Duquesne versus Marshall looked like a nice little matchup before the season, but by the time game day rolled around Thursday, it had turned into an outstanding early season non-conference contest.
Both teams came in with 7-1 records. Marshall was No. 59 in the NCAA NET rankings and had won seven in a row, while Duquesne was No. 101 in the NET and was riding a six-game winning streak.
But what had the makings of a close contest really never was Thursday, thanks to Marshall's tremendous first half. The Thundering Herd jumped out to a 46-27 lead at the break and were able to hold off the Dukes, 82-71, at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Duquesne had a miserable first half, turning the ball over 14 times and shooting just 33.3 percent (10 of 30) from the field. Marshall, meanwhile, had only three turnovers and shot 57.1 percent (20 of 35).
That was pretty much the game, as the Dukes just buried themselves into too big of a hole.
Duquesne started off great in the second half, going on a 17-4 run to pull within 50-44 with 14:17 to play. Marshall withstood that big run, though, and had an answer to pull back ahead by double digits. The Dukes cut it to 63-59 with 5 minutes to go, but again the visitors had an answer and regrouped to put the game away.
Jimmy Clark III led Duquesne with 19 points, while Dae Dae Grant had 18. Tre Williams had nine points and 12 rebounds, and Austin Rotroff had 11 rebounds off the bench.
Marshall already has several nice wins so far, including beating Akron and Ohio the previous two games before downing the Dukes.
Duquesne will continue its long early season homestand when it plays New Mexico State on Sunday at Cooper Fieldhouse. Tipoff is 4 p.m.
THE ESSENTIALS
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