Duquesne (10-19, 3-13) heads to Fairfax, Va. to face George Mason (18-11, 8-8) in its final regular-season road game on Wednesday, Mar. 1 at 7:00 p.m. (A-10 Digital Network).
QUICK NOTES
- The Dukes are 1-10 on the road with the win coming in the A-10 opener at Fordham on Dec. 30 (75-72). Mason is 9-6 at home, including a 4-4 mark in conference home games.- 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 - all starters - are first-year players: freshman Mike Lewis II (14.2 ppg.), graduate transfer Emile Blackman (12.0 ppg.), freshman Isiaha Mike (10.9 ppg.) and Nebraska transfer sophomore Tarin Smith (8.3 ppg.). None of DU's top eight scorers averaged more than 9.2 minutes per game last year.
- Lewis II & Mike have combined to earn Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week a school record seven times (four for Lewis II and three for Mike). It is the first time DU has had two multiple Rookies of the Week in the same year. The last A-10 team to have two rookies earn the honor at least three times is Saint Louis in 2005-06 (Tommie Liddell six times and Kevin Lisch three times). The last Duke to earn Rookie of the Week more than three times was T.J. McConnell in 2011 (five times).
- Lewis II is bidding to become just the fourth freshman to lead the Dukes in scoring:
DU FRESHMEN TEAM-LEADING SCORERS
16.6 -- Wayne Smith (1999)
16.4 -- Robert Mitchell (2007)
13.5 -- Derrick Colter (2013)
- Isiaha Mike began the week as the only Atlantic 10 player with 40 3-pointers, 40 assists, 25 blocks and 25 steals. The two closest are All-League candidates Charles Cooke of Dayton and Davidson's Peyton Aldridge:
40, 40, 25 & 25 ATLANTIC 10 PLAYERS
Player, School -- (3s, Ast, Blk, Stl)
Isiaha Mike, Duquesne -- (41, 47, 26, 25)
Charles Cooke, Dayton -- (43, 74, 24, 28)
Peyton Aldridge, Davidson -- (63, 57, 23, 27)
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SERIES QUICK NOTES
- This is the 11th meeting in a relatively new series that dates to New Year's Eve of 2001 ... the series is tied at 5-5, with Duquesne holding a 3-2 lead in games at Fairfax) ... this is the fifth meeting between the two as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
- Duquesne has won four of the past five meetings, including the past three - all by double-digit margins - in Fairfax. DU snapped an 18-game Mason home win streak with its victory on Dec. 21, 2011. It was GMU's first double-digit home loss since 2007.
- This is the second-straight year the two are meeting in Fairfax. Last season, the Dukes defeated the Patriots 86-75 in a game moved up a day and played at the on-campus Recreation and Athletics Complex (RAC) due to an incoming winter storm.
- George Mason (18-11, 8-8), under second-year head coach Dave Paulsen, ranks among the Top 10 most-improved teams in the country. The Patriots, who finished 11-21 last year, were picked to finish 12th in the annual preseason poll of Atlantic 10 coaches. Mason as already exceeded its previous high for Atlantic 10 wins (5).
- Mason senior guard Marquise Moore (17.7, 10.3 with 17 double-doubles) is the top rebounding guard in the nation. The NCAA record for double-doubles by a guard is 20 by Andre Roberson of Colorado. Moore's 17 are the most by a player 6-2 and under (next closest is 11). Double-doubles were first recorded by the NCAA in 2009-10.
TRENDING
- Freshman guard Mike Lewis II (14.2 ppg.)has scored 20 or more in six of his past eight games. Lewis II, who is averaging 16.2 ppg. in conference play, has earned A-10 Rookie of the Week four times. He is bidding to become the fourth freshman in school history to lead the team in scoring.
- Lewis II, whose four ROW honors are the most since T.J. McConnell (five times) in 2011, needs two 3-pointers to pass Tom Pipkins' freshman record of 58 set in 1994.
- Lewis II (14.2 ppg.) and Isiaha Mike (10.9 ppg.) are the highest scoring freshman duo in the Atlantic 10.
- Grad transfer Kale Abrahamson, who entered last week averaging 3.2 ppg., averaged 15.5 ppg. in DU's two games last week. He scored 14 vs. Fordham (7-of-10 from the field) and followed that with a new season-high of 17 at St. Bonaventure (three 3-pointers and 8-of-10 from the foul line).
- Grad transfer Emile Blackman, who is averaging 13.4 ppg. in conference play, is shooting .421 from 3-point (24-of-57) in A-10 games.
- DU has held nine 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), UMass (.387) & GW (.377). The Dukes are 7-2 in those games.
- DU has been outrebounded in three-straight games (-3 vs. GW, -12 vs. Fordham & -8 at SBU). George Mason leads the A-10 in rebound margin +7.8.
LAST GAME
St. Bonaventure 80, Duquesne 77
- Duquesne down 15 with 7:48 left - and 13 with 4:43 to go - rallied to tie it with 1:09 left, but couldn't re-take the lead.
- Mike Lewis II, who led the Dukes with 20 points, missed a potential go-ahead three with seven seconds left. He also had a desperation 3-point attempt that was off the mark at the final horn.
- Kale Abrahamson came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points in 24 minutes. The grad transfer went 3-of-5 from 3-point and 8-of-10 from the foul line.
- Isiaha Mike and Emile Blackman added 13 points each for DU.
- There were a total of 56 fouls called in the game. Nakye Sanders and Darius Lewis both fouled out for the Dukes. Sanders fouled out in 11 minutes, Lewis in 12.
- Lewis II's six assists were a career high.
- Duquesne was outrebounded 45-37.
- The Dukes went 8-of-14 from the 3-point arc in the first half and 1-of-11 in the second.
NEXT UP
Duquesne concludes the regular-season at home vs. Saint Joseph's on Saturday, March 4 at 2:00 p.m. (Facebook Live/A-10 Digital Network). Final year players Kale Abrahamson, Emile Blackman & Darius Lewis will be recognized in a pregame Senior Day ceremony.
