DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. - Dae Dae Grant scored a career high-tying 28 points but it wasn't enough to overcome hot-shooting Rice, as the fifth-seeded Dukes (20-13) fell to the 12th-seeded Owls (19-15), 84-78, in the opening round of the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The Dukes, who trailed by 13 with just over two minutes left in the first half, rallied to take a brief second-half lead, but could not hold on as the Owls shot 57 percent.

Jimmy Clark III scored all 13 of his points in the second half, and Tevin Brewer had 11 for the Dukes who went 14-of-36 from the 3-point arc.

Rice did its damage in the paint, outscoring the Dukes 46-18 in that area.

Rice went on an 11-0 run to take a 28-20 lead. The advantage reached 35-22 before Grant scored eight late points to help the Dukes cut it to 37-32 at the half.

DU scored the first five points out of the break and took a 40-39 lead on a Brewer 3-pointer.

Duquesne took its last lead on a Joe Reece dunk that made it 58-57 with 9:43 left.

Rice led by five with just under three minutes remaining before putting together a quick 6-0 run to take a 78-67 lead.

The closest DU would get the rest of the way was 83-78 on a Clark III 3-pointer with six seconds left.

Rice, which went 5-of-17 from the 3-point arc, converted 27 of its 39 two-point attempts (69 percent).

Grant (6-of-12), Brewer (3-of-7) and Clark III (3-of-8) combined for 12 of the Dukes' 14 3-pointers.

Duquesne shot 42 percent for the game.

NOTES

• The Dukes' 33 games played were the second-most in school history (record of 34 was set in 2009 & tied in 2015).
• With its 14 3-pointers made, the 2022-23 Dukes finished the year ranked second on the all-time single-season list with 302 (school record is 322 in 2016).
• The Dukes finished with two Joe Reece dunks, bringing their school record total to 112. The previous high was 101 set in 2015-16 (dunk records available since 1998).
• With his 28 points, Dae Dae Grant went over the 500-point mark for the season (511). Grant also moved into the No. 3 spot on the DU list for 3-pointers made in a season. Grant finished with 94, he was six short of passing Tom Pipkins (99 in 1997) for the No. 2 spot.
• Tevin Brewer (11 points), finished his career with 977 points.
• Duquesne's largest lead was four, the last of which came at 17-13, with 10:04 left in the first half ... Rice's largest lead was 13, the last of which came at 35-22, with 2:08 left in the first half  ... there were eight ties and nine lead changes in the game ... Rice took the lead for good on a Travis Evee basket that made that made it 59-58 with 8:44 left ... Rice led for 20:42 ... Duquesne led for 14:57.