March 18, 2016
QUICK NOTES
• Duquesne (17-16), coming off the school's fourth post-season tournament win (NCAA/NIT/CBI) in 47 years, heads to Kentucky to face Morehead State (20-12) on Monday, March 21 at 7:00 p.m. in a quarterfinal game of the College Basketball Invitational. Morehead State, which has won eight of its last nine, advanced by virtue of an 84-80 win at Siena (21-13) on Tuesday. Derrick Colter led six Dukes in double figures with a career-high 28 points in Duquesne's 120-112 win over Omaha (18-14), in DU's first round game in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
• DU is looking to post back-to-back post-season tournament victories (NCAA/NIT/CBI) for the first time since the 1962 NIT team notched wins over Navy and No. 6 (AP) Bradley in succession.
• This is the first meeting between Duquesne and Morehead State since the 1971-72 season opener (a 76-63 Dukes win at the Civic Arena on Dec. 2, 1971). Duquesne is 4-7 on the road, including a 1-1 mark in non-conference road games. MSU is 12-2 at home with wins in its past five games at Johnson Arena.
• This is just the seventh time in the past 43 years that a Duquesne team has posted 17 wins.
NOTING THE CBI
• The four remaining CBI participants will be re-seeded - and home teams determined - at the conclusion of Monday's games. Semifinal play is tentatively set for Wednesday, March 23.
• In the nine-year history of the CBI, home teams are 102-40 (.718), including a 25-7 (.781) mark in second round games. Home teams won seven of eight first round games (Morehead State was the lone road winner).
• Duquesne was the only road team to post a win in the 2011 CBI (home teams went 16-1 overall that year). The Dukes went on to fall in the second round at Oregon, 77-75.
• Nine current members of the Atlantic 10 Conference have participated in the CBI: Duquesne (2010, 2011 & 2016), George Washington (2010), Rhode Island (2011), Richmond (2008, 2009 & 2013), St. Bonaventure (2011) and Saint Louis (2010). Davidson participated as a member of the Southern Conference in 2011, George Mason played as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in 2013 and VCU took the court as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in 2010. Three current A-10 members have advanced to the Championship Series with VCU defeating Saint Louis in 2010 and George Mason losing to Santa Clara in 2013.
THE SERIES
Series Record: Duquesne leads 3-0
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 1-0
At Morehead, Ky.: Never met
Neutral: Duquesne leads 2-0 (both games in Louisville, Ky.)
Last Meeting: 76-63 Duquesne win in Pittsburgh on Dec. 2, 1971
SERIES QUICK NOTES
• Duquesne leads the overall series 3-0, with the last meeting coming on Dec. 2, 1971 (a 76-63 Dukes win at Civic Arena) ... the two met in back-to-back seasons in 1946-47 and 1947-48 in Louisville, Ky. (both Duquesne wins) ... this is the first meeting at Morehead, Ky.
• MSU, which has won eight of its last nine, is 1-1 against the Atlantic 10 this year with a 60-46 win at Saint Louis on Dec. 2 and an 81-77 loss at Davidson on Dec. 23 ... the Dukes and Eagles share a third opponent in Pitt, who defeated MSU 72-62 at Petersen Events Center on Dec. 13.
NOTING MOREHEAD STATE
• MSU finished second in the the East Division of the Ohio Valley Conference with an 11-5 record. The Eagles fell to UT Martin in the second round of the OVC championship. All five of MSU's conference losses came by six or fewer points.
• Morehead State is one of the top rebounding teams in the nation. The Eagles were ranked 4th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (14.7/g.) through March 16. MSU is 0-6 this season when outrebounded.
• MSU is led by 6-3 junior guard Corban Collins - a Second Team All-OVC pick. The second-year LSU transfer leads the Eagles at 11.7 ppg. (75 assists, 31 steals, 50 3-pointers). Collins has scored 20 or more three times this season.
NOTING THE DUKES
• This is the third CBI appearance for Duquesne (2010, 2011 & 2016) and first post-season appearance for DU under fourth-year head coach Jim Ferry. It is the program's first post-season appearance since 2011.
• The Dukes are in their fourth season under Jim Ferry. Ferry, who came to Duquesne after leading LIU Brooklyn to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (2011 & 2012), notched his 300th career win at George Mason on Jan. 22. The 2015-16 Dukes have posted the most wins by in the Ferry Era (previous 13-17 in 2014) and clinched the school's eighth non-losing season in the past 35 years.
• Senior guards Derrick Colter (593/152) & Micah Mason (584 points/143 assists) have scored more combined points (1,177) and handed out more assists (295) this season than any duo in school history.
• Colter - who, along with Jeremiah Jones, was part of Jim Ferry's first recruiting class - has started every game in his DU career (school-record 124). Mason, who transferred to DU after one season at Drake, is on pace to be the fourth most-accurate 3-point shooter in NCAA history (.466). Colter (1,679 points) and Mason (1,407 points) have combined for 242 games played and 220 starts.
• Mason (18.3 ppg./584 points) & Colter (18.0 ppg./593 points), who are one and two on the team in scoring for the second consecutive season, have joined all-time greats Si Green and Dick Ricketts as the only other Duquesne duo to score 500 or more points in the same season. Green (551 points) & Ricketts (523) both scored over 500 in leading DU to the 1955 NIT title. Green and Ricketts were both named consensus first team All-Americans that season. Colter & Mason are the first Duquesne teammates to average 17 or more points per game in the same season since Mickey Davis (19.0 ppg.) and current DU radio color man Jarrett Durham (18.0 ppg.) did it in 1970-71.
• Mason, the fourth-leading 3-point shooter in NCAA history (.466), could miss his next 20 attempts and still break the A-10 career mark held by Saint Joseph's Matt Carroll (.445, 294-661 from 2002-05) (A-10 recognizes Mason's attempts at Duquesne only, .460, 267-580). With every make, Mason adds to his school single-season record for 3-pointers (he has 114 this season/old record was 99).
• Duquesne, whose defensive field goal pct. was .434 last season, is limiting opponents to .416 shooting. The mark is the best by a DU team since the 1970-71 NCAA Tournament squad held opponents to .389. It is the best by a DU team since the shot clock was introduced in 1985-86.
• The Dukes are on school-record pace for 3-pointers per game at 9.5. The current mark of 8.7 was set in 2008-09. DU's 313 3-point field goals have broken the previous school record of 296 set in 34 games in 2008-09.
• DU's current 79.8 ppg. scoring average is its highest since 2008 (82.3). The Dukes are 52 points shy of the school record for points set in 2009 (2,683 in 34 g.)
• The Dukes have outrebounded 18 of 32 opponents and are 15-3 in those games.
• A guard has either led, or tied for the team lead in scoring, in 56 of the Dukes' past 64 games over the past two seasons, including 28 of 33 games this year.
NOTING THE WIN OVER OMAHA
• It was Duquesne's fourth post-season tournament win (NCAA/NIT/CBI) in 47 years.
• It was just the seventh time in the past 43 years that a Duquesne team has posted 17 wins.
• The win clinched DU's eighth non-losing season in 35 years.
• The 232 combined points were the most ever in a Duquesne game ... the previous record was 224 set in a 116-108 double-overtime loss at Virginia Tech in the first round of the 2009 NIT ... the effort also shattered the CBI combined record of 194 set in a 102-92 Creighton win over Davidson on March 21, 2011 ... Creighton's 102 points, which were the most ever scored in a CBI game, were eclipsed by both Duquesne and Omaha.
• The 120 points tied the fourth-highest total in Duquesne history and the 69 second-half points were the third-most scored by a DU team in a half (record is 73 in 129-59 win over Howard on Nov. 9, 2007)
• Derrick Colter went 14-of-15 from the foul line in scoring a career-high 28 points ... Colter's previous high was 27, which he reached twice this season vs. Milwaukee and La Salle ... the 5-11 Colter added 9 assists and tied for team high with 6 rebounds and led the team with a career-best 2 blocks.
• Sophomore center Jordan Robinson, who entered the game having attempted 17 free throws in Duquesne's first 32 games, went 11-of-15 from the line in scoring a career-high 17 points ... Robinson's previous career-best was 10, which he reached twice as a freshman ... Robinson's scoring average entering the game was 2.7 ppg.
• Micah Mason added to his school record for 3-pointers in a season by going 4-of-9 from the arc ... he now has 114 "3s" in 32 games.
• Duquesne's largest lead was +19 (53-34) the last of which came with 19:12 left ... Omaha never led.
