ASN Affiliate List - Duquesne at La Salle
Duquesne (8-7, 1-1), which saw its four-game win streak snapped in a 94-87 home loss to VCU on Wednesday, heads to Philadelphia to face La Salle (7-5, 1-1) on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 8:00 p.m. The game will be televised by ASN with Tim Neverett and John Griffin on the call. DU, which opened Atlantic 10 play with a 75-72 win at Fordham, is looking for its second consecutive road win. La Salle, who defeated Saint Louis 75-54 at home on Wednesday, is 5-1 at Tom Gola Arena.
QUICK NOTES
- Duquesne, which lost over 70 percent of its scoring from last season, has incorporated a number of newcomers into the 2016-17 rotation. DU's top four scorers are first-year players: freshman Mike Lewis II (12.8 ppg.), graduate transfer Emile Blackman (11.3 ppg.), Nebraska transfer sophomore Tarin Smith (10.3 ppg.) and freshman Isiaha Mike (9.9 ppg.).
- None of DU's top eight scorers averaged more than 9.2 minutes per game last year.
- Lewis II, who is coming off a career-high 23-point game vs. VCU, is averaging 19.0 ppg. in conference play. Blackman is averaging 18.0 ppg. in DU's first two A-10 games.
SERIES QUICK NOTES
- This is the 74th meeting in a series that dates to Feb. 10, 1940 ... La Salle leads 42-31, including a 21-14 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular season games ... in games played at Philadelphia, La Salle leads 25-10 ... in an oddity of sorts, La Salle has won five of the past seven in Pittsburgh and Duquesne has won four of the past seven in Philadelphia.
- The past 14 meetings have been dead even in total points (1,116 each) ... the Dukes have won six and the Explorers eight of the past 14 ... the average score for both teams in those games is 79.7 ... La Salle has won six of the past seven, including the past three at Tom Gola Arena.
ON THE EXPLORERS
La Salle was picked to finish 7th in the Atlantic 10 in the preseason poll of league coaches ... the Explorers, who opened A-10 play with a 66-55 loss at Dayton, are coming off a 75-54 home win over Saint Louis on Wednesday ... La Salle is 5-2 at home (5-1 at Tom Gola Arena) ... the Explorers are led by the threesome of first-year Syracuse transfer junior B.J. Johnson (19.2, 6.4), senior Jordan Price (17.1 ppg.) and first-year Memphis transfer sophomore Pookie Powell (13.6 ppg.) ... Price scored 36 against the Dukes in the last meeting between the two - an 88-73 La Salle win in the first round of the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship ... La Salle has five Division I transfers on its 2016-17 active roster: Pookie Powell (Memphis), Cleon Roberts (Georgia Southern), B.J. Johnson (Syracuse), Jordan Price (Auburn) and Demetrius Henry (South Carolina).
LAST GAME
VCU 94, DUQUESNE 87
- The loss snapped a four-game Dukes winning streak
- Mike Lewis II led Duquesne with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting
- Emile Blackman (19 points on 8-of-16 shooting) and Rene Castro (12 off the bench) also scored in double figures for DU
- There were eight ties and eight lead changes before VCU took the lead for good with 13:40 left
- VCU, which shot .625 in the second half, hit 16-of-22 shots from the 13:40 to the 2:03 mark in building an 18-point lead. Duquesne closed the game on a 13-2 run for the final margin
- VCU set DU opponent highs for points (94) and field goal percentage (.569). The Rams were just the second team to shoot 50 percent or better against the Dukes this season
- Duquesne's 87 points were 10 more than anyone has scored against VCU this season
- DU had its top 3-point shooting game of the year at .563 (9-of-16). Lewis II and Kale Abrahamson were both 3-of-5 from the arc
- There were a total of 46 fouls called
- Duquesne's largest lead was +2, the last of which came on an Isiaha Mike dunk with 16:10 left (44-42) ... VCU's largest lead was +18 (92-74) with 1:18 remaining ... Duquesne led for 1:25 and VCU led for 34:52 ... the game was tied for 3:43.
TRENDING
- DU, whose 87 points vs. VCU were 10 more than any Rams opponent has scored this year, has scored 70 or more in its past five games (the Dukes are 4-1 over that span).
- Freshman Mike Lewis II (12.8 ppg.). DU's first three-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week since Derrick Colter in 2013, has scored in double digits in DU's past nine games. The St. Louis, Mo. native is averaging 16.2 ppg. over that span. Lewis II, who went 5-of-21 from 3-point in his first six games, is 20-of-51 (.392) from the arc in his past nine.
- Freshman Isiaha Mike has been named A-10 Rookie of the Week twice (Dec. 12 & 26), marking the first time in school history DU has had two multiple Rookies of the Week (Lewis II has been named three times). Mike has scored in double digits in four of DU's past five games. He is averaging 13.0 ppg. over that span.
- First-year grad transfer Kale Abrahamson, who missed DU's first nine games with a broken bone in his hand, is averaging 10.5 ppg. in conference play (5-of-12, .417 from 3-point in A-10 games). He posted his first career double-double (12-10) in 25 minutes at Fordham.
- The Dukes are 5-1 with sophomore forward Nakye Sanders in the starting lineup. Sanders, who made his first career start vs. Pitt on Dec. 2, is shooting .618. He posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds off the bench vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 6.
- Duquesne, which averaged 16.8 turnovers in going 3-5 in its first eight games, has turned it over just 12.1 times/g in winning five of its past seven.
- DU has held seven teams under 40 percent shooting this season: Loyola, Md. (.365), UT Martin (.348), Cleveland State (.385), Pitt (.333), Jackson State (.355), Colgate (.371) & at Fordham (.388). The Dukes are 6-1 in those games.
