Jan. 21, 2012

Box Score

ST. LOUIS, MO. - Dwayne Evans led five players in double figures with 13 points as Saint Louis held Duquesne to 15 second-half points in a 68-41 win at Chaifetz Arena.

Eric Evans was the lone Duke in double figures with 12 points as the Saint Louis defense held DU to 30.9 percent shooting.

Duquesne, which entered the game as the second-leading scoring team in the Atlantic 10 at 76.4 points per game, dropped to 12-8 overall and 3-3 in the A-10. SLU, which leads the A-10 in scoring defense, upped its home record to 10-1, its overall record to 15-4 and its conference record to 3-2.

"We didn't make very good decisions as a basketball team," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "Against a team like this, it really snowballs."

DU's three leading scorers: Sean Johnson (16.2 ppg.), B.J. Monteiro (15.5 ppg.) and T.J. McConnell (11.9 ppg.) were held to a combined 14 points. Johnson, who had scored in double digits in 18 of Duquesne's first 19 games, scored one point.

Duquesne trailed by two with just over four minutes left in the first half before the Billikens reeled off 11 straight points including 3-pointers by Mike McCall and Jordair Jett to go up by 13. McConnell made it 37-26 with a driving score just before the horn. The Dukes led once - on a McConnell 3-pointer that made it 20-19 - in the first half.

SLU scored 12 of the first 15 points of the second half to take a 20-point lead with 15:12 to go. Four Saint Louis players scored during the outburst with Kyle Cassity ending the run with a 3-pointer.

Duquesne mounted an 8-0 run to make it 49-37 on an Evans 3-pointer at the 11:55 mark. The Dukes then went scoreless for a nearly seven minute span as the SLU lead reached 23 before a Mamdou Datt put back made it 60-39 with 5:22 to go.

"The last five or six minutes of the game, our turnovers weren't just turnovers, they were assists to them," said Everhart. "We just didn't stay patient and didn't execute."

DU turned it over six times and missed 10 shots during its six-and-one-half minute drought.

The 27-point final margin was SLU's largest lead of the game.

Saint Louis finished with two fewer turnovers than its A-10 low 11.2 per game average, while DU turned it over 15 times in being outscored 20-10 off miscues.

SLU shot 47.1 percent including 7-of-18 from the 3-point arc.

Mamadou Datt was one of few bright spots for DU with 8 points and 7 rebounds in 11 foul-plagued minutes.

Duquesne is idle until it hosts La Salle on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7:00 p.m.

NOTES

• The win was Saint Louis' fourth in a row over Duquesne at Chaifetz Arena ... DU's last win at SLU was on Jan. 6, 2007 (73-63) at Scottrade Center ... the Dukes and Billikens will meet again on March 3 in Pittsburgh.

• DU's 41 points were its fewest since a 68-39 loss at No. 6 (AP) West Virginia on Dec. 9, 2009 ... the 17 field goals were also the fewest since 14 in the WVU game ... the 15 points in the second half were the fewest in a half since 12 in the first half of a 89-41 loss at Saint Joseph's on Jan. 3, 2007 ... DU's 30.9 percent shooting effort was its worst since it shot 25.0 percent (14-of-56) in that same Saint Joe's game.

• The Dukes went 3-of-5 from the foul line ... the makes and attempts were both season lows.

• Duquesne was without second-leading rebounder Andre Marhold (5.7, 4.4) for the second consecutive game ... Marhold has been out since being elbowed in the head on Jan. 14 at Rhode Island ... the 6-7 forward/center had played in 20 consecutive games - including all 18 games with 12 starts this season - prior to the injury ... in addition, freshman P.J. Torres did not make the trip to St. Louis (stomach virus).