Winless Washington State's Defensive Collapse Meets a Duquesne Side With Modest Early Edges

Washington State arrives in Pittsburgh at 0-2 with a defense that has been the central problem, while Duquesne is 2-0 and a 5.5-point home favourite. Both teams have played only two games, so every number here is a small-sample reading. The question is whether Washington State's early defensive trouble is real enough that Duquesne's modest edges are likely to show up again.

Washington State's defensive rating is 125.8 points allowed per 100 possessions, rank 334, and opponents have posted a 66.7% effective field-goal percentage against it. Its net rating is -24.3 per 100 possessions, rank 320. Duquesne's defense is rated 90.5, rank 99, and its net rating is 19.8, rank 157. The edge runs Duquesne's way on offense too, though modestly: 110.3 points per 100 possessions, rank 207, against 101.5, rank 266 for Washington State.

Duquesne's profile has a wrinkle. It shoots just 26.3% from three yet still posts a 52.3% effective field-goal percentage, helped by a free-throw rate of .422 attempts per field-goal attempt. Both defenses have been burned from the arc: Washington State's opponents have made 44.4% of their threes and Duquesne's have made 45.6%. Whether those numbers hold over a larger sample is an open question.

Yoav Berman leads Duquesne at 18 points and 33 minutes per game over its last 2 games, with Kerem Konan at 13.5 points. Washington State's scoring runs through Lazerek Houston at 17 points per game and Jaylen Harrell at 15.5, while Casey Jones and Ladji Dembele, next in the rotation, are at 5 and 3.5. Neither team reports an injury. Duquesne plays faster, at 68.8 possessions per game, rank 174, against 64.1, rank 237.

The spread is Duquesne -5.5, exactly where it opened, priced -110 and -111. The total is 147.5, also unchanged, with the Over at -113 and the Under at -112. The moneyline sits at Duquesne -230 and Washington State +178, a small move toward Washington State from -241 and +186. Nothing in the pricing suggests meaningful new information has arrived.

Washington State has lost 6 straight overall and 4 straight on the road. Those runs describe the past and stretch beyond this season's two games. Both teams have had 3 straight games go under the total, and neither has gone over this season, though that is context rather than a forecast. The quality measures favour Duquesne by a wide margin, but two games is thin evidence, and the 5.5-point price asks for less than those early numbers might suggest.