GAME 14
Duquesne (8-5 | 0-0 Atlantic 10) at Davidson (8-4 | 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 | 7:00 p.m. ET
Davidson, N.C. | John M. Belk Arena (5,295)

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Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team wraps up the 2025 calendar year by opening Atlantic 10 play in Davidson, N.C., Tuesday with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Davidson at John M. Belk Arena.
 
- The Dukes wrapped up their non-conference slate as well as a two-game homestand with a 99-49 victory over Cleary (Dec. 27) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Five Dukes scored in double figures in the win, with junior guard Jimmie Williams leading the way with 16 points while also adding six rebounds and three assists.
 
- Off the bench in the win over the Cougars, redshirt sophomore guard Jake DiMichele and redshirt sophomore forward Stef van Bussel each scored 11 points, while junior forward Jakub Nečas collected his first career double-double by scoring 11 points and matching a career-high with 10 rebounds. Senior forward David Dixon, meanwhile, scored 10 points and logged five boards.
 
- Duquesne enters its Atlantic 10 slate Tuesday against the Wildcats ranked fourth in the conference in scoring offense at 86.3 points per game as well as second in field goal percentage (.505), trailing only Saint Louis (.517). The Dukes have scored at least 80 points in nine of their 13 games but have yet to hit the mark in three road games this season.
 
- The 2025-26 season marks the 110th year of Duquesne basketball. The Dukes started play in 1913-14 (DU did not field a team in 1944-45-46 due to World War II). Thanks to an 83-63 victory over Niagara (Nov. 3) in its 2025-26 season opener, Duquesne earned program victory No. 1,500.
 
- In today's day and age of college basketball with the NCAA Transfer Portal, Duquesne offers senior forward David Dixon, who will play his final season with the Dukes in 2025-26 and has spent his entire career on the Bluff. Dixon, 6'9" and 230 pounds, owns career totals of 647 points and 467 rebounds and is just the second player in program history to eclipse career totals of both 100 blocks and 100 dunks.
 
- Dixon is one of just four players in the Atlantic 10 this season that have spent their entire career with one program, joining 6'10" forward Sean Logan of Davidson, 6'10" forward Christian Fermin of VCU and 6'11" center Mike Walz of Richmond. Ironically, each of the four student-athletes to have played their entire career at one institution are post players.
 
- Redshirt senior guard Maximus Edwards scored 10 points in a 92-80 win over Sacred Heart (Nov. 7) to reach exactly 1,000 points for his career. Named the 2023 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, Edwards scored 722 in two seasons at George Washington before transferring to the Bluff and has scored 362 points in his time at Duquesne. He owns a career scoring average of 10.1 points in 107 games at the NCAA Division I level thanks to 1,084 points.
 
- Duquesne, which is 25-24 (.510) all-time in conference openers, including 25-23 (.521) in A-10 openers, returns to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse to open the home portion of its Atlantic 10 schedule as well as host its first game of 2026 Saturday, Jan. 3, with a Noon tip against VCU.
 
At The Helm – Dru Joyce III was named the 18th head coach in the 110-year history of Duquesne basketball March 28, 2024, and in his second year at the helm in 2025-26. He owns an overall record of 21-24 (.467) in his first head coaching job. Joyce III, a native of Akron, Ohio, spent two seasons as associate head coach for the Dukes under Keith Dambrot from 2022 to 2024, helping guide Duquesne to an overall record of 45-25 (.643), including a 20-16 (.556) mark in the Atlantic 10, during that span. The Dukes made an appearance in the 2023 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) before earning the automatic bid for the A-10 in the 2024 NCAA Championship by winning four games in five days en route to the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship crown in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the Barclays Center. Duquesne, as a No. 11 seed, made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1977 and earned its first victory in the championship since 1969 thanks to a 71-67 win over No. 6 seed BYU in Omaha, Neb., at CHI Health Center Arena. 
 
Scouting the Wildcats – Tuesday is the 15th meeting between Duquesne and Davidson … The Wildcats won the first seven games of an all-time series they lead, 13-1 (.929), prior to DU's breakthrough 71-64 home win in 2020 at the UPMC Events Center on the campus of Robert Morris … In the only meeting between the two programs last season, the Wildcats earned a 77-71 victory at John M. Belk Arena in the first Atlantic 10 road game of the 2024-25 season for Duquesne … The Dukes led, 38-34, entering the second half, but Davidson used a 20-6 run to grab its first double-digit advantage of the contest, 54-44 … Forward Jahsean Corbett led Duquesne with a career-high 29 points, finishing 12-of-20 from the field and 4-for-6 at the free-throw line … Davidson is in its fourth season under head coach Matt McKillop. Since joining the A-10 in 2014-15, Davidson has won two regular season titles (2015, 2022), a tournament title (2018) and made three NCAA Tournaments (2015, 2018, 2022).
 
Cleary Leftovers – The Dukes improved to 3-0 all-time against Cleary, with each of the three meetings coming in the last three years ... Cleary is in its third season as a program and is led by former Duquesne assistant coach Carl Thomas ... The Dukes shot 52.8 percent (38-for-72) from the floor in the victory and held Cleary to just 28.8 percent (19-for-66) … The 72 attempts from the field for Duquesne tied the most in two seasons under head coach Dru Joyce III, with the Dukes also finishing with 72 field goal attempts at Saint Louis (March 8, 2025) last season ... Duquesne dominated the glass, 57-29, including a 19-11 edge in offensive rebounds … The Dukes outscored the Cougars, 56-24, in points in the paint, and held a 20-7 cushion in points on the break … Duquesne is 4-1 (.800) this season when scoring at least 40 points in the paint … Redshirt junior guard Brandon Hall tied for game-high honors in steals (3) and also scored three points, including his first career dunk ... The double-figure scoring effort of 11 points from redshirt sophomore forward Stef van Bussel was the first of his NCAA Division I career ... The largest lead for the Dukes came at the 3:53 mark of the second half, as a three-pointer from junior guard Lucas Prolla opened up a 93-41 edge ... Cleary matched a season high by an opponent in both steals (12) and blocked shots (8).
 
Offensively Speaking – Duquesne christens its Atlantic 10 schedule Tuesday at Davidson coming off one of its best non-conference seasons offensively in program history. The Dukes rank fourth in the A-10 in scoring offense at 86.3 points per game, which is the best offensive mark for the program since 2007-08. That year in 13 non-conference games, Duquesne averaged 88.2 points (1,147 points) in posting a record of 10-3 (.769) outside of Atlantic 10 play. Overall that year en route to a record of 17-13 (.567), the Dukes averaged 82.3 points per contest. The school record for points per game in a season is held by the 1970-71 Dukes, which averaged 85.8 points (2,145 points) in 25 games. Duquesne has been aided this season by reaching the 100-point plateau twice in a game, including a 103-59 victory over Canisius (Dec. 22).
 
Did You Know? Duquesne owns a record of 15-6 (.714) in two years under Dru Joyce III when holding opponents to under 70 points, including a perfect 8-0 when yielding less than 60 points in a contest. Duquesne enters Tuesday's game at Davidson allowing 69.4 points per game over its last five contests.
 
Double Jeopardy – Nearing his first career double-double multiple times over the last month, junior forward Jakub Nečas broke through in Duquesne's final non-conference game of the 2025-26 campaign, a 99-49 victory over Cleary (Dec. 27) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Nečas matched a career high for the third time this season with 10 rebounds while scoring 11 points in the win over the Cougars. The performance is a part of a stretch of basketball for Nečas that is among his best during his time in a Duquesne uniform. Over the last eight games, Nečas has provided the Dukes with averages of 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals. He's also been efficient during that stretch, shooting 63 percent (29-for-46) from the field, including 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from deep, and 74.1 percent (20-for-27) at the free-throw line. Duquesne owns a record of 10-4 (.714) since the beginning of the 2023-24 season when Nečas scores in double figures.
 
Boogie Down Productions – While junior forward Jakub Nečas has been a key factor for Duquesne in the post in recent weeks, arguably turning into the most consistent scorer for the Dukes is junior guard Jimmie Williams. Williams enters Atlantic 10 action having scored in double figures in eight consecutive games, producing averages of 16.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals per contest while shooting 59.8 percent (52-for-87) from the field and 88.2 percent (15-for-17) at the free-throw line. Williams averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in a pair of victories last week over Canisius (Dec. 22) and Cleary (Dec. 27) while shooting 73.9 percent (17-for-23) from the field. For those efforts he was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week (Dec. 29). Since opening his Duquesne career just 2-for-7 at the free-throw line in the first three games of the year, Williams has converted 20 of his last 23 opportunities (87%).
 
Five Against One – Multiple Dukes have the ability to put the ball in the basket on a consistent basis, and in a 99-49 victory over Cleary (Dec. 27), five players scored in double figures for the second consecutive contest. It marks the sixth time this season five Dukes have scored 10 or more points in a game as well as the sixth time in the last 11 outings. Duquesne is 4-2 (.667) this season when five players score 10 or more points in a game.
 
Distributing – Senior guard Tarence Guinyard not only has proven to possess the ability to score the basketball, but he's just as good at distributing, as well. Guinyard missed his first career double-double by just an assist in a 103-59 victory over Canisius (Dec. 22), contributing 21 points and a career-high nine dimes. More importantly, Guinyard didn't suffer a turnover in the win against the Golden Griffins. He enters Atlantic 10 play ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in assists (5.15 per game) as well as third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.48), and Duquesne is 6-1 (.857) this season when Guinyard posts at least five assists in a game. Guinyard, who owns a team-high four games reaching the 20-point plateau after his performance against Canisius, also ranks sixth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (15.8 ppg) and is the only player in the conference to average at least 15.0 points and 5.0 assists per game while owning an assist-to-turnover ratio of at least 2.5. Dating back to the start of the second half in Duquesne's last road game at Nevada (Dec. 13), Guinyard has handed out 14 consecutive assists without a turnover heading into Tuesday's game at Davidson.
 
Did You Know? A member of the Dukes has scored at least 20 points in a game on 10 occasions this year, as in addition to four from senior guard Tarence Guinyard, junior guard Jimmie Williams has reached the mark three times. In 32 games last season under first-year head coach Dru Joyce III, Duquesne had 10 efforts of 20 or more points. Guinyard and Williams each eclipsed the 20-point plateau in a 103-59 victory over Canisius (Dec. 22), with Williams scoring a game-high 24 points and Guinyard adding 21. 
 
Paint Touches – A key to the success Duquesne has had this season in scoring has been due to its work in the paint. The Dukes are averaging 40.5 points in the paint through 13 games, scoring at least 30 in 11 of their 13 games, at least 40 on five occasions and at least 50 four times. To put that in perspective, Duquesne scored at least 40 points in the paint a total of four times in 32 games last season in the first year for Dru Joyce III as head coach. The Dukes matched a season-high in points in the paint (56) in a 99-49 win over Cleary (Dec. 27) and are 6-3 (.667) since the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign when scoring at least 40 points in the post, including a mark of 4-1 (.800) this year.
 
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