Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team opened a two-game homestand at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Monday to close out non-conference play, surging to a 103-59 victory over Canisius. The Dukes improved to 7-5 (.583) overall during the 2025-26 season thanks to the win.
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Junior guard Jimmie Williams hit each of his first 10 shots from the field, including a 7-for-7 performance in the first half, to lead a Duquesne offense that shot 59.7 percent (37-for-62) in the triumph. Williams established career highs in points (24) and assists (7) while also grabbing six rebounds as the Dukes earned their largest margin of victory against an NCAA Division I opponent in over eight years. Williams and senior guard Tarence Guinyard combined for 31 points in the opening 20 minutes of action, converting 12 of their 14 shots from the field, including 7-for-9 from beyond the arc, as Duquesne grabbed a 46-30 advantage at halftime. Guinyard would reach the 20-point plateau for the second consecutive game with 21 points and, like Williams, established a new career high in dimes with nine while not suffering a turnover.
 
QUOTABLE
"We seek out to play an aggressive, disciplined game defensively," head coach Dru Joyce III said. "I thought even in our last game out on the West Coast, we took a jump. The challenge was to see if we made improvements. Can we step it up to another level? I thought we did tonight with our level of discipline. Our help side and our rotations were really, really solid. We guarded the ball one-on-one well. Not only did we do it in spurts, which we've done throughout the season, we did it for 40 minutes of basketball. I'm excited about the progression and the steps we took to get to that. We had a good, healthy week of practice. We were purposeful with our practice and our mind set, and I'm glad to see that it carried over into how we played tonight."
 
STIFF UPPER LIP
Less than four minutes into the contest the Dukes grabbed a 10-2 advantage, with Williams scoring four points and Guinyard and redshirt senior guard Cam Crawford each hitting three-pointers. A layup from forward Alex Williams gave Duquesne its first double-digit advantage, 11-2, and another triple from Guinyard gave the Dukes their biggest lead of the first half, 40-20, with 3:37 left before the break. The Dukes continued their barrage early in the second half, using a 22-5 burst that was capped by a three-pointer from redshirt sophomore Jake DiMichele and opened up a 73-38 cushion with 13:56 to play. Duquesne finished 16-for-35 (45.7%) from beyond the arc, its highest total since finishing 17-for-32 in a 93-67 win at George Washington Feb. 4, 2023.
 
QUOTABLE
"We play so much better when we get in the paint, and it feels good to have teammates around me that are capable of making shots," Guinyard said. "They know when to cut and where to be on the court, and I know where to find them. It feels good having teammates like that. Sometimes we think we can just outscore teams. I think we have to take more pride in playing defense. We're good on offense. We have to defend. It feels good to hold a team under 60."
 
SHERWIN-WILLIAMS
Even with 16 three-pointers, Duquesne dominated in the post, owning a 38-18 advantage in points in the paint while also outscoring Canisius (5-8) in points off turnovers, 21-9. The Dukes forced the Golden Griffins into 21 miscues, matching a season high by an opponent (Northeastern). In addition to the 45 combined points from Williams and Guinyard, Alex Williams contributed 15 points off the bench as five players reached double figures. Junior forward Jakub Nečas and Crawford each added 12 points as the five players to score 10 or more points in the win also combined for 21 of Duquesne's season-high 29 assists.
 
NOTES
Freshman forward Lazar Milošević grabbed a career-high eight rebounds for the Dukes and also scored four points, dished out three assists and registered a pair of steals in just over 19 minutes of action … Duquesne held a 34-27 edge on the glass … The 57 points in the second half are the most points in a half in two years under Joyce III, matching the 57 points for the Dukes in a 101-80 win over Central State (Nov. 26) … Duquesne has won 36 consecutive games dating back to the 2018-19 season when holding opponents to less than 60 points, including a 24-0 mark with Joyce III as part of the coaching staff (two as associate head coach, two as head coach) … Joyce III served as associate head coach under Keith Dambrot, who was in attendance for Monday's victory … Also in attendance was former guard Bill Clark (2007-11), who concluded his career ranked among the top 10 on the Bluff in eight statistical categories and helped lead the Dukes to the 2009 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and back-to-back appearances in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2010 and 2011 … Redshirt sophomore guard Ethan Anish scored his first points at the NCAA Division I level, going 2-for-2 at the free-throw line with 28 seconds left to settle the final score.
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne concludes the non-conference portion of its 2025-26 slate Saturday, Dec. 27, with a 2:00 p.m. tip against Cleary at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
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