Complete notes in .pdf format | La Salle pregame release
LA SALLE (12-13, 6-5) at DUQUESNE (16-9, 6-6)
Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008 • 2:00 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 AUDIO BROADCAST: redzonemedia.com
ADDITIONAL MEDIA: Streaming video and GameTracker available at GoDuquesne.com
This is the second meeting between Duquesne and La Salle this year, with the Dukes owning a 101-84 win at Philadelphia on Feb. 9.
Since that game, the Explorers have put it into high gear, averaging 86.0 points in wins over NJIT (87-65), Saint Joseph's at the Palestra (90-89) and Dayton in OT at home (81-78).
Duquesne, on the other hand, won at Dayton (63-61) before dropping back-to-back games to Richmond at home (69-66) and at Xavier.
La Salle, which has won five of the past six meetings at the Palumbo Center, has made 46.3% (37-of-80) of its 3-point attempts in its past three games.
DU, which has ranked among the nation's scoring leaders all season, has averaged 58.0 ppg. in its past three.
La Salle's 3-point percentage is better than DU's overall field goal pct. (.364) in the past three games.
The 27-point loss at Xavier was Duquesne's worst of the year.
One consolation for the Dukes is that they have followed their two other biggest losses this season with win streaks. DU won five in a row after a 24-point loss at West Virginia and put together a three-game conference streak following a 15-point loss at St. Bonaventure.
DU is 10-3 at home and La Salle is 6-6 on the road - including 4-1 in A-10 road games.
DUQUESNE LATELY
- Duquesne's 16-9 record is its best since the 1980-81 NIT team (20-10) opened 17-8 ... DU's 16 wins are its most since 1993-94 (17-13 NIT)
- DU clinched its first winning season since `94 - and second winning season in 22 years - with its win at Dayton on Feb. 13
- Eight Dukes are averaging over 7.0 ppg. and 10 have at least one double-digit scoring game
- Duquesne has lost to three teams that either are - or were - ranked by a total of 11 points: 73-68 to then No. 12 Pitt, 77-73 at Drake and 80-78 at then-No. 22 Rhode Island
- The Dukes own three wins over teams currently first or tied for first in their league: Cal State Northridge (1st Big West), Niagara (T1st MAAC) and Robert Morris (T1st NEC)
- DU is currently ranked 3rd nationally in blocks (7.6), 4th in assists (18.6), 8th in scoring (82.7) and 14th in steals (9.5)
- Shawn James, who ranks 4th nationally in blocks per game (4.1), posted the first triple-double in DU history Feb. 6 vs. Saint Joe's (17-11-10) ... he has more blocks (98) than seven Atlantic 10 teams.
THE SERIES
La Salle leads the overall series 34-27 ... in games played at Pittsburgh, Duquesne holds a 17-11 advantage ... Duquesne has won four of the past seven meetings, including a 101-84 victory at La Salle's Tom Gola Arena on Feb. 9, but La Sale has won five of the past six in Pittsburgh ... La Salle, one of three teams DU is facing twice this season (the Dukes split games with Fordham and St. Bonaventure), has won the past two at the Palumbo Center, including a 79-63 win last year ... the last time DU swept the season series was 2005 ... La Salle swept in 2006.
A victory over La Salle would:
- Would be Duquesne's 11th home win, which would mark just the second time in the past 27 years that a DU team has won 11 or more at home (the Dukes were 12-3 in 1993-94 and 14-2 in 1980-81).
- Snap La Salle's two-game Palumbo Center streak.
HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED
La Salle has been one of the hottest teams in the Atlantic 10, having mounted a three-game winning streak since its 101-84 loss to the Dukes on Feb. 9 ... the Explorers, who have defeated NJIT, Saint Joseph's (at the Palestra) and Dayton are averaging 86.0 ppg. and shooting 46.3 percent (37-of-80) from the 3-point arc during their current streak ... Duquesne has gone 1-2 and averaged just 58.0 ppg. in its past three games ... DU is 17-of-65 (26.1%) from the three-point arc over that span.
LEFTOVERS FROM XAVIER
- Duquesne set season lows for points (48) and field goal percentage (.306) in the loss
- The 27-point margin of defeat was Duquesne's largest of the season and the 48 points were its fewest since an 89-41 loss at Saint Joseph's last season
- Duquesne missed its final 14 3-point attempts ... DU hit five of its first eight from the arc and trailed 27-24 with 7:28 left in the first half ... DU missed its last four 3-point attempts - and 12 of 13 shots - as the Musketeers closed out the half with an 18-2 run to take a 45-26 ... Duquesne went 0-of-10 from the arc in the second half
- Xavier's largest lead matched the final margin
- XU outrebounded the Dukes 42-35 and outscored DU 42-26 in the paint
- Shawn James (7 blocks), Kieron Achara (3) and Damian Saunders (3) combined for all 13 of Duquesne's blocked shots ... James recorded six of his rejections in 12 second half minutes ... the 13 blocks tied the third-highest total in school history ... it was the seventh time this season DU has blocked 10 or more shots in a game
- DU had just two double-digit scorers in Reggie Jackson (12 points) and Shawn James (11)
JAMES CLIMBING SHOT BLOCK LIST & CLOSING IN ON 1,000
Junior forward/center Shawn James, who had seven blocks in Duquesne's loss at Xavier on Thursday, continues to climb the NCAA Division-I list for career blocks. The 6-10 Brooklyn, N.Y. native currently ranks 10th on the all-time list with 430 rejections in 79 games. He needs eight blocks to pass Tennessee Tech's Lorenzo Coleman and 12 to pass Connecticut's Emeka Okafor to move into the eighth spot. Only two players have a higher three-year blocked shot total than James - Okafor who blocked 441 shots in 103 games and Adonal Foyle who sent back 492 shots in 87 games. Foyle ranks second on the all-time list. James, who scored 628 points in two seasons at Northeastern prior to transferring, has 331 this season. He enters the La Salle game needing 41 points to reach the 1,000-point career mark. DU has one 1,000-point scorer on the current roster in fifth-year grad student Kieron Achara (1,169 points).
QUICK NOTES
- The Dukes have had six different leading scorers in their past six games and, oddly enough, leading scorer Shawn James - who has averaged 11.5 ppg. over that span - has not been one of them ... seven different players have paced DU in the scoring column at least once this season
- Duquesne has four first-year players in prominent roles in transfers Shawn James (Northeastern) & Kojo Mensah (Siena) and true freshmen Damian Saunders & Bill Clark
- The Dukes have assisted on 64.1 percent of their field goals this season ... DU leads the Atlantic 10 (and ranks fourth nationally) with an 18.6 apg. average
- Do-it-all swingman Aaron Jackson is averaging 5.3 rebounds per game - including a team-high 34 offensive boards - in conference play ... Jackson is shooting .544 for the season ... the Dukes are 9-2 when Jackson scores in double figures
- Reggie Jackson, who was averaging 3.6 ppg. following the Dec. 5 Pitt game, brings an 8.2 ppg. scoring average into Sunday's game ... Jackson has handed out 67 assists (4.5 apg.) in his past 15 games, including a career-high nine vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 28 and at La Salle on Feb. 9 ... he has 21 assists and nine turnovers in his past four games ... Jackson's top three scoring games have all come on the road (19 each at Bowling Green, at Rhode Island & at La Salle)
- It took Shawn James four games to break the Atlantic 10 and Duquesne records for blocks in a game (he had 12 blocks in 22 minutes in Duquesne's 92-77 win at Oakland on Nov. 20), 15 games to break the school mark for blocks in a season and 20 to post the first triple-double in school history (17-11-10 vs. Saint Joseph's) ... James' 98 blocks have shattered the school mark of 60 set (in 1991-92) and tied (in 1992-93) by Derrick Alston ... Alston played in 28 games in both `92 & `93 ... the previous A-10 individual record of 11 blocks in a game was set by Rutgers' Roy Hinson in 1982-83 and tied by UMass' Stephane Lasme three times last year ... the old Duquesne record of seven was set by Derrick Alston vs. Saint Joseph's Jan. 5, 1991 ... James broke the DU record when he rejected his eighth shot with 7:53 left in the first half at Oakland ... James' five career triple-doubles are one shy of the NCAA career record set by Drexel's Michael Anderson (1985-88) and tied by LSU's Shaquille O'Neal (1990-92) .... with his five rejections against George Washington on Jan. 26, James became the 18th player in NCAA Division I history to reach 400 for his career ... his 430 blocked shots in 79 career games currently ranks 10th on the all-time NCAA Division I list ... he needs seven blocks to pass Tennessee Tech's Lorenzo Coleman and 12 to pass Connecticut's Emeka Okafor for 8th spot on the all-time list ... James had a 20-10 double-double at Fordham before suffering a knee injury in practice on Monday, Jan. 21 that kept him in street clothes for the Jan. 23 St. Bonaventure game ... came back to score a season-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and five blocks vs. GW ... James, who leads the team with 32 dunks, is shooting an Atlantic 10-best .570 from the field
- Kojo Mensah has had streaks of 18 & 13 consecutive free throws made this season ... Mensah, who posted his fourth 20-point game with 22 on Dec. 28 vs. Robert Morris, is tied with James for the team lead in 20-point games ... Mensah had scored in double digits in five-straight games before scoring a season-low three on 1-of-8 shooting at St. Bonaventure ... bounced back with a team-high 19 vs. Saint Joe's ... missed DU's next game, at La Salle, with strep throat ... DU is 3-5 when Mensah scores in single digits and 12-1 when Mensah attempts six or more free throws ... Mensah's 136 free throw attempts are 34 more than any other DU player ... has a team-high 12 "traditional" three-point plays (basket and free throw) ... Mensah, whose scoring average was at 14.8 ppg. at the start of conference play, is averaging 10.0 ppg. in Atlantic 10 games ... he is 4-of-22 from the 3-point arc in league play
- Damian Saunders was named A-10 Rookie of the Week for the third time on Dec. 30 ... he is the fifth player in school history to win the award more than twice in a season ... Saunders leads the team with 40 steals and is second on the team with a 5.2 rebounds per game average ... he is third in blocks (31) and fourth in 3-pointers made (21-of-59, .356)
- fellow freshman Bill Clark has hit three or more 3-pointers in a game four times ... Clark, at 6-6, ranks third on the team with a 4.5 rpg. average ... Clark, who hit at least one three in 13 of his first 15 games, ended a five-game streak without a 3-pointer (0-of-13 over that span) by going 2-of-6 from the arc vs. Richmond ... Clark scored all 15 of his points in 12 second half minutes in helping the Dukes rally from a 13-point deficit against the Spiders ... he went 1-of-4 from the arc at Xavier
- Kieron Achara, who played just six minutes at Rhode Island after suffering a mild concussion and loosened tooth early in the second half, made his return at Fordham ... with James on the bench in street clothes the Stirling, Scotland native - fresh off a root canal the previous day - posted 18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals in 28 minutes vs. St. Bonaventure on Jan. 23 ... Achara had his front tooth knocked out early in the second half vs. Saint Joseph's, had a root canal the next day then delivered 21 points and a career high-tying five blocks at La Salle ... is shooting .804 from the foul line
- Gary Tucker, who had 30 assists and 29 turnovers in 28 games last season, has 52 and 32 this year (1.6-1 ratio) ... he ranks second on the team with 27 3-pointers (he was 14-of-52 last season) ... is shooting .421 from the arc (16-of-38) in 11 games away from the Palumbo Center (including neutral-site game vs. Cal State Northridge) ... third on the team with nine dunks.
A RECORD SET
DU broke the school record for blocks in a season in its 22nd game - at La Salle on Feb. 9. The old mark of 166 was set in 28 games in 1979-80. The Dukes enter the La Salle game with 191 rejections in 25 contests.
CLOSE ONES
Five of the Dukes nine losses have come by a total of 15 points: 77-73 at currently nationally ranked Drake, 73-68 to then-No. 12 (AP) Pitt, 80-78 at then-No. 22 (AP) Rhode Island, 75-74 at Fordham and 69-66 vs. Richmond. The Dukes were 0-4 in single digit games before pulling out a 63-61 win at Dayton on Feb. 13.
THE STEAL CITY
Duquesne, which has posted 106 steals in conference play, has had 14 or more steals in a game six times in 2007-08. The Dukes, who rank 14th nationally with 9.5 steals per game, have eight players with 10 or more steals - and three with over 30 - led by freshman Damian Saunders with 40. Since steals were first recorded as an official NCAA stat in 1985-86, DU has posted 15 or more in a game 12 times with three coming this season.