“It just felt like it was a blistering barrage of threes.”
That is the description Duquesne head coach Jim Ferry said of Davidson’s “lights out” 61.5 field goal percentage and 55.6 percent three-point shooting on the night. Duquesne (11-18, 6-12) suffered a 107-78 decision to Davidson (23-6, 14-4) at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Duquesne’s junior guard Micah Mason led his team with 17 points. Senior forward Dominique McKoy contributed 15 points and freshman forward TySean Powell added 12 points for the Dukes. Junior guard Derrick Colter and sophomore guard Desmond Ridenour each scored 7 points.
Leading the court was Wildcats senior guard Tyler Kalinoski with 32 points. Also scoring in the double digits for Davidson was junior guard Jordan Barham with 20 points, sophomore guard Jack Gibbs with 19 points and junior guard Brian Sullivan with 11 points.
Duquesne’s 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from the arc paled in comparison to Davidson’s shooting, with the Wildcats reaching 63.2 percent from the arc in the first half alone.
“We got beat really good today by the best team in our league by a team that is significantly better than us,” Ferry said. “I’ve never seen a shooting performance like that.”
Davidson had 35 assists on 40 total field goals.
With 7:58 to go in the first half, the game was tied at 30. What happened after that is described by Ferry as “fantastic” by Davidson’s offense.
“With timeouts, with everything, we just couldn’t contain them. And then second half, again, they just—[they’re a] phenomenal offensive team,” Ferry said. “So my credit to them, congratulations to them for winning the A-10 championship.”
Ferry said his game plan to stop Davidson offensively was to limit the Wildcats’ three-point shooting, limit the ball in the high post, transition quickly to defense, contest all three-point shots, and rebound the ball.
“[Davison is] one of the most efficient, potent, and dynamic offensive teams that I have seen in all my years coaching,” Ferry said. “But we weren’t as dynamic as they were. And we score more than them—we average more than them—but these guys—the efficiency at which they play at—ball movement, shooting—they’re one of the best passing teams I’ve ever been around. They’re going to give somebody major problems in the NCAA tournament because you just don’t see teams like that.”
Regardless, Ferry said his team is ready to travel to Brooklyn for the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Barclays Center.
“We’re moving on, it’s over,” Ferry said. “That game’s not going to do anything for us in preparation for Saint Louis. Nothing, nothing. So move on, get rid of it, focus on resting and focus on getting ready for Brooklyn [Atlantic 10 Championship] and Saint Louis. They beat us once, we beat them once—that’s what our focus should be on.”
Duquesne will face Saint Louis (11-20, 3-15) on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. ET at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Ny.
Photo credit: Rachel Konieczny
