Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team had a four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday with a 72-59 setback to Davidson at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes fell to 13-9 (.591) overall during the 2023-24 campaign, including 3-6 (.333) in the Atlantic 10.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
The Wildcats grabbed their biggest lead, 46-31, with 15:40 to play after a three-pointer from Connor Kochera, who led all scorers in the game with 19 points. Forward
Jakub Necas helped jump start the Dukes, converting in the paint on a layup to start an 11-0 run that helped Duquesne close its deficit to 46-42 at the 11:06 mark. Forward
Fousseyni Drame scored five points during the burst, while guard
Kareem Rozier knocked down a jumper and guard
Jake DiMichele scored on the fast break after a steal by Necas. Davidson (13-9 / 3-6 A-10) was able to keep the Dukes at bay with timely shooting, as a three-pointer from Bobby Durkin gave the Wildcats a 56-43 edge, while a triple from Grant Huffman with 4:32 to go pushed the advantage to 60-51.
QUOTABLE
"We didn't have very good discipline defensively," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "We didn't share the ball very well and we didn't guard. We made a run at them, but then we didn't guard again. If you don't have good discipline defensively they'll slice you up, and we paid the price. They're just as good as any team we've played. I don't care what the record says. They've played close in every single game. They're good defensively, and if you're not ready to play and you're not playing your best basketball, it's going to be a hard night. Once you're down 13 or 14, your margin of error gets small. You've got to make every play. We got it to four and then we didn't make every play."
THE OPENING RUN
Duquesne owned an early 9-5 lead after a hook shot from forward
Tre Williams, but Davidson used a 13-2 surge to grab an 18-11 cushion at the 8:35 mark of the first half. A layup from Huffman tied it, 9-9, and the Wildcats got consecutive layups from Riccardo Ghedini and a three-pointer from Achile Spandone to pull in front. Davidson was also able to convert at the free-throw line, finishing 8-for-8 in the first half and knocking down each of their first 13 attempts from the stripe before missing. In addition to the 19 from Kochera, Huffman added 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Durkin scored 11. The Wildcats overall finished 18-for-20 (90%) at the stripe.
QUOTABLE
"Emotionally it's hard to gear up defensively when you play bad offense," Dambrot said. "We've stressed with them how we have to win, and 72 is too many. It has to be below 60, 64, 65. We're going to have some nights when we score. If you watch that game, time of possession wise, I bet we were on defense most of the game. They just had a bad night, and they'll come back and play well after this. I have complete faith in those guys, but they just didn't have it tonight."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The guard combo of
Jimmy Clark III and
Dae Dae Grant combined for just nine points and shot 3-of-16 from the field, including 1-for-5 from beyond the arc. Forward
David Dixon scored all 10 of his points in the first 20 minutes of action, while Drame tied for team-high honors with DiMichele with 15 points. Drame shot 5-for-11 from the floor, including a 3-for-6 performance from beyond the arc, while DiMichele was 6-of-10 shooting.
QUOTABLE
"Dave has made big strides as a player," Dambrot said. "He's still young in his development. At times he plays really good and then at other times he looks young. He's like a sprinter that's trying to run a mile. Quick twitch. As he builds up his conditioning and gets a little stronger, he's going to get better. He's had a good year, especially for not doing anything all summer."
UP NEXT
The Dukes travel to Olean, N.Y., Saturday, Feb. 10, for a 2:00 p.m. tip against St. Bonaventure at the Reilly Center.
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