For the final time, the Duquesne Dukes and UMass Minutemen met in Pittsburgh for an A-10 regular season matchup. And in the first half, basketball fans who like scoring were probably asleep on their couch. Things picked up in the second half for one side…spoiler alert: it was the Minutemen. They shot an improved 46.7% in the second half and charged to a 62-53 win on Saturday afternoon.
The scoreline was tight throughout the second half, with the biggest lead for both sides coming after a jumper from Jakub Necas to make it 33-29 with 15:45 to go. However, the Minutemen (10-12, 5-4 A-10) offense woke up and they cut down the Dukes’ (9-13, 4-5 A-10) lead to tie things up at 43. The bucket that tied the game from Rahsool Diggins sparked a 17-5 run over a 5:35 span, giving the Minutemen a 10-point advantage to seal the game with 1:33 to go. Diggins had 32 points, with a whopping 27 in the second half. He was the key to the late-game surge for the Minutemen.
The Dukes and Minutemen were marred in the first half by poor shooting. The Minutemen shot 10/28 and the Dukes shot an even worse 8/28. However, Duquesne forced 12 turnovers and scored 11 points off them, keeping them within one point at halftime.
Duquesne had their worst offensive output of the year, as they shot a lowly 19/60 from the field. The shots just were not falling, and it hurt them. Another factor that hurt them was foul trouble. Their bigs, Eli Wilborn and Dave Dixon, struggled to stay on the court at times. Wilborn ended up fouling out with 13:59 remaining in the second half, and Dixon had to play on thin ice in the final 4:24.
Duquesne Head Coach Dru Joyce III acknowledged that the frequency of fouls called were expected, especially given the pace of play in the game.
“We were late in a lot of ways tonight,” Joyce said. “The game was physical. And if you talk to the refs, when the ball’s not going in, it’s gonna involve a lot of whistles.”
However, he did acknowledge that the foul trouble with their big men was avoidable.
“I think they (Dixon and Wilburn) had some silly fouls that they committed, where they have to be more disciplined, especially early in that first half. I think they put themselves in danger of fouling.”
Duquesne will look to right the ship on Wednesday at 7 PM EST, as they hit the road to face Richmond. Meanwhile, the UMass farewell tour returns home, where they will host the St. Louis Billikens on Tuesday night at 7 PM EST.
