Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team returned home to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Saturday to open its February slate, dropping a 62-53 decision to Massachusetts. The Dukes, who have dropped four consecutive games, slipped to 9-13 (.409) overall during the 2024-25 campaign, including 4-5 (.444) in the Atlantic 10.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Rahsool Diggins scored 27 of his game-high 32 points in the second half to bolster the Minutemen to victory, finishing 11-of-18 from the field, including 5-for-9 from beyond the arc, and 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. A dunk from junior forward
David Dixon with 9:41 remaining gave Duquesne a 39-36 lead, but over a span of 6:26, Diggins scored 18 consecutive points for UMass (10-12 | 5-4 Atlantic 10), turning a three-point deficit into a 54-45 lead with 2:30 to play. His three-pointer tied the contest, 41-41, at the 7:37 mark of the second half, while his triple with 6:01 left gave the Minutemen the lead for good, 46-43. Diggins, coming off a 27-point performance at Rhode Island (Jan. 29), posted his sixth game of the year with 20 or more points, including his third eclipsing the 30-point plateau.
QUOTABLE
"Sometimes, you shake his hand and say 'Good game,'" head coach
Dru Joyce III said. "Generally, I thought, we tried to take away his space. Those shots were highly contested. He shook away from us on some catch-and-shoot situations, but the ones off the bounce? I just need those to hit the front of the rim. They hit nothing. I don't think our defense was really an issue. We forced 18 turnovers. We did a pretty good job on the rebounds against the best rebounding team in the league. I didn't think at any moment that our defensive performance was poor."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Outside of the 11-for-18 (61.1%) effort from Diggins, the other 18 players across the two teams that saw action Saturday combined to shoot 29 percent (29-for-100) from the field. A sluggish first half saw UMass enter the break with a 25-24 edge as both teams shot under 36 percent. Duquesne owned an 18-16 cushion with 6:58 left before halftime after redshirt junior guard
Maximus Edwards converted a pair at the free-throw line, but Massachusetts got a three-pointer from Diggins to jump in front before Daniel Hankins-Sanford, who produced a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, converted in the lane. Combined at the chalk Saturday, the Dukes and Minutemen were successful on just 48.7 percent (20-for-41) of their attempts.
QUOTABLE
"We figured it out for a period of time, but we just couldn't close the game,"
Dru Joyce III said. "I thought we had good looks all game. I think we just missed. I'm not deterred by the quality of possessions. We had the ball right in front of the rim, we just didn't make it. Catch-and-shoot threes were available to us throughout the game, with players we want shooting the ball. The one thing we want to see is if we generated a good look. If we generate good looks, which I think we did for the majority of the game, then I have to remind them that's what we want."
NOTES
Junior forward
Chabi Barre missed his second consecutive game due to injury, while junior forward
Matúš Hronský earned his first start of the year … Hronský is the 10th different member of the Dukes to be a member of the starting lineup this season, with the only regular not to start sophomore guard
Jake DiMichele … DiMichele has missed the last 15 games due to injury after coming off the bench the first seven contests of the year … Duquesne has lost a total of 70 games due to injury so far in 2024-25, including forward
Alex Williams and
Brandon Hall, who both have suffered season-ending injuries … Senior guard
Tre Dinkins III led the Dukes with 11 points and also added five assists and two steals without turning the ball over … Redshirt junior guard
Cam Crawford added 10 points but was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc … Forward
Jahsean Corbett came off the bench for the first time in his NCAA Division I career Saturday, a span of 115 games, contributing eight points, a team-high nine rebounds and three steals … Massachusetts owned a 48-35 advantage in rebounding, including a 13-12 edge on the offensive glass … Six of the nine caroms for Corbett were of the offensive variety … The last three games for the Dukes have featured 26 ties and 31 lead changes.
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 5, with a 7:00 p.m. tip at Richmond.
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