Ice Cold Duquesne Drops Fourth-Straight Game to UMass, 62-53

 On Saturday afternoon at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, Duquesne went ice cold offensively and lost its fourth-straight game, this time to the UMass Minutemen, 62-53.

The first half was a shot-missing clinic. The two teams combined to make just 18 of the 56 shots attempted in the frame, with UMass holding the slight edge with ten makes. The two teams traded baskets throughout the early portion of the half, and UMass held the lead for the majority of the frame.

With just over eight minutes to play in the first half, Duquesne’s Jahsean Corbett went coast to coast, slipping by the Minutemen defenders for an and-one layup at the rim. However, the Dukes couldn’t capitalize on the momentum and went into the break trailing, 25-24, after the sloppy half.

In the second half, the two teams continued to struggle to score the ball. Duquesne played tough defense on the Minutemen, but the Dukes couldn’t turn their stops into many points on the other end. Duquesne made just two of its first 15 three-point attempts, but, due to its good defense on UMass, the Minutemen only hit one of their first 12 tries. That is, until UMass guard Rahsool Diggins caught fire. Diggins hit two-straight three pointers as well as a two pointer, scoring eight-straight points and giving UMass a 46-43 lead. Still, the Dukes stayed within striking distance.

In the final five minutes, Jakub Necas grabbed a loose ball and took the ball all the way down to halfcourt, leading the break. There, he was poked in the face, and UMass was assessed a foul. However, Necas missed the front end of the 1-and-1 opportunity at the free-throw line, marking the 11th missed free throw in 20 attempts for the Dukes.

On the ensuing possession, Diggins once again hit a three pointer. This time, his three ball extended his point total up to 25 and the UMass lead up to six. On the next possession, he did it again! Diggins stepped into a three pointer on the left wing, and once again, splashed it in. UMass now led by a game-high nine points, and with just two minutes to go, the Dukes were in trouble.

The star of the game, Diggins, drained four free throws in the final minute to reach 32 points. He led all scorers.

Tre Dinkins III and Cam Crawford led Duquesne in scoring with 11 and ten points, respectively. As a team, Duquesne shot 32% from the field (19-60), 17% from three-point range (4-23), and 50% from the free-throw line (11-22).

With the loss, Duquesne drops its fourth-straight game and falls to 9-13 overall and 4-5 in A10 play.Up next, the Dukes will play at Richmond on Wednesday, Feb. 5.