KATY, Texas -- It took almost 10 years, but the Duquesne Dukes used a 86-59 win against the Rice Owls last night to go 3-0 for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

The Dukes converted 27 of 60 from the field and used their fast-paced substitutions to wear down the Owls (0-2) at the Leonard E. Merrell Center, making it the fourth time in six occasions Duquesne topped Rice.

The effectiveness of Duquesne's reserves was evident in the second half after leading, 32-30, at halftime.

The 27-point triumph was the Dukes' first win in the state of Texas and marked the largest margin of victory on the road since a Dec. 22, 1994 win against Robert Morris, 87-58.

"We got a little tentative in the first half, and our guys know we can't do that because they are sending four guys back at a time," Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said. "We really made some good decisions in the second half. We made that extra pass, kicked it back outside, and when it collapsed inside we made a couple of jump shots and I think that was all the difference in the world."

Center Kieron Achara led the Dukes with 19 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Achara shot 5 of 7 from the field and hitting 8 of 10 from the free-throw line. Shawn James shot 9 of 14 for 18 points with four blocked shots.

"Shawn got real active because he had two blocked shots for us in a row," Everhart said. "It was really nice because it really got us out of the 15- and 16-point game. Having a guy like Shawn is great, talk about having someone as a difference maker; he's just that."

Despite the lopsided victory, Everhart thought the Owls did a good job preparing for the contest and noted that the victory didn't come as easily as the final score showed.

"Rice did a great job of getting back on us in transition and making it very tough for us to make the move to get back inside," Everhart said. "It caused us problems in transitions and we just didn't do a good job rebounding tonight."

Achara was 2 for 4 in the first half for 6 points and 2 rebounds and at one point battled through three Rice defenders in the post for a layup despite having his first attempt blocked.

Freshman forward Damian Saunders showed off his defensive skills nabbing three consecutive steals in the first half and finished with four. He was 3-for-6 shooting, but led the Dukes in rebounding with eight.

James was 6 for 7 from the field and finished with 12 points. James made his presence felt early in the contest by taking a Gary Tucker assist fo a two-handed dunk in front of several Rice defenders.

Junior guard Gary Tucker started in place of freshman forward David Theis, while senior guard Reggie Jackson saw his first action since the three-minute mark of the first game of the season due to a sprained toe. Jackson missed all four of his shots from the field but converted 4 of 5 free throws.

The Dukes continue their road trip with a visit to Oakland Tuesday in Rochester, Mich.