Duquesne continues to struggle this season as their losing streak extended to eight games after getting blown out by Dayton, 75-54, on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio. Duquesne is now 6-15 on the season and 1-8 in the Atlantic 10.
The Dukes started the game off strong and went back and forth with Dayton (16-8, 8-3), but they just couldn’t create offense and make shots consistently. Meanwhile, Dayton shot lights out, making 33-of-55 shots from the field (60.0%) and was 7-of-13 from behind the arc (53.8%). Duquesne was dreadful from the field, converting just 21-of-52 shots (40.4%) and were 6-of-16 on three-point attempts (37.5%).
Kobe Elvis led Dayton with 13 points and had three triples. Dayton had a 30-point lead in the second half, so bench players got in as well. In total, 11 different Flyers scored. Tre Williams led the Dukes with 12 points.
At the 10 minute mark in the first half, Duquesne led Dayton, 19-18. Both teams were going up and down the court and converting shots. The Dukes shot 53.3% from the field, while Dayton made 61.5% of their shots.
After starting hot, Duquesne went through a four-minute stretch without scoring, and Dayton went on an 8-0 run and took a 26-19 lead with 5:29 remaining in the first half. Dayton increased its lead to 31-21 after a three-pointer by Elvis and a jumper by Moulaye Sissoko. Duquesne had another four-minute stretch without scoring and went into halftime down, 35-24.
The Dukes made just 10-of-26 shots (38.5%) from the field in the first half and were 3-of-8 from behind the arc (37.5%). In contrast, Dayton converted 16-of-28 shots (57.1%) from the field and made 3-of-6 three-point attempts (50%).
Williams led the Dukes with six points in the first half, while R.J. Blakney and Sissoko led the Flyers with six points each.
In transition, Elvis nailed a three-pointer to put Dayton up 44-26 with 16:37 remaining. Dayton outscored Duquesne 9-2 to begin the second half, and the Flyers were shooting at 60%. A few minutes later, Koby Brea made a three-pointer to give Dayton a 27-point advantage at 53-26. Duquesne went over four minutes without a basket until Jackie Johnson III made two free throws at the 13:21 mark to cut Dayton’s lead to 53-28. In total, Duquesne went over 16 minutes in the game without scoring.
Dayton led by 30 points with 11:30 left and started to put in some bench players. Duquesne got Dayton’s lead down to 20, but it was too much of a big hole to dig out of and Dayton won convincingly, 75-54.
The Dukes’ next game is on Saturday, Feb. 12, against Fordham at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Comment? What is there to say?