College basketball
Dokes leads Duquesne past West Virginia PITTSBURGH (AP) – West Virginia coach John Beilein had never heard of junior college transfer Ron Dokes before watching a tape of Duquesne’s season-opening loss to Pittsburgh.
Beilein is a lot more familiar with him now.
The 6-foot-9 Dokes scored 29 points to wear down smaller West Virginia inside and Duquesne built a 17-point lead before holding on for an 86-82 victory Monday night.
“It was a monster night for him,” Duquesne coach Danny Nee said. “He rebounded, he made free throws. He was a dominating player.”
So was West Virginia’s Drew Schifino, but in a different way, scoring 25 of his 33 points in the second half as the Mountaineers cut what was a 17-point Duquesne lead to two points. Most of that scoring came on drives to the basket or pull-up jumpers.
“We started playing a lot better defense in the second half,” Schifino said of West Virginia’s rally.
Elijah Palmer secured the Dukes’ first victory by making two foul shots with a second left after West Virginia scored five quick points in the final 12 seconds on a Nick Patella layup and long 3-pointer by freshman Kevin Pittsnogle.
Before that, West Virginia (1-1) – dressing only eight scholarship players in Beilein’s first season – couldn’t get any closer than five points despite Schifino’s big half. He made 10-of-14 shots after halftime, many while taking the ball inside against the taller, deeper Dukes.
Schifino started the season as West Virginia’s only experienced guard.
“You can see how improved Duquesne is,” Beilein said of the Dukes, who won only nine games last season. “Danny has done a great job recruiting. They share the ball well, and they were much too physical for us. But we hung in there and almost pulled one off.”
Down the stretch, the Dukes (1-1) kept getting the ball inside to Dokes, a junior college transfer playing only his second game for Duquesne. He dunked off a Brad Midgley feed to make it 71-63, then converted a three-point play with 3:58 remaining to jump the Dukes’ lead back to 10 points.
“The guys tried to get me the ball and I tried to finish,” Dokes said.
Dokes is a one-time Ball State recruit who averaged 12 points last season at Lincoln Trail College in Illinois.
“We didn’t know a thing about him, but he can play with anybody in the Atlantic 10 or the Big East,” Beilein said.
No. 4 Alabama 80, Middle Tennessee St. 65
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Erwin Dudley had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots as No. 4 Alabama beat Middle Tennessee State.
The Crimson Tide (3-0) led by 22 points with 4:20 left before emptying the bench. Mo Williams had 14 points and five assists, while Kenny Walker also scored 14 points.
Emmett Thomas shot 4-of-6 on 3-pointers for 12 points off the bench as Crimson Tide reserves accounted for 27 points.
No. 23 Mississippi St. 81, McNeese State 65
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State’s second game without Mario Austin went much better than its first.
Timmy Bowers scored 19 points and Winsome Frazier had 14 as the 23rd-ranked Bulldogs bounced back from a season-opening loss to beat McNeese State.
Austin, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder last season, is being held out pending an NCAA ruling on his eligibility.
After a scoreless first half, Michael Ignerski had 12 in the second half for the Bulldogs (1-1). His putback with 31/2 minutes left stretched the lead to 72-52.
Derrick Zimmerman scored 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting and handed out eight assists.
Greg Tucker scored 17 points, shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range, to lead McNeese State (1-1).
No. 6 Duke 95, Davidson 80
DURHAM, N.C. – Chris Duhon matched his career high with 20 points and added 10 assists as No. 6 Duke needed a strong finish to beat Davidson for the 16th straight time.
Duke (2-0) defeated Army by 48 points to start the season Saturday, but struggled to put away the defending Southern Conference champions in this one, turning the ball over 21 times and shooting 40 percent in the second half.
No. 19 Indiana 84, Massachusetts 71
LAHAINA, Hawaii – Tom Coverdale scored 20 points and George Leach added career highs of 19 points and 16 rebounds as No. 19 Indiana beat Massachusetts in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.
The Hoosiers (1-0) were playing for the first time since losing to Maryland in last season’s NCAA championship game and they looked like they hadn’t missed a beat except for some shooting woes over the final eight minutes.
Raheim Lamb had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Massachusetts, while Marcus Cox, a transfer from Connecticut, had 14 points.
No. 12 Connecticut 67, George Washington 55
HARTFORD, Conn. – Tony Robertson scored 21 points and center Emeka Okafor had 12 rebounds and eight blocks as 12th-ranked Connecticut held off George.
The game pitted Jim Calhoun, UConn’s winningest coach, against his former assistant, Karl Hobbs, now in his second year at George Washington.