Jan. 31, 2011

Complete Duquesne Game Notes
George Washington Game Notes

Streaming Video

GEORGE WASHINGTON (11-10, 4-3) at DUQUESNE (15-5, 7-0)
Wed., Feb. 2, 2011 ­• 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 HOST GEORGE WASHINGTON: Duquesne (15-5, 7-0), off to its first 7-0 start in conference history, looks to extend its win streak to 11 when it hosts George Washington (11-10, 4-3) on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Palumbo Center. The Dukes, whose 10-game streak is the school's longest since 1970-71 (15 in a row) and tied for the fourth-longest current streak in the nation, have received votes in the AP poll in each of the past two weeks. DU will be looking to keep pace with Xavier (7-0 at Charlotte on Wed.) at the top of the Atlantic 10 against a GW team that is 3-4 on the road. Duquesne is 8-1 at its on-campus home where it is averaging 87.2 ppg. DU had lost 11 of 13 to the Colonials prior to Ron Everhart's arrival in 2006-07. Since then, the Dukes have won three of four, including the last three in a row. DU, whose 15-5 start is the school's best since 1971-72 (16-4), is limiting A-10 foes to 64.0 ppg. on .397 shooting. The Dukes, who rank among the nation's top 20 in eight statistical categories (assists, turnover margin, steals, scoring, scoring margin, assist/turnover ratio, blocks and 3-pointers/g.) lead the nation in assists/g. (19.1) and turnover margin (+6.9). DU has led at the half in 18 of 20 games (tied once) and enjoyed at least a seven-point lead at some point in every game this season. All 15 of DU's wins have been by double-digit margins.

DUQUESNE LATELY: Senior preseason All-A10 Damian Saunders, who will be making his 105th career start (116th g.) vs. GW, became DU's all-time blocks & steals leader in December ... the 6-7 Connecticut native has 269 career blocks (old record of 229 was set by Derrick Alston from 1991-94) and 250 steals (old record 218 by Kenya Hunter from 1993-96) ... Saunders (1,365 pts.) needs 18 points to pass B.B. Flenory (1,382 from 1977-80) to take over the No. 16 spot on the all-time list ... Saunders ranks fourth in all-time rebounds with 919, 18 shy of passing all-time great Sihugo Green (936 from 1954-56) ... senior Bill Clark, who has hit five or more 3-pointers in a game four times, leads DU at 17.3 ppg. ... Clark ranks third on DU's all-time list with 201 career threes ... Clark (1,454 pts. in 114 g.) enters the GW game needing six points to pass Rick Suder (1,459 from 1983-86-09) and move into the No. 11 spot on the all-time list ... five-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), assist/TO ratio (2.7, 1st), assists (4.7, 3rd) and FG% (.543, 4th) & 3-pt% (.450, 5th) ... DU, which shot .261 from the 3-point arc last season (282nd nationally), is shooting .384 from long distance (39th) ... DU is 10-0 since the return of junior G Eric Evans (foot surgery, missed eight weeks).

THE SERIES: George Washington leads the overall series 42-26 including a 36-21 lead in Atlantic 10 regular season games ... in games played at Pittsburgh, Duquesne holds a 17-16 edge ... the Dukes have won three in a row in the series for the first time since 1989-90 when DU won five straight ... fifth-year DU head coach Ron Everhart is 3-1 versus the Colonials ... last year, Damain Saunders had a career-high 27 points and added 16 rebounds as Duquesne scored the final six points to pull away for a 70-63 win at George Washington ... the victory, Duquesne's first at GW since 2000, ended a six-game DU losing streak at the Smith Center.

GW THIS YEAR: George Washington, picked to finish 10th in the A-10 preseason poll of league coaches and media, is 11-10 overall and 4-3 in the Atlantic 10 ... the Colonials are 3-4 on the road, including 1-2 in A-10 play with tough road losses at Richmond (68-58) and at Xavier (81-74, including 14 ties and 16 lead changes) ... 6-1 junior Tony Taylor leads GW in scoring (14.0 ppg.), assists (90) and steals (29) ... 6-8 Serbian freshman Nemanja Mikic (8.2 ppg.) is shooting 45.9 percent from the 3-point arc (51-of-111) ... Mikic had seven 3-pointers earlier this season (23 points) vs. UNC Wilmington ... eight players are averaging double-digit minutes with two others averaging nine or more ... GW is fifth in the A-10 in scoring defense at 65.5. ppg. ... Duquesne (+6.90) and George Washington (+2.57) rank one and two in the conference in turnover margin and second-to-last (DU .639) and last (GW .627) in free throw percentage.

DAYTON LEFTOVERS: Notes from Duquesne's 82-64 win over Dayton on Sunday at CONSOL Energy Center ... the 18-point margin of victory was DU's second-largest in the series and largest since a 91-64 home win over the Flyers on Jan. 19, 1976 ... Damian Saunders led the Dukes with 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks ... Saunders, who was 8-of-12 from the field, had four dunks ... Bill Clark hit three 3-pointers in adding 17 points and four steals ... T.J. McConnell (15 points) hit all three of his 3-point attempts and added four assists and five rebounds ... B.J. Monteiro added 15 points, six boards and three assists ... DU gained the lead for good with 35 seconds left in the first half ... the Dukes' lead reached 20 points three times in the second half ... DU, which shot 50.0 percent in the first half and 51.6 percent in the second (50.8 percent overall), was just the second team to shoot over 50 percent against the Flyers this season ... Dayton hit four of its first five 3-point attempts before making good on just 2-of-14 the rest of the game ... DU outrebounded UD 42-34 ... the game was played before a crowd of 8,802 at CONSOL, including a game-day walk-up of over 1,000.

DU AT A GLANCE: Duquesne has been led by senior 1,000-point scorers Bill Clark (1,454 points in 114 g,) and Damian Saunders (1,365 points in 115 g.). Six players have 36 or more assists. 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 (81.8 ppg.). DU ranks among the nation's top 20 in eight categories: assists (1st at 19.1), turnover ratio (1st at 6.9), steals (2nd at 10.2), scoring (10th at 81.8), scoring margin (14th at +14.9), assist/turnover ratio (14th at 1.4), blocked shots (16th at 5.6) and 3-point field goals per game (19th at 8.6). True freshmen T.J. McConnell, the five-time A-10 Rookie of the Week, and Mike Talley have started 16 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 on Dec. 12. McConnell and Talley have 143 assists and 67 turnovers (2.1-to-1 ratio) between them.

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 & 15-5 and counting in five seasons under head coach Ron Everhart, has posted 15+ wins in four 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.

• DU's 10-game winning streak is the school's longest since 1970-71 ... this is the first time in school history a Duquesne team has opened conference play 7-0 ... the previous best mark was 3-0 in 2008-09.

• 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. Saunders, who is DU's career blocked shot and steals leader, is averaging 12.9 ppg., 7.6 rpg. and 2.8 bpg. in 2010-11. Saunders ranks 17th in career points (1,365) and fourth in career rebounds (919) at Duquesne. He is already DU's career steals (250) and blocked shot (269) leader. Clark, who has 201 career 3-pointers, is averaging a team-best 17.3 ppg. Both Saunders and Clark (1,454 points, No. 12 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 added five more at Fordham. He broke the DU career record with his 219th steal against George Mason on Dec. 22. Saunders has 45 steals this season.

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

• Saunders, who leads the A-10 with 31 career double-doubles, posted his first of this 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 and No. 31 at Fordham (13-12).

• 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. Duquesne is 10-0 since Evans' return.

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

• DU is 67-9 (15-1 in 2011) when leading with 5:00 minutes left under Ron Everhart.

• Everhart's Dukes have posted 27 road wins in five seasons. Of the 27 wins, 20 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 seven of the nine largest margins of victory 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 18 of 20 games (has been tied at the half once), 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 matched that mark for the second time in four games at La Salle on Jan. 19.

• The Dukes have had five or more double-digit scorers in nine of their 15 wins.

• Six players have attempted at least 40 3-pointers. Every returning player is shooting a better percentage from the arc in 2010-11 than he did last season.

• All 15 of DU's wins have been by double digits, with seven by 20 or more.

• Duquesne is tied for the A-10 lead with six road wins ... the Dukes have won five in a row on the road for the first time since a two-season streak that ended in December of 1985.

• Duquesne, which is assisting on just over 68 percent of its field goals, is averaging 18.5 assists per game at home (including a home and neutral game at CONSOL Energy Center) and 20.0 assists per game on the road.

• The Dukes have a +9.1 turnover margin (11.3 committed to 20.4 forced) in Atlantic 10 play.

• DU's top three scorers: Bill Clark (17.3 ppg., .502), Damian Saunders (12.9 ppg., .511) and T.J. McConnell (11.5 ppg., .543) are all shooting .500 or better from the field.

• Duquesne's margin of victory in its seven conference wins is +16.6 ppg.

• T.J. McConnell's five A-10 Rookie of the Week mentions have tied the school record set by Robert Mitchell in 2006-07.

• DU is 14-1 in afternoon games (pre-6:00 p.m. tip) over the past two seasons (9-1 in 2010 and 5-0 this year). The lone matinee loss was 78-72 in overtime at Dayton last year.

• The Dukes have already matched last year's conference win total (7-9/T8th in 2009-10).