Davidson shoots past Duquesne in 107-78 blowout

PITTSBURGH, PA - Davidson put on an offensive clinic at the A.J. Palumbo Center, shooting 61.5 percent including 20-of-36 from deep to blow past Duquesne‬ 107-78.

Duquesne was unable to find any answers for Davidson’s offense Saturday night, as the Dukes surrendered the most points in the Jim Ferry era.

“We got beat really good today by the best team in our league” Ferry said. “I’ve never seen a shooting performance like that.”

With the win, Davidson clinched the Atlantic 10 regular season title in its first year in the conference. Duquesne fell to 11th place in the conference, spoiling its chance at a bye in the first round of tournament play-in games.

Davidson came out of the gate attacking the Dukes’ defense from 3-point range, and Duquesne was unable to step up to the challenge. The Wildcats hit four of their first five attempts from behind the arc, with a pair coming from senior guard Tyler Kalinoski, opening to a 14-11 lead four minutes in.

Duquesne hung with Davidson early, getting quality minutes from Dominique McKoy, who made his first four field goal attempts and grabbed a trio of boards, and Micah Mason, who had a pair of assists, rebounds and 3-pointers eight minutes in. Freshman center TySean Powell gave the Dukes the biggest spark, and after a ferocious dunk, he brought his point total to 10 off the bench and tied the game up at 30 with 8:10 left to play in the half.

After the dunk, Powell was taken out for a break, and Davidson took control of the game. The Wildcats went go on a pair of scoring runs of a dozen or more points, and went into halftime on a 25-3 run, up 55-33. Kalinoski went into the half 8-of-9 from the field and 5-of-6 from deep for 21 points. Davidson shot 12-of-19 from downtown and over 60 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

Davidson continued to shred Duquesne’s defense at the start of the second, starting the latter half on an 11-3 run. Kalinoski continued to punish Duquesne throughout the half, posting 11 more points for 32 total.

For Duquesne, Mason (17), McKoy (15) and Powell (12) reached double digits, but the Dukes were unable to make it a ballgame at any point in the second half. The Wildcats shot even better in the second half, going 62.5 percent from the field.

“They are one of the most efficient, potent and dynamic offensive teams I have ever seen in all my teams coaching,” Ferry said.

Davidson had 35 assists on its 40 baskets while making 20-of-36 3-pointers at a clip of 55.6 percent. Duquesne shot 47 percent from the field and 8-of-20 from deep.

Duquesne ends the regular season 11-18 and 6-12 in the conference. Davidson extends their winning streak to nine games. Duquesne’s first play-in will be Thursday against Saint Louis.