11/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2011
GAME 7 / 17/17 PITTSBURGH (5-1) VS. DUQUESNE (4-2)
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 • 7:05 EST
Pittsburgh, Pa.. • CONSOL Energy Center (19,000)
Radio: WPGB-FM 104.7
Ray Goss (pxp), Jarrett Durham (analyst), Greg Linnelli (producer)
Streaming Audio: www.RedZoneMedia.com
Television: CBS Sports Network National
Dave Ryan (pxp), Pete Gillen (analyst)
Streaming Video: none
Gametracker: www.GoDuquesne.com
To find out where the game will air please visit the following link
CBS Sports Network Channel Finder
FROM THE DUKES CLIPBOARD
• Duquesne is coming off its top defensive effort of the season, holding Louisiana-Lafayette to 65 points on .343 shooting in Saturday's 84-65 win ... DU, which had allowed its two previous opponents (Akron and Valparaiso) to shoot a combined .577, held the Ragin Cajuns to .222 shooting in the first half in jumping out to a 44-23 lead.
• No. 17 Pitt is DU's second ranked opponent in seven games ... the Dukes dropped their opener 67-59 at No. 16 (AP) Arizona on Nov. 9 ... DU is 0-10 all-time against ranked Pitt teams.
• The Dukes are 2-10 against ranked teams under Ron Everhart ... of the 12 games, just three have been played at home where DU is 2-1: a 72-68 win over No. 9 (AP) Xavier on Feb. 7, 2009 and a 78-66 victory over No. 19 (AP) Temple on Feb. 3 of last season ... the lone home loss came to No. 12 (AP) Pitt by five points (73-68) on Dec. 5, 2007.
• Duquesne's last win over a ranked team at a neutral site was on Mar. 15, 1969 over No. 8 (AP) St. John's (75-72) in an NCAA tournament East Regional consolation game at College Park, Md. (a span of 11 g.) ... DU was ranked No. 9 (AP) at the time.
• DU is looking to snap a 10-game losing streak to the Panthers ... the 10-game streak is the longest by either team in the 79-game series which began in 1932.
• Duquesne is 1-3 at CONSOL Energy Center with an 80-66 loss to No. 3 (AP) Pitt, a 64-61 loss to West Virginia, an 82-64 win over Dayton and a 71-63 loss to Xavier all last season ... the Dukes averaged 9,123 in three home games at CONSOL last year (WVU, UD & XU) ... DU, which will serve as host for 2012 NCAA Championship Second and Third Round games in March, hosts Penn State on Dec. 10 in its lone CONSOL home game in 2011-12.
• Leading scorer Sean Johnson was named to the 2K Sports Classic Valparaiso Subregional All-Tournament team on Nov. 20. He averaged 18.7 ppg. on 50 percent shooting in the three games.
• Johnson, who came off the bench in 59 of 62 games prior to this season, has scored in double digits in all six games as a starter in 2011-12. The junior Queens, N.Y. native has scored in double digits in 12 of his past 14 games dating back to last season (15.2 ppg. over that span), including the last nine games in a row. He has scored at least 13 points in every game this season.
• T.J. McConnell, who posted the second triple-double in school history with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in the win over UDC, leads the Dukes in rebounding (5.0 rpg.), assists (6.2 apg.) and steals (3.2 spg.). McConnell, who finished fourth nationally in steals per game last season, has two 5-steal games already in 2011-12. The 2011 A-10 Rookie of the Year set a DU single-season and A-10 freshman record with 91 steals last year. He has 110 in 38 games (2.89 spg. average) for his career.
• McConnell was named to the Atlantic 10 preseason All-Defensive Team as well at preseason Third Team All-A10. The Pittsburgh native, who finished fourth nationally in steals per game (2.8) on his way to setting an Atlantic 10 freshman and DU single-season record (91), was just the third player in the 15-year history of the A-10 All-Defensive Team not to earn a spot on the squad despite leading the conference in steals. The others are former Duke Damian Saunders (2009) and Charlotte's Leemire Goldwire (2008). McConnell has 19 steals through six games.
• Eight players have scored in double digits in Duquesne's first six games ... five have scored 15 or more ... DU has had at least four double-digit scorers in each of its past five games (4-1 over that span).
• Duquesne is being outrebounded by an average of 10.0 per game, by the same token, the Dukes are +8.3 in turnover margin ... DU has struggled from the 3-point arc at .294 (37-of-121) ... the Dukes, who led the nation is assists, steals and turnover margin last season are averaging 16.8 assists and 8.7 steals through six games.
• Duquesne led the nation in three statistical categories last season: assists (17.8 apg.), steals (9.9 spg.) and turnover margin (+6.7). The Dukes return 69 percent of their assists and 58.7 percent of their steals from a year ago.
• Duquesne tied the school record with 17 steals in its 97-81 win over the University of the District of Columbia on Nov. 18. It was the sixth time - and fourth time in the past two seasons - a DU team has posted 17 steals in a game.
• The Dukes, who finished tied for fourth in the Atlantic 10 last season with a 10-6 record. Were picked to finish ninth in a preseason poll of league coaches. Duquesne has exceeded its predicted Atlantic 10 finish in four of five seasons under Ron Everhart.
• The Dukes have advanced to post-season play in each of the past three seasons (NIT, CBI, CBI). The last time DU made three consecutive post-season appearances was from 1968-71 (NIT, NCAA, NIT, NCAA).
• Duquesne has posted four consecutive non-losing seasons since ending a streak of 13 consecutive sub-.500 seasons with a 17-13 record in 2007-08 - head coach Ron Everhart's second year on the Bluff. The last time DU had four consecutive non-losing seasons was 1968-75.
• Duquesne entered the season averaging 77.5 points per game under Ron Everhart (9th in the nation since 2007). DU has led the A-10 in scoring three times over that span.
• Ron Everhart inherited a Duquesne program that had won a total of 17 road games in the 10 seasons prior to his arrival. In his six seasons, Everhart's Dukes have posted 29 road wins. Of the 29 wins, 22 have been by double digits. From 1996-97 through 2005-06 Duquesne posted a total of three double-digit road victories.
• Duquesne is 50-26 at home under Ron Everhart, including a 49-23 mark in games played at the Palumbo Center. In the past four seasons, DU has posted 11, 10, 11 and 11 home wins.
• Everhart's Dukes are 45-30 overall including a 26-10 record in non-conference home games. The Dukes are 24-6 in non-conference home games over the past five seasons.
• Duquesne has won 18 or more games twice in the past 30 seasons. Both have come in the past three years (21-13 in 2009 & 19-13 last year).
• The average RPI for Ron Everhart's Duquesne teams is 128. In the four years prior to Everhart's arrival DU's average RPI was 244.8.
• DU received votes in the 2010-11 AP poll (Jan. 24, 31 & Feb. 7) for three consecutive weeks in 2010-11. Existing records could not determine the last time a DU team received AP votes.
• Under Ron Everhart, Duquesne is ... 82-37 when scoring 70 or more points ... 39-5 when shooting 50 percent or better ... 36-9 when forcing 20 or more turnovers ... 75-11 when leading with 5:00 left.
• Duquensne will serve as the "home" team for the neutral-site game against Pitt.
LOUISIANA LEFTOVERS: Duquensne, which allowed its previous opponent, Valparaiso, to shoot .583 in an 84-68 loss on Nov. 20, held Louisiana-Lafayette to .343 shooting - including .222 in the first half - of its 84-65 win on Saturday ... the 65 points and .343 shooting percentage were both DU opponent lows in 2011-12 ... six Dukes scored in double figures led by Sean Johnson and B.J. Monteiro with 16 each ... Johnson, who scored 9 points in the first 5:35, had 14 at the half ... Jerry Jones hit three 3-pointers in scoring a career-high 10 off the bench ... Eric Evans went 10-of-12 from the foul line in scoring 12 points ... the FT makes and attempts tied his career high set in a 19-point effort as a freshman against North Carolina Central ... T.J. McConnell had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals ... the Dukes shot .500 ... it was the third time in the past four games DU has shot 50 percent or better ... the Dukes assisted on 21 of 28 field goals ... it was the team's third 20-assist game this season ... eight players combined to block a season high 11 shots ... head coach Ron Everhart substituted liberally in the second half as 14 players saw action.
THE SERIES: This is the 80th meeting between Duquesne and Pitt in a series that dates back to Jan. 13, 1932 ... Pitt holds a 48-31 advantage overall ... this is the second meeting at CONSOL Energy Center ... last year, No. 3 (AP) Pitt defeated Duquesne 80-66 in the inaugural game at CONSOL ... two years ago, the Dukes and Panthers played in the final basketball game at Mellon Arena, with Pitt emerging with a 67-58 double overtime win ... the seven games before that alternated between Pitt's Petersen Events Center and Duquesne's A.J. Palumbo Center ... 2011-12 marks the 42nd consecutive season the two teams have met ... the last time Duquesne and Pitt did not play was in 1969-70 ... DU snapped an eight-game Pitt win streak with an 80-69 win on Feb. 5, 1998 and won again at Mellon Arena on Dec. 21, 2000 by a 71-70 count, giving the Dukes wins in two of the past 14 meetings ... Pitt has won the past 10 ... the 10-game streak is a series high for either team ... DU head coach Ron Everhart is 0-10 against Big East schools at Duquesne (0-5 vs. Pitt and 0-5 vs. West Virginia). Of the 10 games, five have been against ranked teams (0-4 vs. Pitt and 0-1 vs. WVU) ... Everhart is 2-17 all-time vs. the Big East with wins at Boston College (72-67 in 2002-03) and at West Virginia (91-84 in 2003-04) while the head coach at Northeastern.
NOT TOO OFTEN: This is just the eighth time in the past 26 meetings that Duquesne has entered the Pitt game with a winning record. Five of the eight have come in the past five seasons under Ron Everhart (4-2 this year, 3-1 last year, 5-1 in 2009-10, 4-1 in 2008-09 and 6-1 in 2007-08). The others: 5-4 on Jan. 6, 1992, 4-1 on Dec. 19, 1992 and 3-2 on Dec. 18, 1993.
70 BELOW: Duquesne is 82-37 under Ron Everhart when scoring 70 points or more and 5-39 when held under 70. Everhart's Dukes have averaged 58.3 ppg. in five games vs. Pitt. In fact, Duquesne hasn't scored 70 or more in the past 10 Pitt games (59.8 ppg. over that span). The last time DU scored 70 or more against the Panthers was in the Dukes' last win, 71-70 at Mellon Arena on Dec. 21, 2000.
