GAME 17
Dayton (12-4 | 3-0 Atlantic 10) vs. Duquesne (9-7 | 1-2 Atlantic 10)
Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
Philadelphia, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
 
Stream: ESPN+ with Tim Benz (pxp) & Ellis Cannon (color)
Radio: 104.7 HD2 | iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) (pxp) & Noah Buono ('22) (color)
 
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Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team hosts Dayton at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Tuesday in a 7:00 p.m. tip.
 
- The Dukes are in search of their first win of the 2026 calendar year after dropping a 97-90 decision in overtime at Saint Joseph's (Jan. 7). Senior forward David Dixon hit a three-pointer to give Duquesne an early lead in the extra period, 86-83, but the Hawks used a 10-0 burst to help secure the win.
 
- Dixon registered his first double-double of the 2025-26 campaign at SJU and second of his career with 15 points and 12 rebounds and was one of five players to score in double figures for the Dukes.
 
- Senior guard Tarence Guinyard led Duquesne against the Hawks with 20 points and also added four rebounds and five assists, while off the bench forward Alex Williams contributed a season-high 16 points. Juniors Jimmie Williams and Jakub Nečas each scored 15 points at Saint Joseph's.
 
- The Dukes enter Tuesday's game against the Flyers ranked third in the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense (86.3 ppg), an average that also ranks 37th in NCAA Division I and trails only Saint Louis (92.8) and George Washington (87.5) in the conference.
 
- Duquesne has also converted 49.6 percent (487-for-982) of its attempts from the field this season, a field goal percentage which ranks second in the A-10 and 28th in the country.
 
- 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 677 points and 495 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 385 points in his time at Duquesne. He owns a career scoring average of 10.1 points in 110 games at the NCAA Division I level thanks to 1,107 points.
 
- The Dukes return to the road after hosting Dayton, traveling to the Bronx, N.Y., Saturday, Jan. 17, for a 12:30 p.m. tip against Fordham at Rose Hill Gym in a game that can be seen live on the USA Network.  
 
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 22-26 (.458) 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 Flyers – Tuesday marks the 92nd meeting in a series that dates to Jan. 5, 1953. Dayton leads the all-time series, 65-26 (.714), including a 43-11 lead in Atlantic 10 games during the regular season … UD swept the season series last year, earning an 82-62 victory at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (Jan. 21, 2025) before grabbing a one-point win 77-76, at UD Arena (Feb. 15, 2025) … The Dukes are in search of their first win over the Flyers in the regular season since 2021 … In the last meeting, Malachi Smith hit the back end of a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds left to lift Dayton to a 77-76 victory … Two free throws from Maximus Edwards and a three-pointer from Tre Dinkins III helped Duquesne close to within 76-74 with just over 13 seconds to go … The Dukes followed by forcing a Dayton turnover, with a bad pass from Smith intercepted by Cam Crawford, who tied the game, 76-76, with a layup … Dayton started its final rush for the possible game-winning basket, but a foul was whistled on the Dukes just near midcourt, with Smith hitting the second free throw to settle the final score.
 
Saint Joseph's Leftovers – Four of the last five meetings between the two programs have been decided by seven points or less, including two in overtime ... Both of the career double-doubles for forward David Dixon have come against the Hawks ... In six career games against Saint Joseph's, Dixon has produced averages of 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 64.9 percent (24-for-37) from the field, including 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from beyond the arc, and 85.7 percent (18-for-21) at the free-throw line ... In a 66-56 victory over SJU at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (Feb. 17, 2024), Dixon notched his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds ... The contest featured 17 ties and 15 lead changes, with the 17 ties the most in two seasons under head coach Dru Joyce III ... Duquesne has had 15 lead changes against three opponents over the last two seasons, each of which have come on the road and include Fordham and Saint Louis last year.
 
Starter Jacket – Senior forward David Dixon has worked his way back into the starting lineup for Duquesne, having started each of the last six games for the Dukes. In helping Duquesne average 89.3 points per game over that stretch, Dixon is providing the Dukes with averages of 8.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting 64.5 percent (20-of-31) from the field and 90 percent (9-for-10) at the free-throw line. He registered his second career double-double and first of the 2025-26 season at Saint Joseph's (Jan. 7), finishing with a season-high 15 points and 12 rebounds. He also posted three blocks against the Hawks, the third consecutive game he has finished with three rejections and pushing his team-high total in the category to 19. Dixon ranks eighth in the A-10 this season with an average of 1.2 blocks per game and enters Tuesday's game against the Flyers just five rebounds shy of 500 for his career.
 
It's Jimmie – Arguably turning into the most consistent scorer for the Dukes this season is junior guard Jimmie Williams. Williams enters Tuesday's game against Dayton having scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games after finishing with 15 points at Saint Joseph's (Jan. 7), a stretch in which he has produced averages of 16.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals per contest while shooting 53.1 percent (68-for-128) from the field and 87.5 percent (28-for-32) at the free-throw line. Williams, who was named the final Atlantic 10 Player of the Week (Dec. 29) of the 2025 calendar year,  ranks 21st overall this season in the conference in both field goal percentage at 50 percent (88-for-176) and free-throw percentage at 77.8 percent (35-for-45). He also enters Tuesday's tilt having hit at least one three-pointer in each of his last 13 games. Meanwhile, 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 33 of his last 38 opportunities (86.8%).
 
The Friendly Confines – While junior guard Jimmie Williams has scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games, he's been even better at home during that stretch. Over the last six games at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, Williams leads the Dukes in scoring at 18.8 points per game and also owns averages of 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 67.2 percent (43-for-64) from the floor, including 60 percent (15-of-25) from deep. He's also a perfect 12-for-12 at the free-throw line during that stretch. Overall in 10 games at home this year, Williams is averaging 15.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
 
The Zone of Interest – While junior guard Jimmie Williams has been a key piece to the offense over the last month, senior guard Tarence Guinyard is in a zone, too. Thanks to a team-high 20 points at Saint Joseph's (Jan. 7), Guinyard has scored at least 20 points in three consecutive games as well as five of his past six outings. Guinyard is the first member of the Dukes to reach the 20-point plateau in three consecutive games since former guard Dae Dae Grant (2022-23) turned the trick in four straight games during the non-conference portion of Duquesne's schedule in 2022. Guinyard, who sits atop the leaderboard in scoring against Atlantic 10 foes with an average of 22.0 points per game, has averaged 19.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists over the last six games while shooting 52.6 percent (40-for-76) from the field. 
 
Distributor – Not only does senior guard Tarence Guinyard possess the ability to score the basketball, he's just as good at creating offense, 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. Duquesne is a perfect 7-0 this season when Guinyard posts at least six assists in a game and 2-7 (.222) when he finishes with five dimes or less.
 
Williams, Williams & Guinyard – While the Dukes have a terrific tandem in guards Tarence Guinyard and Jimmie Williams, forward Alex Williams has made the most of his opportunity in the rotation. A transfer from Furman who missed last season due to injury, Alex Williams contributed 16 points at Saint Joseph's (Jan. 7), the most points he's scored in a Duquesne uniform. Alex Williams enters Tuesday's game against Dayton having scored in double figures three times in the last five games, a span in which he is averaging 10.2 points per game while shooting 48.5 percent (16-for-33) from the floor, including 50 percent (9-for-18) from deep. Alex Williams has appeared in 82 career games at the NCAA Division I level and owns 648 points, an average of 7.9 per contest.
 
Breakout – Duquesne's ability to get out in transition has paid dividends this season, as the Dukes rank among the national leaders in fastbreak points per game. Entering Tuesday's game against Dayton at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, Duquesne ranks 16th in NCAA Division I with an average of 17.19 fastbreak points per game. That total ranks second in the Atlantic 10 behind Saint Louis (19.13), which ranks fifth in the country, while the NCAA Division I leader is Georgia, which produces an average of 25.38 points per game on the break.
 
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. Nečas also tied a career high in scoring with 15 points at Saint Joseph's (Jan. 7), and he enters Tuesday's game against Dayton averaging 10.2 points and 6.0 rebounds over his last 11 games while shooting 58.7 percent (37-for-63) from the field. Duquesne owns a record of 10-5 (.667) since the beginning of the 2023-24 season when Nečas scores in double figures.
 
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