PITTSBURGH - Duquesne (1-1) cut an 18-point halftime deficit to three, but could not make it all the way back, in falling to Hofstra (1-1), 73-63, on Saturday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Zach Cooks scored 20 of his game-high 29 points in the first half to lead the Pride, while Primo Spears scored 16 of his 17 in the second half to pace the Dukes.

First-year TCU transfer Kevin Easley posted his third career double-double - and first as a Duke - with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Hofstra, which outshot Duquesne, 58 percent to 38 percent, went 10-of-21 from 3-point, while the Dukes made just 3-of-24 attempts from beyond the arc.

Hofstra hit seven of its first nine shots to jump out to a 17-5 lead.

Cooks, who scored 11 in the game's first five minutes, buried his fourth 3-pointer to give Hofstra a 22-8 advantage at the 13:37 mark. The Pride, who shot .607 in the half, led 41-23 at intermission, with Cooks - who had 20 - nearly outscoring the Dukes by himself.

Duquesne began to claw back by scoring the first seven points out of the break to make it 41-30. Spears' third bucket of the half, a driving layup, made it 41-34.

Mike Bekelja, whose defensive effort on Cooks helped the Dukes rally, hit a 3-pointer and Spears, who had 11 points in the first seven minutes of the half, buried another three to make it 47-42 with 13:09 to go.

Austin Rotroff cut it to three, before Hofstra hit a pair of 3-pointers and a layup to make it 55-46. Cooks' fifth, and final, 3-pointer made it 58-48.

Spears hit a jumper at the shot clock horn to close the gap to 62-56 with 4:28 left. DU then got a block from Tre Williams and had possession down six, but turned it over leading to a fast break layup for Cooks.

The Pride scored seven of the next nine to make it 71-58 with under two minutes remaining.

Duquesne will have fewer than 48 hours to prepare for its game vs. Weber State (1-0) on Monday at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

NOTES

• Freshman Primo Spears scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half.
• Kevin Easley's double-double was his first since he had back-to-back double-doubles (11-10 vs. Mercer and 22-12 vs. The Citadel) as a freshman at Chattanooga.
• Austin Rotroff made his first appearance of the season. Rotroff, who is coming back from a foot injury, was not in uniform for the opener vs. Rider. He finished with four points in six minutes.
• Duquesne's largest lead was at 2-0 ... Hofstra's largest lead was the 18-point halftime margin ... there was one tie and one lead change before Hofstra took the lead for good on a Darlinsone Dubar 3-pointer that made it 5-3 at the 18:17 mark ... Duquesne led for 22:08 ... Hofstra led for 15:06.