Duquesne Too Strong for VCU

Final Score: Duquesne 79, VCU 70.

Location: UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Current Records: VCU 10-5, 1-1 in A-10. Duquesne 12-4, 2-1 in A-10.

In a nutshell: The Dukes ran away from the Rams in the first half. Duquesne led by as many as 22 points that made it 35-13 with 6:41 remaining in the opening period. To put it plainly, although the Rams narrowed the gap in the closing few minutes of the second half, VCU was never really in this game. 

Nonetheless, graduate forward Brandon Johns Jr. responded with a career-high 22 points. VCU. Still, it wasn’t enough to lift the Rams out from that early deficit. Johns poured in 18 of his 22 points in the second half as the Rams tried to mount a comeback. He connected on 9-of-12 attempts from the field, including 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. He also grabbed six rebounds. 

NOTES (Info provided by Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.)

• VCU redshirt sophomore guard Jamir Watkins added 18 points and four rebounds.
• Four Rams scored in double figures overall, including sophomore guard Jayden Nunn, who connected on a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 13 points. 
• VCU came out of the locker room in the second half swinging. Johns and senior forward David Shriver drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 9-2 VCU run that cut the Duquesne lead to just seven, at 42-35 with 15:29 remaining. VCU closed the gap to seven on two other occasions, but each time, the Dukes had an answer. A Tevin Brewer steal set up a fast break bucket by Clark to give Duquesne a 54-45 lead with 12:07 on the clock, and the Rams spent the majority of the rest of the evening trying to climb out of a double-digit hole. 
• VCU shot just .269 (7-of-26) from the field in the first half. The Rams were 0-of-5 from 3-point range in the period. 
• The Rams shot .548 (17-of-31) from the floor in the second half, including .500 (7-of-14) from beyond the three-point line. 
• Jimmy Clark III led Duquesne’s high-powered offense with a career-high 26 points. Dae Dae Grant and R.J. Gunn added 13 a piece.
• Duquesne buried seven first-half 3-pointers and owned a 24-14 rebounding advantage on the way to a 37-22 halftime lead. The Dukes led by as many as 22 points following a Gunn 3-pointer that made it 35-13 with 6:41 remaining in the period. Duquesne shot .453 (29-of-64) from the field in the contest, including .440 (11-of-25) from 3-point range. Duquesne’s 11 treys were the most allowed by the Rams this season.
  

BOX SCORE

NEXT UP

VCU will return home to face Davidson on Saturday, Jan. 7 at noon at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. That contest will air on USA Network. 

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