2011 Duquesne Basketball

2010-11 Results:

Overall: 19-13 (Home 11-4 Road 8-6 Neutral 0-2 Postseason 1-1)
Atlantic 10: 10-6
Conference Tournament: Lost in the quarterfinals to Saint Joseph’s.
Postseason: Lost in the quarterfinals of the CBI.

Ron Everhart led Dukes to a 19-13 record and tied for fourth in the Atlantic 10. Duquesne did many positive things last year and after a 5-5 start won 11 in a row, including their first eight conference games. It was only the second time in the last 30 years that they won 19 or more games and they tied a school record with 10 conference wins. The Dukes were first in the conference in points, assists, steals and turnover margin per game. The Dukes averaged 77.9 points per game and allowed 68.0 points per game.

Duquesne couldn’t sustain their early success due mainly to poor free throw shooting and rebounding. Their free-throw percentage was 62.2 which ranked 321st out of 336 Division I teams.

Roster
Returning Starters
T.J. McConnell
B.J. Monteiro
Sean Johnson
Mike Talley

Other Returning Players
Andre Marhold
Eric Evans
Jerry Jones

Newcomers
Derrick Martin
Mamadou Datt
Kadeem Pantophlet
Danny Herrera
P.J. Torres
Head Coach
Ron Everheart

Key Losses

While five of Duquesne’s seven top scorers from last year return the Dukes will be faced with replacing their two leading scorers in Bill Clark 16.3 points per game and Saunders 12.6 points per game. More than their scoring the Dukes will miss their inside presence now having to replace their entire frontcourt.

Date	Opponent / Event
12-Aug	@ Phase 1 Elite
13-Aug	@ Phase 1 Elite
14-Aug	@ A-Game Hoops
TBA	@ Brock University
15-Aug	@ A-Game Hoops
1-Nov	vs. Millersville (exhib.)
4-Nov	vs. Shepherd (exhib.)
2K Sports Classic – Tucson Regional
9-Nov	@ Arizona
13-Nov	vs. Green Bay
2K Sports Classic – Valparaiso Subregional
18-Nov	vs. District of Columbia
19-Nov	vs. Akron
11/20/2011	@ Valparaiso
Regular Season
11/26/2011	vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
11/30/2011	vs. Pittsburgh (N)
12/3/2011	vs. Tennessee Tech
12/6/2011	vs. Robert Morris
12/10/2011	vs. Penn State
12/17/2011	@ Western Michigan
12/21/2011	@ George Mason
12/28/2011	vs. Bowling Green
12/31/2011	vs. Houston Baptist
1/4/2012	vs. Saint Joseph’s *
1/7/2012	vs. St. Bonaventure *
1/11/2012	@ Xavier *
1/14/2012	@ Rhode Island *
1/18/2012	vs. Massachusetts *
1/21/2012	@ Saint Louis *
1/28/2012	vs. La Salle *
2/1/2012	@ Dayton *
2/4/2012	vs. Richmond *
2/11/2012	@ St. Bonaventure
2/15/2012	vs. Fordham *
2/18/2012	@ Temple
2/22/2012	vs. Dayton *
2/25/2012	@ George Washington *
2/29/2012	@ Charlotte
3/3/2012	vs. Saint Louis
2012 Atlantic 10 Championship
3/6/2012	First Round
3/9/2012	Quarterfinal
3/10/2012	Semifinal
3/11/2012	Final
*Conference Games

2011-12 Preview

Last season the Dukes were on track to make an appearance in the NCAA Tournament but faltered during the second half of the season. Duquesne will hope that the infusion of new players in the front court will help them to improve their rebounding that cost them a few games last year.

T.J. McConnell and B.J. Monteiro should keep them in games but it will be the frontcourt that determines whether this year’s team can compete for the Atlantic 10 title and a NCAA Tournament berth. Derrick Martin and Andre Marhold’s ability to hit the boards during Atlantic 10 play will be the key to success this season.

Backcourt

Duquesne will feature one of the best backcourts in the Atlantic Ten conference led by T.J. McConnell and Mike Talley. Last year McConnell contributed in a variety of ways averaging 10.8 points per game and finishing second in the Atlantic 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio. Though his biggest contribution to the team was on the defensive end of the floor with his ability to make crucial stops and steal the ball. He set a school record with 91 steals. McConnell is known for his natural instinct to anticipate where the opposition will go with the ball.

Sophomore Mike Talley (6.9 ppg 1.5rpg) will look to improve his offensive game which will be needed to replace the offense of Clark. Talley started 27 games last year but only attempted 170 shots which was 95 less than any other starter.

Sean Johnson averaged 9.8 points per game last year and 2.2 boards. In his final ten games he put up 12.3 points per game giving us a glimpse of his upside. Johnson needs to improve his ball control after having turned it over 59 times last year. Despite that weakness Johnson is known for taking the big shot hitting a three against St. Bonaventure with 53 seconds left to win a big game at the end of the season.

Monterio started 28 of 32 games last year and is the top returning scorer and averaged 11.4 points per game last year. Though he needs to be more efficient this year when it comes to scoring. Monterio also contributed 37 blocks which was second on the team.

Eric Evans was in line to be the starting point guard last year before being injured. He returns and will add depth and veteran leadership to the Dukes. Everhart will count on him to be a leader off the bench.

Frontcourt

Everhart will call upon five inexperienced players to get things started in the backcourt which consist of two true freshmen, a redshirt freshman, and two returning players who’ve never started. Derrick Martin is the player most likely to make the biggest splash. He was part of last year’s recruiting class but had to sit out. Martin is a 220 pound player that the Dukes will call upon to improve their rebounding to improve on their rebounding after finishing ninth in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding a year ago.

Andre Marhold showed promise during Duquesne’s August Canadian exhibition tour averaging 11.6 points per game. Look for him to average over 10 points a game this year and finish third or fourth on the team in scoring behind McConnell and Monteiro. But for Duquesne to challenge for the Atlantic 10 title he will need to play stronger on the boards. Marhold is an excellent shot blocker with a 7-2 wingspan.

Mamadou Datt and Kadeem Pantophlet will compete for playing time with Marhold and Martin. Pantophlet is from the Netherlands and played on the Dutch U20 and U19 national teams. Datt who is originally from Senegal arrived in the United States last year and played for Stoneridge Prep averaging 14 points and 8 rebounds a game.

Martins Abele a transfer from Radford will also give the Dukes frontcourt a boost when he becomes eligible which at this point in time appears to be next year.

More Atlantic 10 Basketball Predictions

Temple Owls	Saint Louis Billikens	Xavier Musketeers	St. Bonaventure Bonnies
UMass Minutemen	La Salle Explorers	Dayton Flyers	St. Josephs Hawks
Duquesne Dukes	Richmond Spiders	Charlotte 49ers	George Washington Colonials
Rhode Island Rams	Fordham Rams

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