Box Score Dec. 5, 2014
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PITTSBURGH - James Robinson scored a game-high 23 points in leading Pitt to a 76-62 win over Duquesne at CONSOL Energy Center.
Pitt held Duquesne, which entered the game averaging 88.8 points, to 37.3 percent shooting in posting its 14th consecutive win the 83-game series.
Freshman TySean Powell and first-year junior college transfer Jordan Stevens had 15 points apiece for the Dukes.
Pitt led by 15 with under 10 minutes left before Jordan Robinson began a 7-0 run with a dunk. Stevens followed with a 3-pointer and found L.G. Gill on the break for a layup forcing the Panthers to burn a timeout with 8:34 left.
Derrick Colter, who finished with 13 points, hit three 3-pointers in just under three minutes to make it 65-58 with 4:13 left.
Stevens hit one of two free throws at the 3:22 mark to make it a six-point game, but that's as close as the Dukes would get as Josh Newkirk, who scored 16, hit a big 3-pointer from the wing to make it a nine-point game. Jeremiah Jones missed a contested drive and Jamel Artis followed with a pair of free throws to make it 69-59.
DU briefly got it back to single digits on a Powell layup. The Dukes began fouling and Pitt responded by hitting five free throws in the final minute to make it a 14-point game.
Duquesne missed 12 of its last 15 shots in falling behind 39-27 at the half. The Dukes, who trailed by as many as 14 late, shot 31 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Robinson scored 15 in the first half for the Panthers, who benefitted from nine DU turnovers.
The Dukes held the Panthers to one field goal in the first 6:58 of the second half but could only pull to within seven - on a Stevens jumper with 14:41 left - during that span.
A Newkirk jumper made it 54-39 with 9:50 left before Duquesne made its run.
Pitt outrebounded the Dukes 45-37. The Panthers, led by Newkirk and Joseph Uchebo's 12 points outscored the Dukes' bench 31-22. DU entered the game having outscored opposing benches 170-51.
The Panthers, who shot 43.9 percent, outscored the Dukes 20-11 from the foul line.
Duquesne heads to State College, Pa. to face another long-time rival when it takes on Penn State on Wednesday, Dec. 10. The PSU game, set for a 9:00 p.m. start, will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
NOTES
• TySean Powell reached double digits for the fourth-straight game ... Powell, who was 5-of-9 from the field, is now 26-of-34 (.765) from the field for the season.
• Duquesne's lone lead came in the game's opening two minutes at 5-3.
• Derrick Colter was 3-of-3 from the 3-point arc ... he is 16-of-25 (.640) from 3-point on the young season.
• Friday's City Game vs. Pitt begins a season-long stretch of three in a row away from Palumbo Center for the Dukes. DU is at Penn State on Dec. 10 (9:00 p.m., Big Ten Network) and at Robert Morris on Dec. 13 (4:00 p.m.).
