Akron, Ohio – Playing at LeBron James Arena, UC Irvine got down in the first half and couldn't recover in a 76-54 loss to Duquesne in a neutral site game.

The Anteaters trailed 38-23 at the half and cut the lead to nine twice after trailing by as many as 18 only to watch the Dukes (5-7) answer each time, including a 12-5 run to close out the game over the final five minutes.

The Dukes shot 9-19 from the arc and 9-10 from the line, while hitting 47.5% from the floor for the game (29-61). UCI once again struggled from long-distance with a season-low four threes (4-16) and only made it to the line six times, hitting four, also a season low. UCI shot 41.8% from the field (23-55).

UCI, one of the nation's best defensive teams, gave up a season-high 76 points, while scoring the second fewest points of the year.

For the second straight game, UCI had trouble on the glass, being out-rebounded, 40-26

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Emmanuel Tshimanga was a bright spot, recording a career-high 14 points. The center was 6-8 from the floor and 2-2 from the line with a team-high four rebounds
>Forward Collin Welp had 12 points, three rebounds and a steal
>Center Bent Leuchten added eight points on 4-5 from the field. He grabbed three rebounds
>UCI could not stop Leon Ayers III who dropped 24 points and had six rebounds, and four assists
>Duquesne's Kevin Easley had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards

FIRST HALF
>In the early afternoon start, the teams needed time to heat up as the Dukes went on a 9-4 scoring run to go up 22-15 at 7:30
>After an almost five minute drought, Emmanuel Tshimanga hit one down low at 5:33 then had a pair of free throws (4:46) (19-24)
>Duquesne would explode on a 12-2 run to end the half, including scoring nine straight points to go in to the break leading 38-23
>The Dukes grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes

SECOND HALF
>Tshimanga had another basket at 15:57 (29-42) before the Dukes had a three followed by a layup to extend the lead to 47-29 and force a UCI timeout at 13:29
>UCI would then score the next nine on baskets by Bent Leuchten (13:07), DJ Davis (12:24), Tshimanga (11:32) and a three-pointer by Langston Redfield to close within single digits, 38-47, at 9:30
>A quick four points by Duquesne pushed the lead back to 51-38 at 8:37
>UCI would answer with buckets by Leuchten and Collin Welp only to have Ayers (8:05) hit a three-pointer and Jackie Johnson III have a quick layup, 56-42, at 7:17
>Duquesne would out-score UCI 12-5 in the final five minutes to close out the game, 76-54
 
HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID
"You don't flush this and don't take USC as a moral victory that's how you end up with a performance like this."

"Let's give credit to Duquesne, they were outstanding today. You can see the level of fight they brought to the court which doesn't surprise me."

"We didn't rebound well against USC and were worse today against a smaller team that was far tougher and more determined than we were."

"I didn't expect them to dominate us they way they did, some breaks went Duquesne's way and they capitalized on them they way a team with outstanding spirit and competitiveness should."

NOTES
>The 22-point loss is the worst since UCI lost by 35 at USC (91-56) on Dec. 8, 2020
>UCI hasn't lost three in a row since falling to Colorado, TCU and Detroit Mercy from Nov. 18-24, 2019
>The Anteaters had 17 second chance points to DU's nine
>Austin Johnson increased his team-best block total to 22 with three

UP NEXT
UCI closes out the road trip at Buffalo on Tuesday (Dec. 21) at 4:00 p.m. PT.