Duquesne ‘Disrupts’ George Mason, Earns Statement Win in Chuck Cooper Classic

On a night when both the 2024-25 seniors and 1976-77 NCAA tournament were honored, as well as it being the Chuck Cooper Classic, the Duquesne Dukes (13-16, 8-8 A-10) physically bullied George Mason (22-7, 13-3 A-10) to maintain the seventh spot of the A-10 heading into the conference tournament. The 85 points from Duquesne is tied for the most they’ve ever scored against a D-1 opponent and the most that George Mason has given up this season.

“We’ve just tried to be as disruptive as we could, alter their sets and try to throw their timing off,” said Duquesne head coach Dru Joyce III, “Our pressure allowed us to do that.”

Despite George Mason scoring the game’s first basket, it was Duquesne who came out of the gate strong. A 10-0 run for Duquesne, generated primarily through an aggressive defense providing no looks for George Mason, set them up with a 10-2 lead three minutes in. During the game’s first five minutes, Duquesne forced five turnovers, and capitalized offensively on multiple George Mason miscues, a trend that would continue in much of this game.

The physicality and high-effort level of Duquesne didn’t let up after the hot start, even as George Mason started to match them shot-for-shot. The physicality was evident in the middle of the first half when Duquesne turned to attacking the paint offensively. Despite George Mason having the biggest guys on the front court in Givoanni Enejuru (6-foot-11, 265 lbs) and Jalen Haynes (6-foot-8, 260 lbs), Duquesne from the 11:25 mark to the 7:45 mark scored four times in the paint on four attempts, extending their lead to 23-15 and cementing the physicality that would become the statement of this game.

The last five minutes of the first half though, it was George Mason that controlled the game. Going on a 13-3 run from the 4:46 mark to the 1:40 mark gave them a 30-29 lead, their first since scoring the game’s first basket. A three-pointer by Tre Dinkins III quickly put Duquesne back in the lead, before George Mason tied it up. It was Dinkins though, again from the three-point line, that scored the half’s last basket and sent Duquesne into the locker room up 35-32.

“Just putting pressure on them,” said Dinkins on the Dukes’ defensive game plan. “We absolutely know they have great guard play, great bigs. Being aggressive to them, getting into their heads, trying to win the isolations, things like that. They made some tough shots, and we can live with that, but at the end of the day, we played with utmost confidence, brought the effort in, the intensity, and nailed the execution.”

The physicality continued into the second half with the teams being called for eight fouls in the first five minutes after being called for a combined 15 in the entire first half. The increase in calls initially worked in George Mason’s favor, who went 12-for-14 (83.3%) from the free throw line in the game’s first 25 minutes while Duquesne only got to attempt four free throws during the same span. However, Duquesne would end up being on the receiving end of the foul calls as George Mason was charged for 15 in the half, a big difference-maker down the stretch.

Despite the strong free throw shooting from George Mason, they weren’t able to fully pull away, leading by no more than three-points in the second half’s first six minutes, and the score was tied 45-45 at the 14-minute mark, before a David Dixon three gave the Dukes a 48-45 lead. That three was in the middle of a 14-4 run for the Dukes who took a 53-47 lead into the 12-minute mark with Dixon scoring eight of those 14 points.

Duquesne continued their stretch after the media timeout, with a three-pointer and pair of foul shots giving them an 11-point lead, 58-47, their largest lead of the game to that point. In addition to it being an 28-4 stretch overall for the Dukes, they were on a 10-0 run that didn’t end until Haynes was fouled on a dunk attempt and made the resulting pair of free throws at the nine-minute mark.

“When threes are falling, it’s kind of contagious,” said Cameron Crawford who went 5-for-8 from the three-point line in the game. “Once one person sees it, two go in. Everybody gets pretty hype about it. My first one fell, and normally when my first one falls, I know it’s going to be a good night.”

While the offense was certainly performing well during this stretch – shooting 7-for-9 overall and 5-7 from the three-point line – it was the defense that was generating it. From 16:06 to 8:53 Duquesne outscored George Mason 22-6, holding them to 1-for-7 shooting (14.3%) and generating four turnovers. That type of control would follow the Dukes through the end of the game, as they pulled away with the 85-68 victory.

Dinkins lead the game in scoring with 20 points on 7-for-9 (63.6%) shooting including 66.7% from the three-point line while the combined defensive effort forced 20 turnovers including 11 steals, set the tone for the entire game. Those 20 turnovers were the most George Mason committed this season.

Not to forget, the Dukes shot well from the three-point line in the second half, going 9-for-13 (56.3%). It was an impressive win in all aspects over the current second-place 2 A-10 team with just two games left before the 2024-25 conference tournament.

“Just continue with the progression,” said Joyce whose team has won four of their last six games. “We have to continue to trend upwards, continue to build on our habits and principals, each and every opportunity that we get.”