USC UPSTATE (2-10) at DUQUESNE (8-3)
Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007 • 5:00 p.m. (EST)
A.J. Palumbo Center (5,358) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
TELEVISION: None
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
DUQUESNE INTERNET BROADCAST: redzonemedia.com
STREAMING VIDEO & LIVE STATS: GoDuquesne.com
Complete game notes in .pdf format
DUKES CLOSE OUT 2007 VS. USC UPSTATE
Duquesne broke open
a tight game by outscoring Robert Morris 47-
33 in the second half of Saturday’s win. The
Dukes held the Colonials, who entered the game
leading the Northeast Conference at 41.5 percent,
to 33.3 percent second-half shooting in
pulling away for the victory. Kojo Mensah
led the Dukes with 22 points. Aaron Jackson
added 16 and Reggie Jackson set career highs
for assists (9) and rebounds (7) to go along
with his season-high 14 points. Despite going
4-of-18 from the arc, DU managed to shoot
54.2 percent for the game.
USC Upstate is
coming off an 80-66 loss to Buffalo in the
consolation game of the State Farm Sun Bowl
Tournament at El Paso, Texas on Dec. 22. The
Spartans dropped their opening round game
to host UTEP by a 77-69 score. USC Upstate
owns a road win at SMU (58-56 on Dec.
18). Other road losses have come at Utah, at
UNC Greensboro, at Cincinnati and at Wake Forest. Upstate has also played in the Top of
the World Classic at Fairbanks, Alaska (Nov.
16-18).
DUQUESNE LATELY
- Duquesne’s, 8-3 start is its best since the
1979-80 NIT squad opened 12-3
- Duquesne’s eight non-conference wins are
its most since 1993-94 (8-4) ... the last
time DU had more than eight non-league
wins was 1979-80 when they were 11-6
- Duquesne’s quick start can be contributed to
its defensive improvement ... the Dukes,
who held only two of 29 opponents under 40
percent in finishing ranked 324th of 325
NCAA Division I teams in field goal pct.
defense (.507) last season, are holding opponents
to .380 this year ... DU has used
five-man substitutions and full court pressure
to outscore opponents by +16.2 ppg.
- The Dukes have outscored opponents 517-
377 in the second half (+12.7 ppg.)
- Duquesne has assisted on 219 of its 337
field goals (.650)
- DU, bolstered by first year
transfer Shawn James, is averaging
8.7 blocked shots per game (began the week
ranked 2nd nationally) ... James’ 51 rejections
this season, including a school and Atlantic
10 record 12 at Oakland on November
20, are just nine shy of the DU single season
record.
DUKES VS. SPARTANS
This is the first meeting between Duquesne and South Carolina Upstate ... USC Upstate is in its first season as member of NCAA Division I and the
Atlantic Sun Conference ... Upstate won the Peach Belt Conference (D-II) championship in 2005
and the conference tournament title in 2006 ... the Spartans made back-to-back appearances in the
NCAA Division II Tournament in 2005 & 2006... Upstate was known as USC Spartanburg prior to
a name change in 2004 ... DU’s next home game is the Atlantic 10 opener vs. Fordham on Jan. 9.
MORE ON USC UPSTATE
The Spartans
have been led in scoring by either 6-2 senior guard
Luke Payne (16.2 ppg.) or 6-6 junior forward Bobby
Davis (8.5 ppg.) in all 12 games this season ... Payne
has led nine times, Davis twice and the two have tied
once ... Payne, the son of head coach Eddie Payne,
was named Atlantic Sun Player of the Week for Dec.
15-22 after leading Upstate to its first win over a Division
I opponent and earning All-Tournament honors
at the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso,
Texas ... he averaged 18.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7
assists and 2.0 steals per game during the three-game
span ... Payne started the week with 19 points, three
assists and three steals to lead Upstate to a 58-56 win
at SMU, leading the Spartans to their first win over a
Division I opponent in the history of the program ...
he finished with 11 points, five assists, four rebounds
and two steals in the loss at UTEP in the first round of
the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament and scored a
career-high 26 points in the consolation loss to Buffalo
... Payne ranks 13th all-time at Upstate with 1,127
points.
A victory over USC Upstate would
- Be Duquesne’s ninth win prior to New Years Day. It
would be the most pre-New Years wins since the 1968-69 Dukes went 9-1. The only DU team to win more
games before turning over the calendar was the 1953-54
squad (10-0).
- Be DU’s most non-conference wins (9) since the 1979-
80 season (the ‘80 Dukes were 11-6 in non-league action).
Nine non-conference wins would be the thirdmost
in school history.
- Eclipse the Dukes’ home win total from last year (5-
9).
DU has eight A-10 home games remaining after USC
Upstate.
QUICK NOTES
- Reggie Jackson handed out
a career-high nine assists (with just one turnover) in
Friday’s win over Robert Morris ... Jackson added a
career-high seven boards to go along with a season best
14 points and two steals in 26 minutes ... Jackson
is averaging 10.0 ppg. in his past four games
- Shawn
James is closing in on the school record for blocked
shots in a season ... Derrick Alston rejected 60 shots in
28 games in 1991-92 and did it again in 1992-93 ...
James has 51 blocks in 11 games ... James, who has
shot .500 or better in all 11 games this season, leads
the team with a .587 field goal percentage
- Aaron
Jackson is coming off back-to-back 16-point games vs. Saint Francis, Pa. & Robert Morris ...
Jackson is 27-of-43 from the field (.628) in his past six games
- Kojo Mensah posted his team-high
fourth 20-point game with 22 on Friday vs. Robert Morris ... DU is 1-2 when Mensah scores in
single digits ... Mensah has 16 assists in his past two games
- Damian Saunders, a two-time A-
10 Rookie of the Week, leads the team with 19 steals and ranks second with 18 blocks ... he has six
steals and six blocks in DU’s past two games
- The 2007-08 Dukes own four of the top six shot
blocking games in school history - including No. 1 (15 at Oakland) & No. 2 (13 vs. Saint Francis) ...
the ‘08 squad also owns No. 1 and No. 6 high assist games in school history (35 vs. Howard and 28
vs. Saint Francis).