“Obviously we weren’t ready to play tonight,” Mason coach Paul Hewitt said. “They were much more aggressive.”

It was an unceremonious return for senior Cornelius, a three-year starter, who scored 11 points and had three steals, but was upstaged by a foursome of Duquesne guards.

Sophomore T.J. McConnell (12 points, four assists, three steals) combined with three usual starters who began Wednesday night on the bench — junior Sean Johnson (14 points) and seniors B.J. Monteiro (11 points, four steals) and Eric Evans (12 points). The four backcourt players combined to hit 16 of 31 shots and six of nine from the arc.

Duquesne coach Ron Everhart was disappointed in the play of four of his starters in an 85-71 loss at Western Michigan on Saturday.

“I thought the message was pretty clear,” said Everhart, who sports a retro flat-top hairdo. “We’ve always had some obstacles to overcome at Duquesne, ever since I got here. The last thing I ever want to be is a coach who has a cool basketball team.”

There was little hint of Mason’s lethargy in the opening minutes as it scored on five of its first seven possessions, taking a 10-9 lead. But later in the first half, Duquesne went on a 20-5 spree. McConnell triggered the run with a 3-pointer and Johnson followed with seven points as the Dukes took a 33-18 lead.

Mason was playing for the first time in 11 days, but Hewitt refused to blame the layoff.

“Absolutely not,” Hewitt said. “We had some great practices. I thought we were going to be ready. Obviously I didn’t go over the things we needed to go over. I thought we emphasized transition defense. I thought we emphasized taking care of the ball.”

Six Mason turnovers came during Duquesne’s decisive first-half run. Sophomore Bryon Allen (eight points, five assists, seven turnovers) and freshman Corey Edwards (two assists, three turnovers) struggled to run the point against the pressure man-to-man of the Dukes.

“There were a couple, we threw the ball right to them,” Hewitt said. “We just gave them the ball.”

Mason was energized at the start of the second half, scoring nine straight points and holding Duquesne without a point on its first eight possessions. Sophomore guard Sherrod Wright (seven points) started the rally with a 3-pointer and Ryan Pearson (13 points, nine rebounds) followed with a layup as Mason cut the lead to 40-39.

But Duquesne followed with a 15-2 run, again ignited by McConnell, who scored on a transition layup after Mike Morrison (six points, seven rebounds) missed a dunk. McConnell followed with a 3-pointer and Johnson made two more as the Dukes took a 55-41 lead. After that, Mason never seriously challenged.

“I’m sitting there thinking, thank God it’s break and Patriot Center isn’t it’s usual packed self,” Everhart said. “The thing wasn’t going to explode and get loud, the way I’ve seen it happen many times in the past.”

The positives for Mason were the return of Cornelius and the fact that the Patriots will not have long to stew over their defeat. Next up is Manhattan (8-4) of the MAAC, Friday night at Patriot Center.

‘I hate losing period,” Cornelius said. “But especially at home.”

Notes: Sophomore guard Vertrail Vaughns hit five of six shots, including two 3-pointers, and didn’t have a turnover in 31 minutes for Mason … Freshman forward Eric Copes blocked four shots in 13 minutes of work … Duquesne had averaged 9.5 fewer rebounds per game their their opponents, but out-reounded Mason 32-28 behind 6-8 freshman Mamadou Datt (eight points, nine rebounds).

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