PITTSBURGH - Francis Okoro and Fred Thatch Jr. scored 14 points each as Saint Louis (14-6, 5-2) snapped a six-game series losing streak in Pittsburgh with a 77-53 win over Duquesne (6-12, 1-5) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

Kevin Easley Jr. was the only Duke in double figures with 11 points. Leon Ayers III and Jackie Johnson III added nine points each for DU, whose point total was one shy of its season-low.

Mounir Hima had four points, six rebounds and five blocks in 13 minutes off the bench for DU.

The Dukes shook off a slow start to take a 14-13 lead on a Tyson Acuff 3-pointer.

Gibson Jimerson got loose for a pair of 3-pointers, the second of which gave the Billikens a 28-19 lead. Rashad Williams followed with SLU's third 3-pointer in one minute to make it 31-19, forcing a DU timeout.

The Billikens got a 3-pointer from Yuri Collins, their sixth, to make 42-29 at the first half horn.

The Dukes, who came into the game averaging 11.2 turnovers per game, had 12 in the opening 20 minutes.

Saint Louis opened the second half with a 10-2 run, getting four points each from Okuoro and Jimerson, to make it 52-31.

The SLU lead never dipped below 18 the rest of the way.

Saint Louis, behind the inside presence of Okoro, outscored Duquesne 42-22 in the paint and 24-3 off turnovers.

Duquesne hosts Richmond on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (ESPN+).  

NOTES

• This was SLU's first win over Duquesne in Pittsburgh since Jan. 22, 2014 when the No. 19 (AP) Billikens defeated the Dukes, 76-72.
• Mounir Hima, who entered the game with three blocks in his first eight games, had three rejections in the first half. He finished with five blocks to go along with four points and six rebounds.
• Duquesne, which came into the game averaging 11.2 turnovers/g., had 12 in the first half. DU's 20 turnovers tied the season high set vs. Weber State.
• DU, which had a total of eight bench points in its three previous games, finished with 19. Tyson Acuff led the way with seven points off the pine. Toby Okani added six points and seven rebounds off the bench.
• Saint Louis' largest lead was 28, at 72-44 with 3:39 left ... Duquesne's largest lead was one, the last of which was at 15-14 with 9:46 left in the first half ... there were two ties and two lead changes before SLU took the lead for good on a Fred Thatch Jr. three-point play that made it 17-15 with 9:45 left in the first half ... Saint Louis led for 37:16 ... Duquesne led for 0:28.