Overshadowed by the hoopla heaped on Duquesne's offense, which has put up 100 points per game, has been the quantum improvement of the defense.

Duquesne, which allowed teams to make 50.7 percent of their shots from the field last season to rank 324th out of the 325 schools playing Division I basketball, has held its first four opponents under 35 percent.

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Scouting Report

• Matchup: Niagara (2-0) vs. Duquesne (4-0), 2 p.m. today, Palumbo Center.
• Radio/Internet: KQV (1410-AM)/GoDuquesne.com, www.redzonemedia.com.
• Niagara: Coming off an 80-63 victory against Buffalo in which the Purple Eagles forced 26 turnovers and blocked seven shots. ... Also defeated Central Michigan, 79-73. ... Is minus-8 in rebounding per game. ... Starting lineup has four players 6-4 and under. ... Defeated visiting Duquesne last season, 78-74.
• Duquesne: Coming off a 92-77 victory at Oakland in which Shawn James set a school record with 12 blocks and the team set a school record with 15 blocks. ... Averages 100.0 points, allows 64.5 ppg. ... Led by 6-10 Kieron Achara (16.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg), 6-1 Kojo Mensah (16.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg), James (13.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 22 blocks), 6-7 Damian Saunders (12.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg). ... Has a plus-13.5 rebounding edge per game.
• Hidden stat: Kojo Mensah's 13 rbeounds against Oakland was one shy of his high, which came against Albany two years ago as a sophomore at Siena.

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"We're putting more pressure on the ball," Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said of the Dukes, who are 4-0 with an opportunity to go 5-0 for the first time since 1985-86 when they play host to Niagara (2-0) today at the Palumbo Center. "And we have the big guy back there."

Everhart is referring to Shawn James, a 6-foot-10 shot-blocking machine who swatted a school-record 12 in a 92-77 victory Tuesday at Oakland University (Mich.). The Dukes set a school record with 15 and limited Oakland to 32.1 percent shooting from the field.

"I've never seen anything like that," said Oakland's Greg Kampe, who is in his 24th season as head coach.

But Duquesne's Kojo Mensah has seen James do that before as a teammate at Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep and on the playgrounds of Brooklyn in AAU games.

"I've seen him block 20 in a game," Mensah said, flashing a wide grin. "It's a lot of fun to see the face of an opponent when Shawn sends it back."

James, who led Division I with an NCAA-record 6.53 blocks a game in 2005-06 as a sophomore at Northeastern, surpassed Duquesne's previous record of seven blocks with his eighth rejection at 7:53 of the first half.

"James' 12 blocks just changed the game," Everhart said.

So did Duquesne's two-platoon substitution system and full-court defensive pressure in the win against Oakland.

"When you have the kind of depth we have, it seems a different guy can pick you up every night," said Everhart, whose Dukes were led by Mensah's 20 points and 13 rebounds against Oakland.

Oakland's Kampe was impressed with Duquesne's pursuit of the basketball.

"Their players have bought into ... that system," he said. "They play their tails off when they are out there. I really like that team."

Duquesne had a 66-55 rebounding advantage against Oakland and have outrebounded opponents by an average of plus-13.5 per game. The Dukes are led by freshman Damian Saunders (8.5 per game) and Bill Clark (8.0).

The Dukes will have a superior height advantage against Niagara, which relies on the quickness of four players 6-4 and under -- 6-4 Charron Fisher (24.5 points per game), 6-0 Tyrone Lewis (22.0), 6-1 Stanley Hodge (14.5) and 6-1 Anthony Nelson (10.0). They averaged between 34.5 and 36.5 minutes per game, which could be a problem against Duquesne's fresh troops the full 40 minutes.

"I would not want to play against our three guards when they really get into it defensively," Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said.