With a sellout crowd of 3,724 filling UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Friday night and Duquesne welcoming one of the Atlantic 10’s best teams to town, the decibel level was high and there was energy in the building.

Duquesne officials were hoping for a memorable night of basketball.

What they got, however, was Dayton leading from start to finish and handing Duquesne its third consecutive Atlantic 10 loss, 72-62.

The Dukes (9-6, 0-3) started 9-3 in nonconference play but have lost their first three Atlantic 10 games to UMass, Loyola Chicago and Dayton.

The problem was a combination of factors, including 13 turnovers and an inability to find consistency on offense. The Dukes had been averaging 75.8 points, but they have scored 61, 67 and 62 in three conference games.

“We certainly aren’t where we want to be. I’ll take responsibility for that,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said.

Part of the problem has been Dambrot’s loyalty toward his seniors — he started three Tuesday night — but guards Jimmy Clark III and Dae Dae Grant weren’t at their best until it was too late.

Grant was the Dukes’ leading scorer, but he registered all 14 points in the final 5 minutes, 35 seconds. Clark and freshman Jake DiMichele each added 12.

“I think the main thing with most of those seniors, clearly, for three games they’ve had a hard time,” Dambrot said. “They’re nowhere near where they usually shoot the ball and how they play.”

Grant came into the game leading the team in scoring (18.6 points per game). Clark was second at 16.2. But in the three conference games, Grant is at 31.1% (14 for 45) while playing an average of 33.6 minutes per game. Clark is shooting 36.5% (15 of 41). averaging 13.6 points and 33.3 minutes.

“Every player goes through that at some point or another where they don’t play great,” said Dambrot, who replaced the duo briefly when he questioned their shot selection.

“I think part of it is you get to your fourth and fifth year and you realize it’s going to be over soon. You start worrying more about sometimes, ‘I have to play great. I’m going to be a pro next year. I have to play better.’

“Sometimes, you try too hard.”

But Dambrot believes in his veteran guards because he sees them every day in practice.

“They’ve been great. They’re good people,” he said. “Dae Dae works hard every single day. Jimmy’s had some nagging injuries.

“But we’re not going to win unless they play better than that. I don’t think it’s all their fault, for sure. It’s the group dynamics that is affecting them. They’re going to come back around. They work too hard not to come back around.

“I think we overplayed them a little bit early in the year, which probably hasn’t helped them much. I’m trying to cut them back a little bit, which is hard when you’re not winning. But you have to.”

DiMichele, a McKees Rocks native who attended OLSH and First Love Academy, hadn’t played more than six minutes in any game until last Saturday. But Tuesday, he scored 12 points and had two steals and an assist in 19 minutes after coming off the bench against Loyola Chicago and recording seven points in 17 minutes.

“My gut all year was he can play,” Dambrot said. “I started playing him and right now he’s playing better than anybody we have, really.”

Dambrot said he likes DiMichele’s demeanor.

“The best thing about him is he just balls,” the coach said, noting DiMichele is a straight-A student. “He doesn’t worry about whether he plays. He doesn’t worry about whether he gets shots up. He doesn’t worry if he’s in the first rotation. He just plays. He doesn’t have any agenda. He plays loose and he’s confident.”

Dayton’s 6-foot-10 center DaRon Holmes II performed far beyond his best this season and made the biggest difference in the game. Duquesne had no match for him, and he responded with a double-double (33 points, one short of his career high, and 12 rebounds).

Former Pitt player Nate Santos added nine points, eight rebounds and two assists and former Robert Morris player Enoch Cheeks scored eight points for the Flyers.

Dayton (13-2, 3-0) led throughout the game, but the Dukes pulled to within 45-41 with 8:40 to play when David Dixon dunked off a lob from Kareem Rozier and Clark scored after a steal.

But Holmes answered with a 3-pointer and a dunk within 60 seconds to pump the Flyers’ lead to 50-41, and the outcome was never in doubt after that. With Holmes and Santos controlling the boards, Dayton outrebounded Duquesne, 39-27

Dambrot has many points to emphasize when he next gets his team together for practice. One stands out, though.

“I thought we got mauled inside,” he said.

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