Nov. 18, 2013

Game Notes

GAME 4 / ALBANY (2-1) at DUQUESNE (1-2)
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013 • 7:00 EST • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,406)
Radio: WPGB-FM 104.7 Ray Goss (`58) (pxp), Jarrett Durham (`71) (analyst)

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Duquesne, which dropped its second consecutive game, 96-83 at West Virginia on Sunday, returns home to face its second America East Conference opponent of the young season when Albany (2-1) visits the Palumbo Center on Wed., Nov. 20 (WPGB-FM 104.7) at 7:00 p.m.

SERIES NOTES
The series is tied at 1-1 ... DU took the first meeting by a 72-43 score on Nov. 14, 1998 at the Palumbo Center ... this is the second game of a home-and-home series ... UAlbany won at home, 69-66, last year in DU coach Jim Ferry's debut ... the Dukes rallied from a nine-point second half deficit only to see Derrick Colter's desperation 3-pointer glance off the front rim as time expired ... the Great Danes went on to post a 24-11 record in winning the AE Conference Tournament and earning an NCAA tournament bid ... Albany is the second of four America East Conference members on the schedule (New Hampshire, UMBC and UMass Lowell are the others).

MORE ON ALBANY
The Great Danes are 2-1, inlcluding a 1-1 mark on the road (74-62 win at Siena and 79-69 loss at Quinnipiac) ... UAlbany returns three starters from a team that ranked 40th nationally in scoring defense (60.7 ppg.) ... junior F Sam Rowley, a native of Sydney, Australia, leads UA in scoring and rebounding (16.3, 6.3) ... Rowley is one of six international players on its roster (including his younger brother Michael) ... UA starts three seniors in 6-10, 235 center John Puk (6.7, 5.3), 6-6 forward Gary Johnson (9.3, 4.7) and 5-9 point guard D.J. Evans (11.3, 3.0a) ... head coach Will Brown, who is in his 13th season, is the longest tenured coach in the America East. ... Albany was picked to finish third in the AE preseason coaches' poll.

WVU LEFTOVERS
Leftovers from Duquesne's 96-83 loss at West Virginia on Sunday: Duquesne trailed by as many as 14 in the first half before rallying to tie it on a Micah Mason 3-pointer with 14:54 left ... the game remained in the three-to-seven point range until the Mountaineers opened up a 10 point lead on back-to-back 3-pointers with 5:38 left ... DU would get no closer the rest of the way ... the WVU backcourt of Eron Harris (33 points, 6-of-8 from 3-point) and Juwan Staten (28 points, 9 assists, 14-of-19 from the line) was dominant ... WVU shot a Ferry Era opponent high .589, including 10-of-18 (.556) from 3-point ... Ovie Soko led DU with his second double-double of the season (19-12) ... Micah Mason came off the bench to add 18 points (5-of-7 from 3-point) ... JC transfer Dominique McKoy added 15 points and 9 rebounds ... Duquesne's starting backcourt of Derrick Colter and Tra'Vaughn White, which entered the game averaging a combined 36.5 ppg. on .578 shooting, went 5-of-16 in finishing with 12 points (Colter 1-of-6, 2 points & White 4-of-10, 10 points) ... Colter's two points tied his career low set last year in an 0-of-11 performance at Dayton ... it was just the third time in his past 25 games that Colter did not reach double digits ... DU outrebounded WVU 39-30 and outscored the Mountaineers 43-32 in the paint ... WVU outscored the Dukes 31-10 off turnovers as DU turned it over a season-high 16 times ... eight of the 10 players who saw action had at least one turnover for the Dukes.

IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
Duquesne is 220-230 (.489) in non-conference games since 1976-77 as members of the Eastern 8/Atlantic 10 and Midwestern Collegiate Conference (1992-93 only), including a 145-69 mark at home (54-123 on the road & 21-38 neutral). The Dukes have not had a losing non-conference record since 2006-07. DU is 8-9 in non-league play under Jim Ferry (7-2 at home, 1-6 on the road & 0-1 neutral).

QUICK NOTES
• America East member New Hampshire and West Virginia, the two teams who have defeated the Dukes, both shot a Ferry Era opponent best .556 from the arc (15-of-27 for UNH & 10-of-18 for WVU). Opponents are shooting .486 from the field and .457 from 3-point against DU. Albany enters Wednesday's game shooting .460 overall, including 12-of-35,.343 from the arc.

• Offensively, the Dukes have five players averaging in double figures led by first-year senior UAB transfer Ovie Soko (16.7, 11.0). In all, six players have scored 10 or more in a game already this season. DU has had at least four double-digit scorers in all three games.

• Five of the Dukes' top six scorers are first year players: UAB transfer Ovie Soko (16.7 ppg.), JC transfer Tra'Vaughn White (16.0), JC transfer Dominique McKoy (13.0), Drake transfer Micah Mason (10.7) and freshman Desmond Ridenour (7.0). Sophomore Derrick Colter is the lone returnee (12.3) among the top six.

• Only three scholarship players are back from last year's 8-22 team: returning starters Derrick Colter and Jeremiah Jones along with senior Jerry Jones. DU also has three first-year players with Division I experience in senior Ovie Soko (88 games for UAB from 2010-12), JC transfer Dominique McKoy (30 games at Rhode Island in 2012) and sophomore Micah Mason (30 games at Drake last year). The 12 scholarship players on the 2013-14 roster brought a combined 10 total seasons of Division I experience into the season.

• 10 of the 14 players on the current active roster are freshmen or sophomores.

• Senior Ovie Soko, who sat out last season following his transfer from UAB, posted a 17-13 double-double vs. Abilene Christian in his DU debut and added a second with 19 points and 12 boards at WVU. Soko, who scored in double digits 28 times - all in his final 60 games - at UAB, has totaled 10 or more in his three games as a Duke.

• First-year Drake transfer Micah Mason was granted a waiver by the NCAA on Nov. 8 clearing his way to compete this season. Mason, a sophomore, was the top 3-point shooter in the Missouri Valley Conference last season (40-of-79, .506). He hit a 3-pointer on his first touch in a Dukes uniform, 28 seconds after entering the Abilene Chritstian game. Mason broke out with 18 points on 5-of-7 3-point shooting at WVU. He is 8-of-15 from the arc and has turned it over once (with 8 assists) in 79 total minutes.

• Sophomore guard Derrick Colter, who became just the fifth player - and first underclassman - to lead the Dukes in scoring and assists when he averaged 13.4 ppg. and 5.3 apg. last season, scored a team-high 23 in the opener. It was the fifth 20-point game of his young career.

• First-year JC transfer forward Dominique McKoy has been a model of consistency with 11, 13 and 15 points in his first three games. McKoy, who is shooting .737, ranks second to Soko with an 8.0 rpg. average.

• Four players posted 40-plus inch running vertical jumps in July testing. The four highest-leaping Dukes are: Jeremiah Jones (42.5"), Derrick Colter (42.5"), Ovie Soko (40.5") and Desmond Ridenour (40.5").

• Freshman forward Isaiah Watkins, who underwent lleg surgery on January 31 in his hometown of Toronto, had additional arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Oct. 3. He is currently cleared for limited participation in practice. His return date is to be determined.

• A second Canadian freshman forward, 6-8, 255-pound Jordan Robinson, has not been certified as eligible by the NCAA and has yet to practice.

• The Dukes have five first-time opponents on the 13-game non-conference schedule in Abilene Christian, UMass Lowell, New Hampshire, NJIT & Texas-Pan American.

• The Dukes are facing teams from the ACC (Pitt), Big 12 (L, West Virginia) and Big Ten (Penn State) as well as additional traditional rivals Robert Morris and Saint Francis, Pa. in non-conference play.


NEXT UP: Duquesne will have a nine-day break before facing Pitt in the annual City Game on Nov. 30 at 1:00 p.m. at CONSOL Energy Center. It will be the 82nd meeting between the two schools.