Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team opened the home portion of its Atlantic 10 schedule Friday with a 72-62 loss to Dayton at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes slipped to 9-6 (.600) overall during the 2023-24 season, including 0-3 in the A-10.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
In the first five minutes of the contest the Flyers grabbed an early 13-2 advantage as DaRon Holmes scored six points in the opening salvo. Duquesne missed its first four shots from the field and opened by hitting just one of its first seven opportunities. Freshman guard
Jake DiMichele provided a spark off the bench, converting a three-point play and burying a three-pointer to help trim the deficit for the Dukes to 19-14, who held Dayton to just 38.2 percent (13-for-34) shooting in the opening 20 minutes. Koby Brea would answer with a triple for the Flyers, while Nick Santos added another to help stretch the lead for Dayton to 25-16 en route to a 31-21 halftime advantage.
FLIP THE SCRIPT
Both teams found their offensive groove in the second half, and the Dukes made their run midway through the stanza. DiMichele ignited a 7-0 burst to help Duquesne close to within 45-41 with a three-pointer, while sophomore forward
David Dixon added an alleyoop on a feed from sophomore
Kareem Rozier and senior guard
Jimmy Clark III picked the pocket of Kobe Elvis and went the distance for a driving layup. Empty possessions for both teams followed before Holmes stemmed the tide with a three-pointer and a dunk to push the Flyers (13-2 / 3-0 A-10) to a 50-41 lead with 7:42 to go. He added a three-point play and two more triples as Dayton opened up a 61-47 advantage.
QUOTABLE
"We're certainly not where we want to be, but I still think if we find the right formula we can have a pretty good season," head coach
Keith Dambrot. "We've had a little bit of a rough start. We played good enough defensively in the first half, but we were just bad on offense. We have a lot of work to do, but we're still putting the pieces together. That's the most difficult thing."
ON THE ROCKS
The extended run for DiMichele for the second consecutive game paid dividends, as in just shy of 20 minutes he finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. It marked his first career double-figure scoring game with the Dukes. Both of his rebounds were of the offensive variety and he also added an assist and a pair of steals. DiMichele was one of three players to reach double figures for the Dukes, with senior guard
Dae Dae Grant scoring all of his team-high 14 of his points in the second, while Clark III added 12 rebounds, four rebounds and four steals.
QUOTABLE
"The best thing about (DiMichele) is he just balls," Dambrot said. "He doesn't worry about whether he plays or whether he gets shots up. He doesn't worry about if he's in the first rotation. He just plays and doesn't have any agenda. He plays loose and he's confident. In my mind I thought he could play. He's a deceptive guy. He looks more like a piano player than a basketball player. He can shoot the ball, he can pass it pretty good, he can drive it. He has a good toughness level about him. He's not a finished product by any means, but he's playing better than most everybody we have at this point. The most important thing is all he cares about is winning."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Holmes registered his third double-double of the season and 20th of his career with 33 points and 12 rebounds while also adding a pair of assists. He finished 12-for-18 shooting, including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, while also finishing 6-for-8 at the free-throw line. Dayton shot 63.2 percent (12-for-19) from the field in the second half and 47.2 percent (25-for-53) overall.
QUOTABLE
"We need to hunt energy generating behaviors," Dambrot said. "That is deflections, taking the charge, offensive rebound, being on the help side, running the floor. Quit worrying about whether the ball goes in the basket. That's part of that formula that's not quite right. The three games we've lost we've gotten beat up inside."
PACKED HOUSE
Friday marked the first official sellout at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, with 3,724 fans in attendance for a nationally televised game on ESPN2. It eclipses the 3,333 that witnessed the Dukes earn a 56-54 win over St. Bonaventure Feb. 11, 2023. The sellout also marked the fifth time over 3,000 have attended a game at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse since its opening in 2021.
UP NEXT
Duquesne welcomes Richmond to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Tuesday, Jan. 16, for a 7:00 p.m. tip to close out a two-game homestand.
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