Duquesne goes cold from the field in loss to UMass
The difference in Saturday afternoon's Atlantic 10 Conference tilt between Duquesne and UMass was quite obvious. The Minutemen made shots when they needed them most and the Dukes experienced their worst shooting performance of the season in a 62-53 loss at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Duquesne (9-13, 4-5) shot a season-low 31.7% (19 for 60) from the field, including a miserable 17.4% (4 for 23) showing from three-point range, and converted on just 11 of 22 opportunities from the free-throw line. The Dukes were ultimately limited to a season-low point total en route to suffering their fourth consecutive loss after previously winning seven of eight games.
"I thought we had good looks all game, we just missed," Dru Joyce III said. "I'm not really deterred by the quality of possessions. I think when we go back and I look at my shot selection, I didn't take a lot of mid-range two's that were contested and we had the ball right in front of the rim, just didn't make it. We had our finishers, at times, right in front of the rim. Were they under some duress? Absolutely. But I don't think anyone's just giving free layups out here. Then I thought catch-and-shoot threes were available to us throughout the game from players who we want shooting the ball. I can't say that I am discouraged about our (offensive) performance."
UMass (10-12, 5-4) led 46-44 with 5:39 remaining in the game before outscoring Duquesne by a 16-9 margin down the stretch. Rahsool Diggins scored 12 of his game-high 32 points during the run. At one point, he scored 16 straight points for the Minutemen.
Despite the late surge by the opposition, Joyce didn't think the Dukes' defensive performance was an issue. They were out-rebounded by an overall 48-35 margin and in terms of defensive rebounds (35-23), but they did force 18 turnovers and generate nine steals.
"We forced 18 turnovers, we did a pretty good job on the rebounds against the best rebounding team in the league and we only gave up 10 fast-break points," Joyce said. "Defensively, I didn't think for any moment that our defensive performance was poor."
Duquesne featured just two players in double figures, as Tre Dinkins III finished with 11 points and Cam Crawford added 10. They combined to convert on 7 of 23 shots from the field. JahseanCorbett added eight points behind a 3-for-9 shooting performance.
THE ASYLUM
Duquesne goes cold from the field in loss to UMass
The difference in Saturday afternoon's Atlantic 10 Conference tilt between Duquesne and UMass was quite obvious. The Minutemen made shots when they needed them most and the Dukes experienced their worst shooting performance of the season in a 62-53 loss at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Duquesne (9-13, 4-5) shot a season-low 31.7% (19 for 60) from the field, including a miserable 17.4% (4 for 23) showing from three-point range, and converted on just 11 of 22 opportunities from the free-throw line. The Dukes were ultimately limited to a season-low point total en route to suffering their fourth consecutive loss after previously winning seven of eight games.
"I thought we had good looks all game, we just missed," Dru Joyce III said. "I'm not really deterred by the quality of possessions. I think when we go back and I look at my shot selection, I didn't take a lot of mid-range two's that were contested and we had the ball right in front of the rim, just didn't make it. We had our finishers, at times, right in front of the rim. Were they under some duress? Absolutely. But I don't think anyone's just giving free layups out here. Then I thought catch-and-shoot threes were available to us throughout the game from players who we want shooting the ball. I can't say that I am discouraged about our (offensive) performance."
UMass (10-12, 5-4) led 46-44 with 5:39 remaining in the game before outscoring Duquesne by a 16-9 margin down the stretch. Rahsool Diggins scored 12 of his game-high 32 points during the run. At one point, he scored 16 straight points for the Minutemen.
Despite the late surge by the opposition, Joyce didn't think the Dukes' defensive performance was an issue. They were out-rebounded by an overall 48-35 margin and in terms of defensive rebounds (35-23), but they did force 18 turnovers and generate nine steals.
"We forced 18 turnovers, we did a pretty good job on the rebounds against the best rebounding team in the league and we only gave up 10 fast-break points," Joyce said. "Defensively, I didn't think for any moment that our defensive performance was poor."
Duquesne featured just two players in double figures, as Tre Dinkins III finished with 11 points and Cam Crawford added 10. They combined to convert on 7 of 23 shots from the field. Jahsean Corbett added eight points behind a 3-for-9 shooting performance.
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