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PITTSBURGH - Derrick Colter tied his career-high 26 points - including six 3-pointers - as Duquesne tied its school record with 17 3-pointers in a 78-52 win over Penn State at CONSOL Energy Center.

The 26-point margin of victory was Duquesne's largest in series history.

Micah Mason added 14 points - including four 3-pointers - and Jeremiah Jones added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Dukes who finished 17-of-34 from the arc.

Duquesne, whose 3-0 start is its best since 2009-10, shot 50 percent overall and assisted on 20 of its 27 field goals.

Penn State (2-1), which shot 29.7 percent, was led by Brandon Taylor's 14 points.

Duquesne hit five of its first nine 3-point attempts in building an early 17-12 lead.

Penn State, which opened the game 5-of-18, answered with a 5-0 run to tie it on a Taylor jumper.

The game was tied at 26-26, before Duquesne closed the half with an 11-0 run. Jones and Colter started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers followed by a dunk by Darius Lewis that forced a PSU timeout.

"We defended. We got stops that led to our transition," said Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry of the half-ending run. "We struggled around the rim tonight because they were so big. Today was going to be a game where we needed to make shots."

The Dukes got 3-pointers from L.G. Gill, Colter and Mason in the first 2:16 of the second half to make it 46-28. Jones added another 3-pointer to complete a 23-2 haltime-spanning run that gave the Dukes a 49-28 lead.

DU led by at least 20 for the final 15 minutes.

Gill finished with nine points and six rebounds and freshman Nakye Sanders added 10 rebounds and blocked three shots in 17 minutes off the bench for the Dukes.

"We played extremely unselfish offensively, and more importantly, played extremely unselfish defensively," said Ferry. "The guys were really there for each other. I really felt like we frustrated them a little bit with how consistent we were defensively. Our three seniors really came out and set the tone for us tonight. It was a great team win and a great program win. We defended well tonight, and we'll have to do that consistently."

Duquesne leaves Saturday afternoon for the eight-team Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. The Dukes face Pepperdine (1-2) on Monday at 2:30 p.m. at Germain Arena in the first of three games in three days. DU will play either Murray State or Milwaukee on Tuesday and a to be determined opponent on Wednesday prior to returning home.

NOTES

• The 26-point margin of victory was Duquesne's largest in the 47-game series history ... DU's previous large margin was in a 36-12 win (+24) on Jan. 30, 1926 ... the 78 points were DU's most against the Nittany Lions since an 87-81 overtime win at home on Jan. 19, 1991.

• DU's 17 3-pointers tied the school record set in a 116-108 double overtime loss at Virginia Tech in a first round NIT game on Mar. 18, 2009 ... the 17 "3's" are Duquesne's most ever in a regulation game.

• DU's 3-0 start is its best since the 2009-10 team opened 4-0. This is Duquesne's best start under fourth-year head coach Jim Ferry. The win was Ferry's first over a Big Ten team in 12 tries (only one of the previous 11 meetings was at home).

• This was Duquesne's first win over a "Power 5" conference school since a 60-56 win over West Virginia at CONSOL Energy Center on Dec. 11, 2012. It is the Dukes' second over a Power 5 program under Jim Ferry ... the Atlantic 10 is 6-2 vs. Power 5 schools this season.

• Derrick Colter went 6-of-9 from the 3-point arc in tying his career high with 26 points ... Colter hit 7-of-8 from 3-point in a 26-point effort vs. Bluefield State last year.

• Freshman Nakye Sanders grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and blocked a game high three shots in 17 minutes off the bench.

• There were five ties and 10 lead changes before DU took the lead for good with an 11-0 run to end the first half.

• Duquesne's largest lead was 28 (65-37) with 9:16 left.