointers in a game four times, leads DU at 17.2 ppg. ... Clark ranks third on DU's all-time list with 194 career 3-pointers ... Clark (1,400 points) enters the Charlotte game needing 12 points to pass Mike James (1,411 from 1995-98) and move into the 13th spot on the all-time scoring list ... with 29 points he'll pass No. 12 Aaron Jackson (1,428 from 2006-09) ... three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week freshman T.J. McConnell ranks among the top five in five A-10 categories: steals (2.8, 1st), assists (4.5, 3rd), assist/TO ratio (2.3, 3rd), 3-PT% (.469, 4th) and FG% (.544, 5th) ... DU, which shot .261 from the 3-point arc last season (282nd nationally), is shooting .388 from long distance.
THE SERIES: This is the ninth meeting between Duquesne and sixth-year Atlantic 10 member Charlotte ... the 49ers lead the series 5-3, with the series knotted at 2-2 in Pittsburgh ... in Atlantic 10 play Charlotte leads 3-2 ... the Dukes ended a four-game series losing streak and notched their first A-10 win over the 49ers two years ago at Pittsburgh (76-71) and followed that with an 83-77 win at then 18-6 Charlotte last season ... DU head coach Ron Everhart is 2-2 vs. the 49ers.
CHARLOTTE THIS YEAR: Charlotte was picked to finish seventh - one spot ahead Duquesne - in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll ... the 49ers, who are in their first season under head coach Alan Major, are 2-5 on the road ... Charlotte owns one of the Atlantic 10's marquee wins - a 49-48 home victory over then-No. 7 (AP) Tennessee ... the Vols were one game removed from their 83-76 win over Pitt at CONSOL Energy Center ... one of Charlotte's two road wins was in double overtime at Georgia Tech (86-83) on Jan. 2 ... two of four seniors on Charlotte's opening day roster will not be with the team in Pittsburgh ... center Phil Jones was declared academically ineligible at mid-year and Shamari Spears, who was averaging 17.0 ppg. through five games, was dismissed from the team in December ... the 6-6, 250-pound Spears was a preseason second team All-Atlantic 10 pick ... the 49ers are competing with eight scholarship players.
SAME GUY, DIFFERENT JERSEY: Charlotte redshirt sophomore guard Jamar Briscoe should be familiar to Dukes fans. The 5-10 Baltimore native scored 34 points in a 97-79 loss to DU as a freshman for North Carolina Central in 2008-09. Briscoe, who is second on the Charlotte team with a 12.8 ppg. scoring average, went 9-of-18 from the field and 15-of-18 from the foul line in that Dec. 22, 2008 game. The 34 points are tied for second-most by an opponent against a Ron Everhart-coached Duquesne team. Briscoe was the nation's second-leading freshman scorer (behind Seth Curry, then of Liberty and currently at Duke) in 2008-09.
LA SALLE LEFTOVERS: The 88-71 win, Duquesne's fourth in a row at Tom Gola Arena, completed the first "Philly Sweep" in DU's Atlantic 10 history ... on Jan. 5, the Dukes opened A-10 play with a 75-63 win at Saint Joseph's and on Jan. 15 DU defeated then-No. 19 (AP) Temple 78-66 at the Palumbo Center ... the Dukes trailed by 11 with 7:07 left in the first half before mounting a 13-0 run to take a 43-41 lead ... the game was tied 47-47 at the half ... the Dukes outscored the Explorers 41-24 in the second half ... there were eight ties and five lead changes before DU took the lead for good with 14:14 left ... it was the 13th time - and seventh time on the road - that Ron Everhart-coached Duquesne team rallied from a double-digit deficit to win ... DU tied the school record for steals (17) for the second time in four games (the Dukes also had 17 at Houston Baptist on Jan. 8) ... four players had three or more steals with Bill Clark and T.J. McConnell leading the way with four each ... La Salle scored an opponent high 47 first half points ... DU shot a season-low 18.8% in hitting a season-low three 3-pointers (3-of-16) ... the win was the 250th for Everhart ... it was the eighth time DU had five or more double-digit scorers (the Dukes are 8-0 in those games) ... Clark finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four steals and a career high-tying three blocks in 32 minutes ... Duquesne forced 25 La Salle turnovers ... it took the team one hour and 10 minutes to make the trip from the hotel to the arena due to heavy traffic ... DU made the same trip in 25 minutes for shootaround earlier in the day.
6-0 in 2011: The last time Duquesne began the month of January with six 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). 4-0 IN THE A-10: This is the first time Duquesne University has opened conference play with four-straight wins. The previous best was 3-0 by Ron Everhart's 2008-09 NIT Dukes.
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. The current seven-game streak ties the longest of the Everhart Era (also won seven straight 2008-09). The last time Duquesne won eight in a row was 1971-72.
"POINT" ME TO PALUMBO: Duquesne is averaging 87.8 ppg. in eight games at the A.J. Palumbo Center (702 points in 8 g.) this season. The Dukes, who have scored under 78 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.
70 IS THE KEY: Duquesne is 71-34 under Ron Everhart when scoring 70 or more points (11-2 this year). Conversely, the Dukes are 5-32 (1-3 this year with a 67-45 win over Saint Louis) 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 10 times ... the California native ranks 14th on DU's all-time scorers' list with 1,411 points ... he needs 12 to pass eight-year NBA veteran Mike James (1,411 from 1995-98) and move into the No. 13 spot and 29 to pass former teammate Aaron Jackson (1,428) and take over the No. 12 spot ... Clark, who has scored 20 or more seven times (high of 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) and did it again vs. No. 19 (AP) Temple (22) and at La Salle (21) ... Clark, who has a team-high 42 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 Charlotte game with 194 "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 560 ... 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) ... had a career-high nine assists 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 ... second on team with 37 offensive boards ... leads the team with 18 charges taken ... became the sixth player in Dukes' history to post a school-record seven steals at Houston Baptist ... he had five steals in the first half alone ... has scored in double figures in 15 of 17 games ... had a streak of seven double-digit games in a row snapped with a season low-tying five points vs. Saint Louis ... followed that with a team-high 22 (10-of-10 from the line) in the win over No. 19 (AP) Temple ... has hit his last 19 free throws (over two games) ... 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 Charlotte game with 260 rejections ... he added the DU career steals record at the 1:30 mark of the first half vs. George Mason on Dec. 22 ... his 236 career steals broke the old mark of of 218 set by current Georgetown assistant coach Kenya Hunter from 1993-96 ... enters the Charlotte game needing one rebound to pass Lionel Billingy (893 from 1972-74) and move into the No. 4 spot on DU's all-time list ... 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 33.3 percent success rate this season (12-of-36) ... Saunders, who entered the year a .485 career free throw shooter, is 40-of-70 (.571) from the line this year ... had five dunks at La Salle (16 points) has 141 career dunks (team-high 21 this season) ... true freshman T.J. McConnell begane the week ranked 8th nationally in steals per game (2.8 spg.) ... he's had at least two steals in all but three games ... his 2.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (77-34) ranks fourth in the conference ... has scored in double digits 11 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 ... his third award came on Jan. 17 after averaging 10.0 ppg. and 4.0 apg. in wins over Saint Louis and No. 19 (AP) Temple ... 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 .544 from the field and .469 (23-of-49) from the 3-point arc ... has started 15 times (he didn't start at Penn State coming off a foot injury suffered in the shootaround prior to the Pitt game and vs. Temple after being late for pregame breakfast) ... has 17 assists and two turnovers in A-10 play ... fellow freshman Mike Talley, who has started 15 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 seven 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 ... junior guard/forward B.J. Monteiro has scored in double digits 11 times with a high of 21 on 9-of-10 shooting at Bowling Green ... tied his career high with three steals vs. both UMBC and at Penn State ... third on the team with 32 offensive rebounds ... has blocked at least one shot in 13 of 17 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) ... just missed a third with nine points, 10 rebounds four assists and two blocks vs. No. 19 (AP) Temple ... Monteiro, who entered the season a 28.8 percent career 3-point shooter (23-of-80), is shooting 38.8 percent from the arc (19-of-49) ... 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 nine times ... DU is 9-0 in those games ... eclipsed last season's assist total (27 in 30 games) in his 14th game of the season ... enters the Charlotte game with 33 assists ... is 2-of-16 from 3-point in his past 10 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 five of his past seven games ... junior guard Eric Evans missed the first 10 games while recovering from Oct. 27 foot surgery ... missed eight weeks of practice before returning to action against Northwestern State on New Year's Eve ... posted his first double digit game with 10 points vs. Norfolk State ... topped that with 13 (8-of-9 from the line) in 19 minutes in a start vs. No. 19 (AP) Temple ... 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 6.9 ppg. on .488 shooting (20-of-41) in his past nine games ... averaged 2.4 ppg. on .333 shooting (5-of-15) in his first seven ... has attempted 48 free throws in 205 minutes is 22-of-33 (.667) from the line in his past nine games ... is fourth on the team with 23 offensive rebounds ... true freshman Jerry Jones has played in all 17 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 nine games ... 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.
