Duquesne and Temple meet in a rematch of last year's Atlantic 10 Championship final.

Feb. 1, 2010

Complete Game Notes

DUQUESNE (11-10, 2-5) at No. 17 (ESPN)/No. 19 (AP) TEMPLE (18-4, 6-1)
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010 ­• Liacouras Center (10,206) • Philadelphia, Pa. • 7:00

DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
STREAMING AUDIO: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
STREAMING VIDEO AND GAMETRACKER: OwlSports.com

DUKES AT NATIONALLY RANKED TEMPLE: Duquesne (11-10, 2-5), coming a 74-71 home win over Saint Joseph's on Sunday, heads to Philadelphia to face its second ranked team this season in No. 17 (ESPN)/No. 19 (AP) Temple (18-4, 6-1) on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 7:00 p.m. The Dukes, who dropped a 68-39 decision at then-No. 6 (AP) West Virginia on Dec. 9, have not defeated a ranked team on the road since Jan. 25, 1997 (a 78-70 win at #16 (AP) Xavier) - a span of 15 games. Duquesne is 1-7 on the road with the lone win coming in the first road game of the season (52-50 at Iowa on Nov. 17). The Iowa win was school's first ever in a Big 10 arena. Temple is 9-1 at home with the lone loss coming to top-ranked Kansas. The Owls rank among the nation's top 10 in scoring defense (56.9 ppg., 5th), FG percentage defense (.377, 9th) and 3-point FG percentage defense (.273, 9th). Duquesne is 1-7 vs. ranked teams under Ron Everhart (0-6 on the road). DU has been led by 6-7 junior Damian Saunders (16 double-doubles). Saunders (14.7 ppg.) ranks among the nation's leaders in rebounding (12.5), steals (2.7) and blocks (3.4). His rebound average is the best by a Duquesne player since Lionel Billingy averaged 13.1 rpg. in 1973-74. Six-three sophomore G/F Melquan Bolding, who missed 13 games with a fractured wrist, had his best game since his Jan. 6 return with 24 points in 34 minutes against Saint Joseph's. Temple is coming off a 64-52 home win over La Salle on Saturday. The Owls held the Explorers to 29.8 percent shooting in the win.

DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne is limiting opponents to 67.7 ppg. ... it is the lowest opponent scoring average since 1981-82 (66.0 ppg.) ... opponents are also shooting .399 from the field, which translates to DU's best field goal percentage defense since 1970-71 (.389) ... last year, Duquesne ranked 309th of 330 teams in scoring defense (74.7 ppg.) and 294th in field goal percentage defense (.462) ... DU which held 12 of 14 non-confernce opponents under 40%, has seen five of seven A-10 foes top the 40% mark (.450 in conference play) ... Damian Saunders began the week tied for 2nd nationally in double-doubles (16), 3rd in rebounds/g. (12.5), 9th in blocks/g. (3.4) and 12th in steals/g. (2.7) ... Saunders enters the Temple game needing two steals to pass Wayne Smith (173) and move into 5th on DU's all-time steals list ... he ranks second in all-time blocks with 193 ... DU has played a school record five OT games (2-3) ... the NCAA record is eight, by three schools ... DU will head directly to Washington, D.C. from Philly for Saturday's game vs. GW.

THE SERIES: Temple leads the overall series 38-13, including a 19-5 advantage in games played at Philadelphia ... Duquesne has won just two of the past 16 meetings - with both wins coming at home ... DU snapped an eight-game series losing streak with a 61-54 win at Pittsburgh on Jan. 8, 2003 ... three years ago DU rallied from 12 down with 11:55 left to defeat the Owls 96-92 at the Palumbo Center ... Temple has won the past seven meetings in Philadelphia by an average score of 80.3-55.6 (+24.7 ppg.) ... DU's last win at Temple was on Jan. 30, 1995 by a 62-55 score ... the closest of the six games prior Ron Everhart's arrival was a 75-62 Temple win (+13) on Jan. 21, 1998 ... in the Dukes' last trip to Temple, the Owls needed all of Dionte Christmas' 37 points in a 90-85 win on Mar. 5, 2008 ... this is the second time the Dukes will face a Fran Dunphy-coached Temple team at Liacouras Center ... Duquesne, which had lost 26 consecutive games in the city of Philadelphia (that includes vs. Temple, Saint Joseph's and La Salle plus the Atlantic 10 Tournament), ended that streak in head coach Ron Everhart's second game at Philadelphia in 2006-07 (a 111-105 win at La Salle) ... the Dukes followed that win another win at La Salle in 2008, marking the first time since 1995 that a Duquesne team won consecutive games in the City of Brotherly Love ... Everhart's DU teams are 3-4 in Philadelphia (with all three wins coming over La Salle).

MORE ON THE OWLS: Temple was picked to finish tied for fifth (with Duquesne) in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll of league coaches and media ... the Owls, who are off to an 18-4 start, are one of three A-10 teams with one loss (Xavier and Charlotte began the week as the others) ... TU handed city rival No. 2 (AP) Villanova (19-1) its lone loss of the season on Dec. 13 ... the Owls also own wins over Siena, Virginia Tech, at Miami and at Seton Hall in addition to giving No. 7 (AP) Georgetown all it could handle in a 46-45 loss back on Nov. 17 ... Temple is led in scoring by the trio of 6-4 senior guard Ryan Brooks (15.9 ppg.), 6-4 sophomore guard Juan Fernandez (12.6, 47 3-pointers, 79 assists & 23 steals) and 6-9 junior forward Lavoy Allen (10.7, 10.0 reb.) ... the Owls began the week ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense (56.9 ppg.), fifth in 3-point shooting percentage defense (27.3%) and ninth in field goal shooting percentage defense (37.7%) ... Temple also ranks sixth nationally in fewest turnovers per game (10.5) and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42) ... only four teams have scored 70 or more against Temple this season (Western Michigan, Kansas, Xavier and Charlotte) ... No. 1 (AP) Kansas is the only team to shoot over 50 percent against TU this season.

SAINT JOSEPH'S LEFTOVERS: Duquesne's 52.8 percent effort from the field was its best since a season high 57.4 outing vs. Saint Francis, Pa. on Dec. 22 ... DU shot 52.8 percent despite going 4-of-19 from the 3-point arc ... DU's 18 assists on 28 field goals were its most since the SFU game (20) ... Melquan Bolding scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in 15 first half minutes ... Bolding was 3-of-6 from the 3-point arc ... the rest of the team was 1-of-13 ... the Dukes went 14-of-25 from the foul line including 11-of-21 in the second half ... DU missed 4-of-10 free throws over the final 3:13 ... the Dukes never trailed from the 5:37 mark of the first half to the final horn ... SJU tied it at 66-66 with 1:54 left ... Saint Joseph's largest lead was seven and Duquesne's was nine ... both were in the first half ... Duquesne, which dropped 16 of 17 games vs. Saint Joseph's from 1994 through 2007, has now won two of the past three against the Hawks ... DU, which trails the overall series 34-11, is 2-2 vs. SJU under Ron Everhart.

DUQUESNE VS. AP RANKED TEAMS: Duquesne is 1-7 against ranked teams under Ron Everhart, including a 1-1 mark vs. ranked teams at home. The Dukes are 0-1 against ranked teams this year with a 68-39 loss at No. 6 (AP) West Virginia. On Feb. 7 of last year, the Dukes ended a 24-game losing streak against ranked teams with a 72-68 home win over No. 9 (AP) Xavier. It was DU's first win over a ranked team since Jan. 25, 1997 (at No. 16 (AP) Xavier), the first over a Top 10 team since Dec. 15, 1992 (91-84 at home over No. 10 (AP) Florida State). It was also the highest ranked team a Duquesne team had defeated since an 88-87 overtime win over No. 9 (AP) Providence on Jan. 31, 1974 at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena. Duquesne University is 45-110 vs. AP ranked teams (10-56 on the road), and 23-54 against Top 10 teams, since the advent of the poll in 1948-49.

PLAYER NOTES

#25 Damian Saunders
Junior Damian Saunders currently ranks among Duquesne's Top 10 in four career statistical categories: 2nd in blocks (193), 6th in steals (172), 9th in rebounds (677) and tied for eighth in career FG% (.521) ... he is also closing in on the 1,000 career point mark (needs 50) ... he needs two steals to pass Wayne Smith to move into the No. 5 spot ... he is 37 blocks shy of breaking Derrick Alston's school record of 229 ... Saunders, the first DU player in 39 years to open a season with six consecutive double-doubles, has posted 16 double-doubles in 21 games, including a streak of nine in a row that ended on Jan. 23 vs. St. Bonaventure (15-9) ... the 16 double-doubles are the most by a DU player since Bruce Atkins had 16 in 1981-82 ... the 6-7 Connecticut native has set new career highs for points (24 vs. Binghamton), rebounds (19 vs. Nicholls State) and blocks (9 at Old Dominion) and tied his career-best for steals (6 at Iowa & vs. Richmond) this season ... his current 12.5 rebounds per game average is the best since Lionel Billingy averaged 13.1 rpg. in 1973-74 and his 2.8 steals per game average is the best in school history ... he has pulled down 15 or more boards in a game eight times ... his career high entering this season was 14 ... came within a disputed first half goaltend of posting the second triple-double in Duquesne history at Old Dominion (11-10-9) ... the nine blocks tied ODU's Constant Center arena record set by former Duke Shawn James ... James set the mark in 2006 while at Northeastern prior to his transfer to Duquesne ... had seven blocks vs. Canisius and Saint Joseph's ... Saunders leads the Dukes with 36 dunks, bringing his career total to 96 ... Saunders, who was named one of the nation's top 10 "Stat Sheet Stuffers" by Rivals.com in October, also flirted with a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks vs. Canisius ... he has posted six steals in a game twice this season (at Iowa and vs. Richmond) ... Saunders has struggled from the 3-point arc where he is shooting .215 (14-of-65) ... he has never shot under 34 percent from arc (.348 as a freshman and .343 as a sophomore) ... is 5-of-15 from the arc in his past three games (3-of-6 vs. St. Bonaventure).

#30 Bill Clark
Junior Bill Clark (13.2 ppg.) is tied with Damain Saunders for the team lead with 51 career double-digit scoring games, including 14 this season ... needs 52 points to become the 33rd 1,000-point scorer in school history ... ranks 7th on DU's all time list for 3-pointers made (132) and fifth in all-time attempts (405) ... opened the season with seven consecutive double-digit scoring games, including 20 or more three times: career-high 25 at Western Carolina, 23 vs. Pitt and 20 at Iowa ... was averaging 19.0 ppg. and shooting .464 (20-of-60 from 3-point) over those first seven games ... since then (a span of 13 g.) he is averaging 10.0 ppg. on .282 shooting (6-of-51 from 3-point) ... posted his fourth career double-double (first this season) with 17 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals in 50 minutes in the double overtime win over Canisius ... added his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the double overtime loss to Saint Louis ... his 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in overtime forced the second OT session ... hit a career-high six from the arc (on 14 attempts) vs. Pitt (23 points) ... since the Pitt game he is 6-of-51 from the arc and has failed to make a 3-pointer in eight of his past 13 games (2-of-20 in A-10 play) ... Clark, who entered the season a .361 career 3-point shooter, is shooting .234 from the arc ... he is shooting .509 (54-of-106) on his two-point attempts ... despite his struggles, Clark leads the Dukes with 26 3-pointers ... his 3-pointer from the left wing with 11.7 seconds left proved to be the game-winner in DU's 52-50 win at Iowa on Nov. 17 ... the win was Duquesne's first ever in a Big 10 arena ... Clark's shot was ranked No. 4 on ESPN's Top 10 Plays that evening ... the 6-5 Californian has grabbed at least nine rebounds five times ... he leads the team in charges taken (13) and free throw peercentage (.748), attempts (103) and makes (77) ... he has made more free throws than all but two other players on the roster (Damian Saunders & Eric Evan) have attempted ... the 6-5 Clark is Duquesne's second-leading rebounder at 6.3 rpg. ... saw a streak of 81 consecutive games played (every game of his career) and 51 starts snapped when he missed the game at Rhode Island due to a secondary NCAA rules infraction ... handed out a season-high six assists vs. Saint Joseph's.

#23 Melquan Bolding
Missed 13 games and seven weeks of practice while recovering from a fractured wrist suffered in the opener vs. Nicholls State ... returned on Jan. 6 vs. Richmond ... DU went 8-5 in the 13 games he was sidelined ... scored 25 points - one shy of his career high - despite finishing out the Nicholls State with the wrist fracture ... underwent surgery to have a pin placed in the wrist on Nov. 17 ... was cleared to rejoin practice the day before the Richmond game ... had 13 points, eight rebounds and a career high-tying four assists in his second game back, at Dayton before coming down with strep throat the day before the Jan. 13 Saint Louis game ... played just five first-half minutes vs. the Billikens ... made his second start of the season at Rhode Island (six points, five rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes) ... his 3-pointer from the corner with 3.4 seconds left helped the Dukes snap a five-game losing streak with a 70-69 win over St. Bonaventure ... had 14 points (3-of-6 from 3-point) and a career high-tying four assists vs. the Bonnies ... added a team-high 14 points at Xavier before hitting three 3-pointers on his way to 24 points in the win over Saint Joseph's ... scored 17 in 15 first-half minutes against the Hawks ... has led the Dukes in scoring in three of the eight games he's played (including each of the past two).

#32 B.J. Monteiro
Sophomore B.J. Monteiro (10.8 ppg., 5.0 rpg.) emerged as a pleasant surprise as a starter in place of Bolding ... has led the Dukes in scoring four times ... scored 14 of his team-high 17 in the second half of DU's win over Robert Morris and followed that with a career-high 27 in the double-overtime victory over Canisius ... blocked Eric May's field goal attempt at the buzzer to preserve DU's 52-50 win in his first start, at Iowa on Nov. 17 ... also blocked a Chase Adams field goal attempt with two seconds left to force the Pitt game into a second overtime ... a former high school teammate of Damian Saunders, Monteiro has set a new career scoring high three times this season (18 vs. Arkansas-Monticello, 21 vs. Radford & 27 vs. Canisius) ... his career best, and only double-digit scoring game, entering the season was 12 last year at Dayton ... he has scored in double digits 10 times (twice in A-10 play) ... pulled down a career high nine rebounds vs. Richmond and matched that total vs. Saint Louis ... DU's top 3-point shooter at .333 (15-of-45, 2-of-12 in conference play).

#3 Eric Evans
Sophomore point guard Eric Evans has scored in double-digits 11 times including a career high 20 (4-of-8 from 3-point) at IUPUI on Dec. 19 ... entered IUPUI game 3-of-33 from the 3-point arc ... followed that by hitting 7-of-8 from the field (including 3-of-4 from 3-point) in scoring 17 in 25 minutes vs. Saint Francis, Pa. and added 10 more at Old Dominion ... leads the Dukes with 77 assists, including seven games with five or more ... DU is 5-2 when Evans has five or more assists ... handed out a career-high nine assists in the opening night win over Nicholls State ... added career highs for rebounds (6) and steals (6) at Old Dominion ... is one of just two Dukes with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (77-57) ... second on the team in steals (26) and free throws made (51) ... has converted a team high six (of 12) traditional three-point plays ... had a four-point play in the second overtime vs. Saint Louis ... scored all 12 of his points in the second half vs. Saint Joseph's ... has struggled from the field where he is shooting .362 ... is 19-of-41 (.463) from the field in his past four games (12.8 ppg. over that span).

#13 Jason Duty
Senior guard Jason Duty (26-14) joins Evans as the other player with a positive assist/turnover ratio ... badly jammed his right (shooting) shoulder during the Nov. 25 game at Western Carolina and shot .242 (8-of-33) overall and 5-of-26 from the 3-point arc in the ensuing six games before going 3-of-4 (3-of-3 from 3-point) in scoring all nine of his points in the first half vs. Saint Francis, Pa. ... missed the Dec. 9 WVU game with a sprained ankle suffered late in practice on Dec. 7 ... entered the season as a .364 career 3-point shooter ... is 23-of-77 (.299) from the arc this season ... hit 3-of-4 3-pointers in scoring a season-high 12 points at Dayton ... also scored in double figures on Nov. 25 at Western Carolina (11 points) ... did not try a 3-pointer on Jan. 13 vs. Saint Louis, ending a streak of 52 games with at least one 3-point attempt ... shooting .353 (6-of-17) from 3-point in A-10 play.

#20 Sean Johnson
True freshman Sean Johnson has come off the bench in all 21 games ... has scored in double digits five times ... scored a career-high 17 in 20 minutes at Old Dominion (7-of-12) ... 14 of his team-high 17 at ODU came in the second half ... had 14 in 22 minutes at Dayton and 12 in 18 vs. Richmond ... averaging 15.4 min/g. in A-10 play ... has eight points in his past four games.

#5 Morakinyo Williams
Seven-foot Kentucky transfer Morakinyo Williams, who played a total of 28 minutes in six non-conference appearances, is averaging 14.7 minutes per game in conference play ... tied his season high with 13 minutes versus Richmond and surpassed that with 23 at Dayton and 28 vs. Saint Louis ... set career highs for rebounds (6) and assists (2) vs. the Flyers ... added five rebounds vs. SLU and four points in five minutes (2-of-3 from the field) vs. Saint Joseph's ... has just one turnover in 103 minutes of conference play (seven games).

#33 Rodrigo Peggau
Redshirt freshman Rodrigo Peggau , who underwent successful right knee surgery last December, was cleared to participate in individual workouts in early September ... the Brazilian played in four games last year prior to opting for season-ending surgery ... his last full season of basketball was in 2006-07 at The Calverton School (Md.) ... missed the 2007-08 season at The Patterson School (N.C.) due to a torn meniscus in his right knee ... has seen action in 17 games with one start ... had streak of 14 straight games played snapped on Jan. 31 vs. Saint Joseph's ... had nine points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes vs. Pitt and added eight points and seven boards in 15 minutes vs. Robert Morris ... he is 10-of-19 (.526) on two-point attempts and 0-of-6 from the 3-point arc .... he has played 20 or more minutes in a game three times ... has played a total of 18 minutes in DU's seven A-10 games.

Others
Sophomore #2 Chase Robinson played in one of DU's first seven games, before seeing action in eight of the past 14 ... scored a season-high four points and added a career-best four rebounds in nine minutes vs. Saint Francis, Pa. ... played a career-high 13 minutes at IUPUI ... has seen three minutes of action in conference play ... six-nine , 255-pound sophomore #54 Oliver Lewinson has played in 12 games ... had two points, five rebounds and two steals in a career-high 22 minutes at No. 6 (AP) West Virginia ... he added three boards in five minutes vs. Canisius ... saw his first conference action at Rhode Island where he had three rebounds in 12 minutes ... freshman #3 Andre Marhold has come off the bench in 13 games ... grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots in a season-high 16 minutes at WVU ... has played double-digit minutes four times ... saw his first conference action at Xavier (one block in two minutes).