March 8, 2016
BREAKING: Mason Named Third Team All-Atlantic 10
QUICK NOTES
• Duquesne (16-15, 6-12) is making its third consecutive appearance at the Atlantic 10 Championship under fourth-year head coach Jim Ferry. The No. 11 seed Dukes face No. 14 La Salle (8-21, 4-14) in a first round game on Wednesday, March 9 at 9:00 p.m. (ASN /Ed Cohen & John Griffin). The winner moves on to face No. 6 seed Davidson (18-11, 10-8) on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. (NBCSN / Terry Gannon & Dalen Cuff).
• This is the second A-10 Championship meeting between Duquesne and La Salle and second meeting this season. The Dukes defeated the Explorers 87-60 in Pittsburgh on Jan. 26. In the only other A-10 Championship meeting, seventh-seeded La Salle defeated No. 10 Duquesne 82-79 in a first round game at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. on Mar. 12, 2008.
• DU head coach Jim Ferry, who coached for 10 seasons at LIU Brooklyn, won Northeast Conference championships in his last two post-season appearances with the Blackbirds in 2011 & 2012. The team he left went on to win a third title under former Ferry assistant Jack Perri. It was the first time in NEC history that the same school won three consecutive tournament titles. Last year, Ferry guided the 11th-seeded Dukes to a win over No. 14 Saint Louis in the first round. It was DU's first tournament win since 2009. Ferry will be looking to become the first DU coach to lead the Dukes to back-to-back opening round wins since John Carroll did it in 1994 and 1995.
LEAGUE FINISH: Duquesne finished the regular season tied for 10th in the Atlantic 10 with a 6-12 record. DU went 3-6 at home and 3-6 on the road in conference games.
THE SEED: This is the second time - and second-straight year - Duquesne will enter the Championship as a No. 11 seed.
FIRST ROUND SUCCESS: Duquesne had won just two first round A-10 Championship games since 1995 (DU did not qualify in 2006 & 2013) prior to last year's opening round win over Saint Louis. Jim Ferry is looking to guide the Dukes to back-to-back opening round wins for the first time since 1994 & 1995.
THE BRACKET: Duquesne 2-3 this season against its first three potential opponents in the 2016 A-10 Championship bracket (1-0 vs. La Salle, 0-2 vs. Davidson & 1-1 vs. St. Bonaventure).
VS. LA SALLE
Series Record: La Salle leads 41-31
Neutral Site: Tied 2-2
A-10 Regular Season: La Salle leads 21-14
A-10 Championship: La Salle leads 1-0
SERIES QUICK NOTES
• This is the 73rd meeting in a series that dates to Feb. 10, 1940 ... La Salle leads 41-31, including a 1-0 edge at the Atlantic 10 Championship ... Duquesne snapped a five-game series losing streak with an 87-60 win over the Explorers in Pittsburgh on Jan. 26 ... the 27-point margin of victory was DU's second-largest in series history.
• The past 13 meetings have been decided by a total of 15 points (1,043 for Duquesne to 1,028 for La Salle) ... the Dukes have won six and the Explorers seven of the past 13 ... the average score in those games is Duquesne 80.2 and La Salle 79.1 (+1.1 ppg.) ... DU had been held under 70 points in four of five meetings - all La Salle wins - prior to this year's game.
ON THE EXPLORERS
La Salle was picked to finish 9th in the Atlantic 10 in the preseason poll of league coaches ... the Explorers, who have won two of their past three, are 1-12 on the road (this will be La Salle's first neutral-site games ... the Explorers, who are coming off a 69-52 loss at UMass on Saturday, have the A-10's fourth-leading scorer in second-year Auburn transfer Jordan Price (18.5 ppg.) ... Price, a redshirt junior guard, had 13 at UMass.
LEFTOVERS FROM SAINT JOSEPH'S
Leftovers from DU's regular season-ending 78-70 win at Saint Joseph's on Saturday: Micah Mason scored 28 points (five 3-pointers) and Derrick Colter had 18 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds to lead the Dukes, who snapped an eight-game losing streak ... Colter's assist and rebound totals matched his career high ... L.G. Gill added 14 points and a career-best 14 rebounds for DU, who either led - or tied for the lead - for the last 35:38 of the game ... the Dukes, who shot 50 percent, limited the Hawks to 34.7 percent shooting, including 9-of-36 (.250) from 3-point ... Colter added three 3-pointers for the Dukes who finished 11-of-27 from the arc ... the win was the Dukes' third in 23 all-time games vs. the Hawks in Philadelphia.
TRENDING
• Senior guards Micah Mason (542 points/139 assists) & Derrick Colter (547/140) have scored more combined points (1,089) and handed out more assists (279) this season than any duo in school history.
• Duquesne, whose defensive field goal pct. was .434 last season, is limiting opponents to .412 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 9.4. The current mark of 8.7 was set in 2008-09. DU's 290 3-point field goals are seven shy of breaking the school record of 296 set in 34 games in 2008-09.
• DU's current 78.7 ppg. scoring average is its highest since 2008 (82.3).
• The Dukes have outrebounded 17 of 30 opponents and are 14-3 in those games.
• Senior guard Derrick Colter is the fourth Duke with over 500 career assists (510). The others: Norm Nixon (577), Clayton Adams (573) & Aaron Jackson (505).
• Micah Mason, the fifth-leading 3-point shooter in NCAA history (.464), could miss his next 17 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, .458, 257-561). With every make, Mason adds to school single-season record (he has 104 this season).
