In a game where the Dukes needed to shoot well enough to give themselves a chance to beat anyone to have a chance to win, their offensive output wouldn't have beaten Maine. From three, the Dukes created a number of open looks and couldn't hit while Travon Woodall seemed to bury everyone. In fairness, the Dukes looked bad because Pitt made them look that way. It felt like the Panthers got to every 50/50 ball and they out toughed the Dukes every time they got the chance. Hustle was as much a factor as size. And of course, they buried their chances.
But it wasn't all bad for Duquesne. Yes the defensive rebounding was terrible, but overall I thought the Dukes played a solid defensive game for the first 25-30 minutes before they began to break down. I was impressed that they stayed man most of the way and even more impressed that the did well with it when everyone beckoned for the Dukes to back down and play zone. On the other end of the floor, the Dukes just didn't shoot. They created shots, had a number of wide open three's and they just couldn't hit. The Dukes normally make 33% and shot 24% of their threes where Pitt normally makes 36% and hit 53%. Part of that is Pitt being better. Part of that is it was somebody else's day for the shots to fall.
Player Ratings
Player of the Game - Jeremiah Jones - 6
Only guy who really seemed to want to get his hands dirty consistently had a nice second half and rebounded well. Missed at least 3 completely wide open threes.
Sean Johnson - 5.5
Seemed like he wanted to take the game over at times. I could tell he was frustrated. He was the only Duke to consistently break down the trap.
Martins Abele - 5
Post moves found the inside lane to the hoop against Steven Adams and he added some excitement offensively. On defense, he defended the shot well but failed to position himself for the board.
PJ Torres - 5
5 assists and 0 TO's is pretty impressive. He created a couple of nice leaning runners for himself that didn't fall. Failed to impress otherwise.
Derrick Colter - 4.5
Handled the pressure a lot
better than he would have at the beginning of the year. I don't think
his opposite number outclassed him by that much although James Robinson
is clearly the more advanced passer and manager of the game at this
point. Neither looked glaringly like freshmen today.
Quevyn Winters - 4
Had a good night on the glass. Needs to find a way to create more shots for himself inside. I don't think he's super confident handling the ball right now. He'll get there.
Andre Marhold - 4
Didn't exactly pound the stat sheet, but he defended the first shot well. Struggled on the glass. He's one of those players that got out toughed.
Kadeem Pantophlet - 3.5
Good defense and created some shots for himself just didn't finish. If there was any player I could think of who forced more than one three, it was him.
Jerry Jones - 3.5
Forced the ball into traffic on the dribble and coughed it up badly twice. Good defense, but fouls early in the game kept him on the bench. Very picky shot selection and he was rewarded with one of Duquesne's only strong shooting efforts.
Marvin Binney - 3
Played sparingly and he was mostly a non factor.
***
While I don't think any of the Dukes played exceptionally well, I don't think anyone embarrassed themselves either. They played hard but not hard enough and certainly not tough enough. That and they ran into a really good, hot shooting team.
