Complete 2016 Season Review

PITTSBURGH - With the 2015-16 college basketball season in the books. It's time to take one final look at the '16 Duquesne Dukes.

Duquesne completed its 100th season with a 17-17 record and an appearance in the 2015-16 College Basketball Invitational.

The 17 wins were the most under fourth-year head coach Jim Ferry, and marked just the seventh time in the past 44 seasons that a DU team posted 17 or more victories. The post-season appearance was the school's first since 2011.

Led by senior co-captains Micah Mason, Derrick Colter and Jeremiah Jones, Duquesne got out of the blocks quickly with a 9-2 record entering a Dec. 19 match-up with Robert Morris. The Dukes went on to win that game to match the school's best start since 1979-80, but also suffered a significant setback when Jones - who had played in 95 consecutive games - was lost for the season with a torn ACL.

The loss of Jones was magnified when Mason sprained an ankle in the first half of a six-point loss at Georgia Tech. The injury sidelined Mason for the Atlantic 10 opener vs. Dayton and hobbled him for losses at Davidson and George Washington.

With Mason back a full strength, DU rallied to win five of its next six to move to 15-7 overall and 5-4 in the A-10. The Dukes then dropped their next eight - with three of the defeats coming by four or fewer points and a fourth coming in overtime.

DU rallied to end the regular season with a 78-70 win at eventual A-10 Champion Saint Joseph's on March 2.

DU accepted an invitation to the CBI, where it defeated Omaha, 120-112, in a first round game for the school's fourth post-season tournament win (NCAA/NIT/CBI) in 47 years.

Mason (608 points, 18.4 ppg., 148 assists) and Colter (609 points, 17.9 ppg., 156 assists) combined to become the second duo in school history to score 500 or more points - and first to top 600 in a season - in the history of Duquesne basketball.

Mason, a Third Team All-Atlantic 10 pick, set a new school record with 118 3-point field goals. He finished his career as the sixth-most accurate 3-point shooter in NCAA history and best 3-point shooter in the history of the Atlantic 10.

Colter, who set a school record with 125 starts (every game of his career), finished seventh on DU's all-time scoring list with 1,695 points and third in career assists with 526.

The 2016 Dukes, who led the A-10 at 79.5 ppg., set school records for points (2,704), field goals (950), 3-pointers (322) and 3-pointers per game (9.5). The 322 3-pointers were the third-most in A-10 history.

NOTING THE DUKES
• Duquesne made its third CBI appearance (2010, 2011 & 2016), and first post-season appearance under fourth-year head coach Jim Ferry in 2016. It was the program's first post-season appearance since 2011.

• This was Duquesne's 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 posted the most wins in the Ferry Era (previous 13-17 in 2014) and finished with the school's eighth non-losing season in the past 35 years.

• This was just the seventh time in the past 44 seasons that a Duquesne team posted 17 wins.

• DU's 120-112 CBI First Round win over Omaha was the school's fourth post-season tournament win (NCAA/NIT/CBI) in 47 years.

• Senior guard Micah Mason earned Third Team All-Atlantic 10 honors. Mason ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 in conference-only scoring at 19.6 ppg. and scored 20 or more nine times in 17 regular-season A-10 games.

• Senior guards Derrick Colter (609 points/156 assists) & Micah Mason (608/148) scored more combined points (1,217) and handed out more assists (304) in a season than any twosome in school history.

• Colter - who, along with Jeremiah Jones, was part of Jim Ferry's first recruiting class - started every game in his DU career (school-record 125). Mason, who transferred to DU after one season at Drake, finished as the sixth most-accurate 3-point shooter in NCAA history (.463). Colter (1,695 points) and Mason (1,431 points/1,269 at Duquesne) combined for 244 collegiate games played and 222 starts.

• Mason (18.4 ppg./608 points) and Colter (17.9 ppg./609 points), who finished one-and-two on the team in scoring for the second consecutive season, were the first pair to score over 600 points each in the same season. All-time greats Si Green and Dick Ricketts are the only other Duquesne duo to score 500 or more points in the same season. Green (551 points) & Ricketts (523) did it in leading DU to the 1955 NIT title. Green and Ricketts were both named consensus first team All-Americans that season.

• Colter & Mason were 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 for the Dukes' 1970-71 NCAA team.

• Mason, the sixth-leading 3-point shooter in NCAA history (.463), broke the Atlantic 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, 271-592). Mason could have missed his next 17 attempts and still surpassed Carroll's mark.

• Mason shattered the school record for 3-pointers in a season with 118. The old record of 99 was set by Tom Pipkins in 1996-97.

• The Dukes set single-season records for points (2,704), field goals (950), 3-pointers (322), 3-pointers/g (9.5) and 3-point attempts per game (26.0).

• Duquesne, whose defensive field goal pct. was .434 in 2014-15, limited opponents to .417 shooting this season. It was the second-best mark by a DU team since the shot clock was introduced in 1985-86.

• DU's 79.5 ppg. scoring average - which led the Atlantic 10 - was its highest since 2008 (82.3). The Dukes, who scored 2,704 points, broke the school record for points in a season set in 2009 (2,683 in 34 g.)

• The Dukes outrebounded 18 of 34 opponents and went 15-3 in those games.

• A guard has either led, or tied for the team lead in scoring, in 57 of the Dukes' past 65 games over the past two seasons, including 29 of 34 games this year.

• Four players saw action in all 34 games in 2015-16: Derrick Colter, L.G. Gill, Eric James and Darius Lewis. Colter, Gill and Lewis started all 34 games. Gill, James and Lewis are underclassmen.

TEAM RECORDS SET

SEASON
MOST TOTAL 3-POINTERS MADE
New Record -- 322 in 2015-16
Old Record -- 296 in 2008-09

TOTAL POINTS
New Record -- 2,704 in 34 g. in 2015-16
Old Record -- 2,683 in 34 g. in 2008-09

MOST FIELD GOALS
New Record -- 950 in 34 g. in 2015-16
Old Record -- 943 in 30 g. in 1976-77

MOST 3-POINTERS MADE PER GAME
New Record -- 9.5 in 2015-16 (322 in 34g)
Old Record -- 8.7 in 2008-09 (296 in 34g)

MOST 3-POINT ATTEMPTS PER GAME
New Record -- 26.0 in 2015-16 (883 in 34g)
Old Record -- 24.9 in 2006-07 (722 in 29g)

SINGLE-GAME
MOST COMBINED POINTS
New Record -- 232 (120-112 win over Omaha on March 16, 2016)
Old Record -- 224 (116-108 2OT loss at Va. Tech on March 18, 2009)

MISCELLANEOUS
MOST NON-CONFERENCE WINS
The 2015-16 Dukes (11-4) tied the school record for non-conference wins set in 1978-79 (11-4) and matched in 1979-80 (11-6).

DEFENSIVE FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
DU limited opponents to .417 shooting. It was the Dukes' second-best defensive field goal percentage effort since the shot clock was introduced in 1985-86.

HOME WINS
Duquesne's 11 home wins (11-6) tied its most since 1994 (12-3). DU also posted 11 home wins in 2008, 2010 & 2011.

A DYNAMIC DUO
Derrick Colter (609) and Micah Mason (608) - the first duo in school history to score over 600 points in the same year - were just the seventh & eighth Dukes to top the 600-point mark in a season.