ST. THOMAS, V.I. - Freshman Primo Spears scored 15 points and
Tre Williams added an 11-11 double-double, but Duquesne (1-3) couldn't overcome a 4-of-21 effort from the 3-point arc in falling to Northeastern (2-2), 71-55, in the opening round of the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, V.I. on Friday night.
With the defeat, the Dukes will face Colorado (3-1) tomorrow at 5:45 p.m. (ET) (ESPN3).
Northeastern, which shot 60 percent for the game, hit six of its first seven shots in jumping out to a 13-2 lead.
The Huskies built the advantage to 21-7 before the Dukes, behind seven bench points from Johnson III, cut it to 31-21 at the half.
DU was outshot 54 percent to 31 percent in the opening 20 minutes and 60 percent to 31 percent for the game.
Northeastern took advantage of a pair of early Duquesne turnovers to build its lead to 42-25 out of the half. The Huskies, who finished 7-of-16 from 3-point, hit three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the half.
The Dukes went scoreless for over three minutes after cutting to 53-45 on a
Kevin Easley Jr. 3-pointer.
DU missed five-straight shots and turned it over twice before Williams ended a nearly four-minute drought with a pair of free throws that made it 60-47 with 3:55 left.
NOTES
- Tre Williams posted the second double-double of his career with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Williams had a 12-13 double-double vs. Illinois State while at Indiana State last season.
- Tyson Acuff made his first career start. He is the seventh player to start a game this season.
- First-year Mercer transfer Leon Ayers III tied his career high with four steals.
- Northeastern's largest lead was 17, the last of which came at 71-54 with 33 seconds left ... Duquesne never led.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE SECOND ROUND
Duquesne vs. Colorado
Series Record: Tied 1-1
Dambrot vs. Colorado: First meeting
Jan. 2, 1940 H1 (OT) W 47-45
Mar. 15, 1940 N1 L 40-51
H1 - at Pitt Stadium
N1 - NIT, Madison Square Garden, New York City, N.Y.
NOTING THE BUFFS
- This is the first meeting between Duquesne and Colorado since 1940, when the two met twice in a span of 10 weeks. That season, the Dukes defeated the Buffs, 47-45 (OT) in Pittsburgh on Jan. 2, before Colorado gained a measure of revenge with a 51-40 win in the NIT championship game on Mar. 15 at Madison Square Garden. DU went on to become the first team to play in both the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same season.
- CU 6-9 soph. F Jabari Walker is one of 20 players on the watch list for the 2022 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award
- Senior Evan Battey was named to the media's preseason All-Pac-12 Team
- CU was picked to finish sixth in the media Pac-12 poll.
- The Buff's are in their 12th season under head coach Tad Boyle.
- Boyle ranks second on Colorado's all-time wins list.
DUQUESNE VS. THE PAC-12
- Duquesne is 9-10 all-time (1-6 in neutral-site games) vs. schools that comprise the current Pac-12.
- DU's last game vs. the Pac-12 opponent was at Arizona on Nov. 9, 2011, when the T.J. McConnell-led Dukes fell to the #16 (AP) Wildcats 67-59.
- Duquesne's last win over a Pac-12 team came on Dec. 26, 1975 over Oregon (78-74) in the first round of the Far West Classic in Portland, Ore.
- Keith Dambrot is 2-1 all-time vs. the Pac-12, with all three meetings coming while at Akron. He has won his past two vs. the Pac-12, including an 83-71 win over Oregon State in the 2013 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu and a 66-46 win over USC in the 2014 Charleston (S.C.) Classic.
