Feb. 4, 2016
2015-16 Merle E. Gilliand Duquesne University Sports Hall of Fame inductees men's basketball player Aaron Jackson A'09, women's basketball player Kristi Little-Kaack A'09, football player Niel Loebig E'05, GLPA'10, golfer Paul Sciullo A'95 and swimmer Ed Wicker B'07 will be recognized at halftime (Little-Kaack, Loebig and Wicker will be in attendance; family representatives for Jackson and Sciullo will also be on hand)
QUICK NOTES
• Duquesne (15-7, 5-4), winner of five of six, returns home to face Davidson (12-8, 4-5) on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 12:30 p.m. (ET) on NBCSN. This is the second of two meetings between the Dukes and Wildcats. Davidson defeated Duquesne, 77-66 at Davidson on Jan. 6. This is the first time since 2010-11 (7-0) that Duquesne will enter February with a winning conference record. DU's overall record is the progam's best since the 2011 team opened 16-6.
• DU, which opened Atlantic 10 play with three losses, moved above .500 in conference play (5-4) with its 78-67 win at Saint Louis last Saturday. Derrick Colter, the A-10 Player of the Week, and Micah Mason scored 23 points each for the Dukes who rallied from a 12-point first half deficit. Colter had a career-high tying 27 points against La Salle on Jan. 26, giving him 50 for the week to earn POW honors.
• Duquesne is holding opponents to their lowest field goal percentage in 45 years (.401). The defensive field goal percentage is the best by a DU team since the 1970-71 NCAA Tournament team held opponents to .389. The Dukes have held 10 opponents under 40 percent this season. Only three teams - Pitt (.554), South Carolina State (.456) & VCU (.525) - have shot better than 45 percent against Duquesne this year. DU is limiting its A-10 opponents to .389 shooting.
THE SERIES
Series Record: Davidson leads 3-0
At Pittsburgh: Davidson leads 1-0
A-10 Regular Season: Davidson leads 3-0
SERIES QUICK NOTES
• This is the fourth meeting between Duquesne and second-year Atlantic 10 member Davidson ... the Wildcats swept last year's home-and-home series (95-69 at Belk Arena and 107-78 at Palumbo Center) ... Davidson took the first meeting this season, 77-66 at Belk Arena.
• Davidson, the defending Atlantic 10 regular season champion, was picked to finish 3rd in the A-10 preseason poll.
• Davidson (80.8 ppg.) and Duquesne (79.4 ppg.) enter Saturday's game ranked among top three scoring teams in the Atlantic 10. The Wildcats and Dukes rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference in 3-pointers made per game (9.9 for Davidson and 8.9 for Duquesne).
ON THE WILDCATS
Davidson, which is 10-1 at home, is 2-6 on the road (1-4 in A-10 play) ... the Wildcats are coming off a 79-69 loss at George Washington on Wednesday ... Jack Gibbs, who ranked fourth nationally in scoring through Wednesday (25.5 ppg.), has scored 35 or more six times, including over 40 on three occasions ... Gibbs (58-158, .367) and backcourtmate Brian Sullivan (54-141, .383) have combined for 112 3-pointers ... Sullivan, who missed the first game against Duquesne (concussion protocol), is averaging 13.7 ppg. ... Gibbs (1st Team) and Sullivan (2nd Team) were both named preseason All-A-10 ... the Wildcats have five players with 22 or more 3-pointers ... Davidson is coached by Bob McKillop who is in his 27th season (all with the Wildcats) ... the sixth-longest tenured coach in the country, McKillop earned his 500th win on Nov. 28 (over Denison) ... he has led Davidson to 20 or more wins in 22 of his first 26 seasons.
TRENDING
• The Dukes have already eclipsed their highest win total under fourth-year head coach Jim Ferry (13-17 in 2013-14).
• Duquesne is 10-1 at home, with the lone loss coming to Dayton (58-66) on Jan. 2. It was DU's second game without injured forward Jeremiah Jones. The Dukes were also without second-leading scorer Micah Mason who missed the game with an ankle injury.
• The Dukes have outrebounded 14 of 22 opponents and are 13-1 in those games. DU is 14-3 when scoring 70 or more, 9-0 when hitting 10 or more "3s", 14-0 when leading with 5:00 left and 12-1 when leading at the half.
• DU is holding opponents to their lowest shooting percentage in 45 years. The opponent .401 mark is the lowest since 1970-71 (.389). The Dukes have held their past three opponents, George Mason (.347), La Salle (.300) and Saint Louis (.375), to a combined .338 from the field (68-of-201).
• Duquesne, which shot .365 in its first three conference games, is shooting .463 in its past six. DU is averaging 83.0 ppg. over that span.
• The trio of L.G. Gill (20-21, .952), Micah Mason (20-23, .870) and Derrick Colter (61-74, .824) is shooting a combined .856 (101-of-118) from the foul line in conference play.
• Derrick Colter scored 50 points in DU's two games last week to earn A-10 Player of the Week honors. Colter scored 20 in the second half vs. both La Salle (27 pts) and Saint Louis (23 pts).
• Micah Mason - who topped the 1,000-point career mark vs. SC State on Dec. 16 - is closing in on his 1,000th point in a Duquesne uniform. The Drake transfer enters the Davidson game with 1,161 points overall, including 999 in 77 games at DU.
NEXT UP: Duquesne heads to Ohio to face Dayton on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 p.m. on ASN.
