Dec. 18, 2014 THE SERIES
UMass Lowell competes in the America East Conference ... second game of a home-and-home series ... the Dukes shot a season-high .623 in setting a season high for points in a 95-77 win at Lowell last season ... UML won its next three - and nine of its last 16 - to finish 10-18... in its second season under head coach Pat Duquette who was named as one of 10 finalists for the Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball ... Duquette was an assistant at Boston College for 13 seasons and associate head coach at Northeastern for three years prior to taking over at UMass Lowell ... UMass Lowell is in its second season in transition from Division II to Division I.
UML THIS YEAR
UMass Lowell has been idle since a 69-48 home loss to Dartmouth on Dec. 10 ... the River Hawks reeled off six-straight wins between Nov. 20 and Dec. 3 ... they defeated NJIT twice (63-61 on the road and 71-67 at home) and also posted a win at Atlantic 10 Fordham (64-57) during the streak ... UML, which lost to A-10 member Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I. (72-56 on Nov. 16), is 4-3 on the road with wins at Sacred Heart, NJIT, Fordham and Boston U ... Lowell, which is shooting .378 from the 3-point arc, has four players with 10 or more 3-pointers led by first-year graduate student guard Marco Banegas-Flores who is 16-of-33 (.485) ... the Northeastern transfer is averaging 10.5 ppg. and leads the team with 25 assists and 19 steals ... redshirt freshman guard 6-2, 220-pound Jahad Thomas leads the team with a 14.2 ppg. scoring average ... Thomas scored a game-high 18 points in UML's season-opening loss at Ohio State ... the River Hawks are holding opponents to .438 shooting and are forcing 14.8 turnovers per game ... nine players are averaging 15 or more minutes per game.
THE DUKES
LEFTOVERS FROM SAINT FRANCIS
Leftovers from Duquesne's 67-52 loss to Saint Francis on Wednesday: Duquesne was held to a season-low point total for the second consecutive game (following a 75-59 loss at Robert Morris) ... the Dukes were outrebounded by 16 (45-29), the largest margin of the season ... Saint Francis, which led from start to finish, maintained at least a double-digit lead for the final 11:02 ... Derrick Colter (2-of-4 from 3-pt.) led the Dukes with 17 points ... Jeremiah Jones was the only other DU player in double figures with 10 ... Jones led the Dukes with seven rebounds ... DU, which assisted on just 10 of 18 field goals, finished with 12 turnovers ... the Dukes were 10-of-18 from the foul line.
QUICK NOTES
• Duquesne hosts UMass Lowell in its final pre-Christmas game on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 1:00 p.m. The UMass Lowell game is the second of four in a row at home for the Dukes.
• This is the second game of a home-and-home series and second all-time meeting between Duquesne and UMass Lowell. Last year, DU set a season highs for points and field goal percentage (.623) in a 95-77 win at Lowell, Mass.
• DU, which is looking to snap a four-game losing streak, has scored 62, 62, 59 & 52 points in its past four games. DU, which averaged 88.8 ppg. in its first four games, is 82-of-225 (.364) from the field and 25-of-98 from 3-point (.255) during its current streak. The Dukes have been outrebounded by 26 (91-65) in their past two games.
• Junior Derrick Colter, who made the move from point guard to two guard this season, ranked third nationally in individual 3-point percentage (23-39, .590) through Wednesday.
• Six-six freshman TySean Powell (10.8 ppg.) has missed just 14 shots in his first eight college games (33-47, .702). Powell leads the team in double-digit scoring games (5), dunks (13) and conventional three-point plays (5 in 5 attempts). Fellow freshman 6-5 Eric James (7.9 ppg.) has four double-digit games under his belt. James (16-30) & Powell (20-30) rank 1st & 2nd on the team in free throw attempts.
• Duquesne's roster consists of one senior, six juniors, three sophomores and five freshmen. The Dukes have four first-year scholarship players.
• Three of DU's top five scorers are first year players: JC transfer Jordan Stevens (12.9 ppg.), freshman TySean Powell (10.6 ppg.) and freshman Eric James (7.9 ppg.).
• Micah Mason, who led the nation in 3-point shooting percentage in 2014 (65-116, .560), hit a career-high six 3-pointers in seven attempts vs. NJIT on Nov. 29. Mason has now hit five or more "3s" in a game six times (four at Duquesne and two as a freshman at Drake). Mason has struggled from the arc - by Mason standards - in his past four games, going 6-of-26 (.231). To put that in perspective, this is the first time in his career he has shot under 50 percent from the 3-point arc in four-straight games (he only shot below 50 percent from the arc in back-to-back games just once entering the season). For the season, Mason is shooting .404 from the arc (21-of-52). He has a team-high 23 assists with 15 turnovers.
• Derrick Colter became the eighth player in school history to hit seven or more 3-pointers in a game when he went 7-of-8 from the arc in scoring a career-high 26 points in the opener vs. Bluefield State. Colter's seven makes were one shy of the school record shared by three players (last by Aaron Jackson who went 8-of-13 in scoring 46 points in a double-overtime NIT 116-108 loss at Virginia Tech on Mar. 18, 2009).
• Colter, who entered his junior season as a .329 career 3-point shooter, ranked 3rd nationally in 3-point shooting percentage at .590 (23-39) through Wednesday's games.
• Duquesne was picked to finish 11th in the 14-team Atlantic 10 in the annual poll of league coaches and media. National media outlets pegged the Dukes to finish anywhere from 7th (Basketball Times & College Basketball Madness) to 12th (Athlon).
• The Dukes return four starters - junior guards Derrick Colter & Micah Mason, junior forward Jeremiah Jones and senior forward Dominique McKoy - from last year's 13-17 team (5-11 in the Atlantic 10, tied for 10th place).
• DU's lone senior, forward Dominique McKoy, saw a streak of 31 consecutive games played snapped at Abilene Christian. McKoy underwent a medical procedure that prevented him from making the trip to Texas. He has nine rebounds in 40 minutes in DU's past two games.
• First-year JC transfer Jordan Stevens went 6-of-9 from 3-point in scoring 27 points in 28 minutes off the bench in his debut at Abilene Christian. The Columbia, Mo. native, who was held out of the season opener (team suspension), added 16 off the bench vs. NJIT. He had nine points and five assists in 22 minutes off the bench vs. Howard and added 15 points, three assists and two steals vs. Pitt. He scored a team-high 18 off the bench at Penn State. Stevens is second on the team with 21 assists (2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio) and is tied for the team lead with seven steals.
• Building quality depth has been a priority of head coach Jim Ferry since his arrival at Duquesne. Through 8 games, DU's bench has outscored the opponent bench 264-149 (an average of 14.3 ppg.). The DU bench, which posted a high of 67 points at Abilene Christian, has outscored its opponent in five of eight games.
• DU's 11.0 turnovers/g. last season was the lowest mark in school history (previous was 11.5 in 1995). Returning guards Mason (74/13), Colter (101/54) & Ridenour (59/41) combined for 234 assists and 108 turnovers (a 2.2-to-1 ratio) in 2014. The Dukes, with four first-year players playing prominent roles, are averaging 12.9 turnovers per game this season.
NEXT UP
Duquesne returns to action on Dec. 28 when it hosts Texas-Pan American at 7:00 p.m.
