Jan. 18, 2016
QUICK NOTES
• Duquesne (12-6, 2-3), winner of two in a row, plays its second consecutive undefeated Atlantic 10 opponent when it heads to Richmond to face VCU (13-5, 5-0) on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. (MASN). The Dukes handed St. Bonaventure its first A-10 loss - and first defeat in five games - by a 95-88 score on Saturday at Palumbo Center. VCU, which is coming off a 94-89 OT win at Richmond on Saturday, has won eight-straight.
• Duquesne is 1-3 on the road, with a win at Saint Francis U (67-65) at Johnstown, Pa. on Dec. 12 and a losses at Georgia Tech (67-73) on Dec. 29, at Davidson (66-77) on Jan. 6 and at George Washington (64-91) on Jan. 9. VCU is 9-1 at Siegel Center.
• Duquesne is holding opponents to their lowest field goal percentage in 45 years (.406). The defensive field goal percentage is the best by a DU team since the 1970-71 team held opponents to .389. The Dukes have held seven opponents under 40 percent this season. Only two teams - Pitt (.554) and South Carolina State (.456) - have shot better than 45 percent against Duquesne this year. In five Atlantic 10 Conference games, DU's opponents are shooting .394.
NEXT UP: The Dukes will stay on the road to face George Mason in Fairfax, Va. on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 4:00 p.m. (Atlantic 10 Digital Network).
THE SERIES
Series Record: VCU leads 3-0
At Richmond: VCU leads 1-0
A-10 Regular Season: VCU leads 3-0
• This is the fourth meeting between Duquesne and fourth-year A-10 member VCU ... last year, the #17 (AP) Rams defeated the Dukes, 70-64, at CONSOL Energy Center.
• VCU, which is off to a 5-0 Atlantic 10 start (first in the A-10), was picked to finish fifth in the A-10 preseason poll ... the Rams are in their first season under head coach Will Wade.
• VCU extended its win streak to eight with a 94-89 overtime win at Richmond on Saturday ... JaQuan Lewis scored a career high 29 points and Korey Billbury added 20 in the win ... there were 20 lead changes and 11 ties in the game.
• The Rams are forcing 17.6 turnovers per game and limiting opponents to 66.0 ppg. ... DU has scored 63, 65 and 64 points in three games against VCU.
• VCU has forced 20 or more turnovers in a game six times this season, the Dukes have turned it over 20 times once (20 vs. Saint Louis on Jan. 13).
• The Rams are 9-1 at home with the lone loss coming to Cincinnati (69-63) on Dec. 19.
• VCU is led by preseason third team All-Atlantic 10 picks Melvin Johnson (18.4 ppg.) and junior forward Mo Alie-Cox (9.3, 4.3, 29 blocks) ... Johnson ranks third in VCU history in 3-pointers (140) and 20th in total points (1,363)... Cox ranks among the top five in school history with 145 blocks.
• Duquesne sophomore forward L.G. Gill was a high school teammate of VCU junior guard Jordan Burgess ... Gill was Burgess' back-up on Benedictine's 2012 state semifinalist.
LEFTOVERS FROM ST. BONAVENTURE: Leftovers from Duquesne's 95-88 win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday: Micah Mason (27) and Derrick Colter (23) combined for 50 points - including 33 of 59 in the second half - as Duquesne snapped SBU's five-game win streak and handed the Bonnies their first A-10 loss ... the 59 points were the most in a half by a Jim Ferry-coached DU team ... the Dukes shot .667 from the field and 19-of-23 from the foul line in the second half ... L.G. Gill posted his second career double-double (12-12) for the Dukes ... Eric James had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and TySean Powell scored 10 of the bench for DU ... the Dukes, led by Colter's nine dimes, assisted on 23 of 32 baskets ... the Dukes outrebounded the Bonnies 49-34 ... there were eight ties and 12 lead changes before Mason gave DU the lead for good on a layup with 9:39 left ... Duquesne's lead reached 13 with 2:32 to go ... Colter and Mason hit 10-of-10 free throws (six by Mason) over the last 1:11 to seal the win.
TRENDING
• DU is holding opponents to their lowest shooting percentage in 45 years. The opponent .406 mark is the lowest since 1970-71 (.389).
• Duquesne, which shot .365 in its first three conference games, is shooting .509 in its past two. DU's .525 effort vs. St. Bonaventure was its best since .531 vs. UMBC on Dec. 8.
• Junior L.G. Gill, a native of Chesterfield, Va., is coming off a 12-12 double-double vs. SBU. It was the second double-double of his career (the other was 22-10 vs. UMBC earlier this season).
• Senior guards Micah Mason (27) and Derrick Colter (23) combined for 50 points and 13 assits in the win over St. Bonaventure. The two accounted for 33 of DU's Jim Ferry Era high 59 second-half points.
• The Dukes have outrebounded 12 of 18 opponents and are 11-1 in those games.
• Duquesne is the only A-10 team that is facing the top five teams in the league's preseason poll at least once on the road.
• Head coach Jim Ferry enters the VCU game with 299 career wins.
