GAME 15
VCU (10-4 | 1-0 Atlantic 10) vs. Duquesne (9-5 | 1-0 Atlantic 10)
Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 | Noon
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
 
TV: USA Network with Steve Burkowski (pxp) & Tim McCormick (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 opens the 2026 calendar year Saturday with a Noon tipoff against VCU in its first home game of Atlantic 10 play at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
- The Dukes opened their conference slate with an 89-83 double overtime victory at Davidson (Dec. 30), using a 10-0 run in the second extra period to turn an 80-75 deficit into an 85-80 lead en route to the win.
 
- Senior guard Tarence Guinyard led all scorers in the win with 24 points and also added four rebounds and six assists, with his three-pointer with 2:16 left in the second overtime snapping an 80-80 tie.
 
- Junior guard Jimmie Williams contributed 16 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds while dishing out five assists in the win over the Wildcats, and off the bench both guard Maximus Edwards and forward Alex Williams scored 13 points. Alex Williams helped send the game to overtime, draining a three-pointer with 13.7 seconds left in regulation to knot the score, 69-69.
 
- The Dukes improved to 26-24 (.520) all-time in conference openers with the win at Davidson, including 26-23 (.531) in Atlantic 10 openers.
 
- Duquesne enters Saturday's game against VCU ranked fourth in the conference in scoring offense (86.5 ppg), one spot behind the Rams (86.8 ppg), as well as second in the circuit in field goal percentage (.497).
 
- 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 653 points and 480 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 375 points in his time at Duquesne. He owns a career scoring average of 10.2 points in 108 games at the NCAA Division I level thanks to 1,097 points.
 
- The Dukes head back on the road after hosting VCU, traveling to Philadelphia, Pa., for a 7:00 p.m. tip against Saint Joseph's Wednesday, Jan. 7, at Hagen Arena.
 
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 22-24 (.478) 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 Rams – Duquesne and VCU tip for the 14th time Saturday, with the Rams owning an 9-4 (.643) edge in the all-time series … The Dukes have won four of the last six meetings between the two programs, including a 57-51 victory in the final of the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship … In the only meeting between the two teams last season, the Rams earned a 71-62 victory over the Dukes at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (March 4, 2025) … Duquesne closed to within 46-42 with 14:46 to play, but Zeb Jackson's three-pointer pushed VCU's lead to 49-42 at the 11:44 mark … The lead would swell to 59-47 for the Rams with 5:31 left after another Jackson triple ... Guard Maximus Edwards paced Duquesne with 20 points in the contest … In the final of the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship, Duquesne's 57-51 win earned the Dukes their first automatic bid to the NCAA Championship since 1977 … VCU closed to within 49-48 with 1:36 to play, but a floater in the paint from guard Jake DiMichele helped keep the Rams at bay … The Dukes sealed the win at the free-throw line, including four from guard Jimmy Clark III and a pair from forward Fousseyni Drame … Dae Dae Grant led Duquesne with 10 points.
 
Davidson Leftovers – The Dukes won for just the second time in 15 games in the all-time series with the Wildcats and also earned their first victory at John M. Belk Arena (0-6 prior) ... The Dukes were 4-of-8 (50%) from beyond the arc in the two overtimes compared to 2-for-10 (20%) by Davidson ... Senior guard Tarence Guinyard and junior guard Jimmie Williams each scored nine points during the two extra periods, with Williams finishing 6-for-6 at the free-throw line ... Williams finished 8-for-10 at the free-throw line overall ... Duquesne owned a 53-39 edge in rebounding, including a 14-10 cushion on the offensive glass ... The Dukes are 4-1 (.800) this season when redshirt senior guard Maximus Edwards scores in double figures after he finished with 13 off the bench in the win ... Duquesne's bench owned a 33-32 advantage in scoring ... The contest featured nine ties, a season high between the Dukes and an opponent ... Duquesne shot 81 percent (17-for-21) at the free-throw line and matched a season high in three-point field goals (16).
 
Mirror Image – Nearing the midway point of the 2025-26 season with the beginning of Atlantic 10 play underway, and the exploits of guards Tarence Guinyard and Jimmie Williams are strikingly similar. The pair enter Saturday's game against VCU each having shot 50.3 percent from the field in 14 starts this season. Guinyard is 72-for-143 from the floor, while Williams has three more field goals (75) and six more shots (149). The pair are also the top two playmakers for the Dukes this season, with Guinyard leading the team in assists with 73 (5.21 per game) and Williams ranking second in dimes with 33 (2.36 per contest). Williams, meanwhile, leads the program in steals (22) and also averages 4.6 rebounds per 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 Saturday's game against VCU as the only player in the Atlantic 10 to rank in the top five in the conference in scoring, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. He sits fourth in the A-10 in scoring (16.4 ppg), second in assists (5.2 pg) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.43). Duquesne is 7-1 (.875) this season when Guinyard posts at least five assists in a game, including a perfect 7-0 when he dishes out six or more dimes after finishing with six assists in an 89-83 double overtime victory at Davidson (Dec. 30) to open Atlantic 10 play.
 
Did You Know? A member of the Dukes has scored at least 20 points in a game on 11 occasions this year after the 24-point performance from senior guard Tarence Guinyard in an 89-83 double overtime victory at Davidson (Dec. 30) to open the Atlantic 10 slate. Guinyard has eclipsed the 20-point plateau five times this season, with the Dukes 3-2 (.600) in those contests. In 32 games last season under first-year head coach Dru Joyce III, Duquesne had just 10 efforts of 20 or more points. 
 
Boogie Down Productions – Arguably turning into the most consistent scorer for the Dukes this season is junior guard Jimmie Williams. Williams enters Saturday's game against VCU having scored in double figures in nine consecutive games, producing averages of 16.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals per contest while shooting 54.5 percent (55-for-101) from the field and 85.2 percent (23-for-27) at the free-throw line. Williams averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 73.9 percent (17-for-23) from the field in home victories over Canisius (Dec. 22) and Cleary (Dec. 27) to wrap non-conference play, helping him earn Atlantic 10 Player of the Week (Dec. 29) accolades. 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 28 of his last 33 opportunities (84.8%).
 
Windex – A concentrated effort on the glass in recent weeks is paying dividends for the Dukes. Senior forward David Dixon set a career high with 13 rebounds in an 89-83 double overtime win at Davidson (Dec. 30) to open Atlantic 10 play as Duquesne owned a margin of +14 margin (53-39) on the glass. Over the last four games the Dukes are averaging 42.5 rebounds per contest while owning a margin of +13. During that stretch, Dixon has averaged 6.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 60 percent (12-for-20) from the field, while redshirt senior forward Alex Williams has supplied averages of 10.0 points and 3.0 boards per contest while shooting an even 50 percent (11-for-22) from the floor, including 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from beyond the arc.
 
Instant Impact – The latest recruiting class has paid dividends for Duquesne in the early going of the 2025-26 season, as have a pair of Dukes that have seen their first action on the Bluff after missing last year with injuries. The eight newcomers, which includes four transfers and a quartet of freshmen, as well as guard Brandon Hall and forward Alex Williams, have combined to account for 61.6 percent (746-of-1,211) of Duquesne's offense through 14 games of the season. A total of 56 double-figure scoring games have been tallied so far this season, with 35 (62.5%) received from a newcomer. The latest to join the fray is forward Stef van Bussel, who contributed 11 points off the bench in a 99-49 win over Cleary (Dec. 27), which marked his first career double-figure scoring effort at the NCAA Division I level after stints at Saint Louis (2023-24) and the College of Charleston (2024-25).
 
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