ASN affiliate list Duquesne vs. Saint Louis
QUICK NOTES
- Duquesne (10-21, 3-15) is making its fourth consecutive appearance at the Atlantic 10 Championship under fifth-year head coach Jim Ferry. The No. 14 seed Dukes will face No. 11 Saint Louis (11-20, 6-12) in a first round game on Wednesday, March 8 at 8:30 p.m. (ASN/Ed Cohen & Mark Adams). The winner moves on to face No. 6 seed George Washington (18-13, 10-8) on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. (NBCSN/Paul Burmeister & David Kaplan).- This is the third A-10 Championship meeting between Duquesne and Saint Louis. It is also the third meeting between the two this season. The Dukes defeated the Billikens 73-66 in Pittsburgh on Jan. 11 and SLU took the rematch by an 87-81 score at Chaifetz Arena on Feb. 11. The two first met at the A-10 Championship in 2007, when No. 7 seed Saint Louis, under head coach Brad Soderberg, defeat Ron Everhart's No. 10 seeded Dukes 78-77 at Atlantic City, N.J. DU won the last meeting in 2015, when Jim Ferry's 11th-seeded Dukes defeated Jim Crews' No. 14 Billikens 61-55 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
- 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. Two years ago, 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, who is 1-3 in A-10 Championship games, will be looking to become the first DU coach to lead the Dukes to more than one opening round win since John Carroll (1990, 1994 & 1995).
A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP TIDBITS
- Duquesne finished the regular season 14th in the Atlantic 10 with a 3-15 record. DU went 2-7 at home and 1-8 on the road in conference games.
- This is the first time Duquesne will enter the Championship as a No. 14 seed. Conversely, it is the first time DU will be facing a No. 11 seed.
- Duquesne is 1-4 this season against its first three potential opponents in the 2017 A-10 Championship bracket (1-1 vs. Saint Louis, 0-2 vs. George Washington & 0-1 vs. Richmond).
- Duquesne has regularly played home games at PPG Paints Arena since the building opened in the fall of 2010. The Dukes have played a total of 21 games in the home of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins. In addition to the annual neutral City Game vs. Pitt (seven times), the Dukes have played 13 times as the "home" team with a 5-8 record (and once as the road team vs. Robert Morris). The only current A-10 teams who have played at PPG are Dayton (four times) and VCU (twice). DU has won three of its past five at PPG including victories over Dayton and Penn State (last year) and Pitt (this year).
SERIES QUICK NOTES
- This is the 26th game between Duquesne and 12th-year Atlantic 10 member Saint Louis ... Duquesne leads the overall series 13-12 ... in A-10 regular season play, the series is tied at 10-10 and in Atlantic 10 Championship meetings each school has won once.
- DU head coach Jim Ferry is 6-4 vs. Saint Louis, including a 1-0 mark at the A-10 Championship.
- Saint Louis had won seven of eight - including the last five in a row, before DU's upset win over the No. 10 (AP) Billikens at Chaifetz Arena on Feb. 27, 2014 ... the Dukes have won six of eight since ... DU had won five in a row prior to SLU's 87-81 win in the last meeting - at Chaifetz Arena.
- This was the eighth time the Dukes and Billikens played home-and-home ... DU swept the series last season (2016) ... the two have split five times (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015 & 2017) and SLU has swept twice (2010 & 2012).
- Duquesne won the first meeting this season, 73-66 at Pittsburgh on Jan. 11 ... Isiaha Mike scored 17 of his career-high 24 in the second half to fuel the win ... Mike added a career-best 13 rebounds in posting his first double-double ... Mike Lewis II, who played his high school ball in St. Louis, added 15 for DU, which rallied from an eight-point deficit with just over 15 minutes to go ... Mike Crawford scored 21 to lead SLU to an 87-81 win in the rematch on Feb. 11 ... DU rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to tie it on a Lewis II 3-pointer with 2:18 left, but could never gain the lead ... Lewis II went 5-of-6 from 3-point in leading the Dukes with 24 points.
TRENDING
- Duquesne's last three games have all come down to the final shot, with the Dukes coming up on the short end each time. In the 80-77 loss at St. Bonaventure, Mike Lewis II missed a 3-point attempt with the Dukes down two with :07 left and had a second 3-point attempt - this one to tie - miss its mark at the final horn. DU had two shots at the rim in the final three seconds, but couldn't convert in the 63-62 loss at George Mason. Lewis II missed a pair of free throws with :04.3 seconds left and the Dukes down one in the 63-60 loss to Saint Joseph's. Isiaha Mike got off a 3-pointer at the final horn that was off the mark.
- The Dukes have limited their past three opponents (SBU, GMU & SJU) to combined .401 shooting, including 11-of-52 from 3-point (.212).
- A freshman has led the Dukes in scoring in eight of the past 10 games (Mike Lewis II five times and Isiaha Mike three times).
- Lewis II (13.9 ppg.) has scored 20 or more in six of his past 10 games. Lewis II, who averaged 15.3 ppg. in conference play, 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 were the most since T.J. McConnell (five times) in 2011, broke the DU freshman record for 3-pointers with his two makes at George Mason. Lewis II's 60 "3s" have eclipsed the old mark of 58 set by Tom Pipkins in 1994.
- Lewis II (13.9 ppg.) & Mike (11.2 ppg.) are the highest scoring freshman duo in the Atlantic 10.
- Isiaha Mike enters the A-10 Championship as one of three conference players with 40 3-pointers, 40 assists, 25 blocks and 25 steals. The other two are all-league candidates Charles Cooke of Dayton and Davidson's Peyton Aldridge:
Player (3s, Ast, Blk, Stl)
Isiaha Mike, Duquesne -- (43, 49a, 27b, 26s)
Charles Cooke, Dayton -- (45, 80a, 27b, 32s)
Peyton Aldridge, Davidson -- (65, 62a, 25b, 28s)
- Grad transfer Emile Blackman, who averaged 14.1 ppg. in conference play, shot .413 from 3-point (26-of-63) in A-10 games. He scored in double digits in 15 of 18 league games, including a season high 26 in the regular season finale vs. Saint Joseph's.
- DU has held 10 teams under 40 percent shooting this season: Loyola, Md. (W, .365), UT Martin (L, .348), Cleveland State (W, .385), Pitt (W, .333), Jackson State (W, .355), Colgate (W, .371), at Fordham (W, .388), UMass (W, .387), GW (L, .377) & Saint Joseph's (L, .368). The Dukes are 7-3 in those games.
NEXT UP
The Duquesne vs. Saint Louis winner faces No. 6 seed George Washington (18-13) at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night. The game will be televised nationally by NBCSN.
