GAME 26
La Salle (7-18 | 3-9 Atlantic 10) vs. Duquesne (15-10 | 7-5 Atlantic 10)
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
 
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) | 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, winners of a season-high four consecutive games as well as five of its last six, hosts La Salle Wednesday in a 7:00 p.m. tip at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
- The Dukes stretched their winning streak to four with their fourth straight Atlantic 10 road victory, a school record, thanks to a 78-73 win at St. Bonaventure (Feb. 14) at the Reilly Center. Forward Alex Williams buried a three-pointer from the corner with 1:06 to play that gave the Dukes the lead for good, 75-73, and a deep three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring with 14.1 seconds to go from guard Jimmie Williams sealed the triumph.
 
- Jimmie Williams scored a team-high 19 points in the victory over the Bonnies and added four rebounds and three assists, while guard Tarence Guinyard chipped in 18 points, three boards and a trio of assists. Alex Williams, meanwhile, finished with 12 points and six rebounds while also blocking a pair of shots.
 
- During its four-game winning streak, Duquesne is forcing an average of 15.0 turnovers by its opponents in outscoring its foes, 83-43, in points off turnovers. The Dukes have also amassed 37 steals (9.3 per game) during that stretch, including a team-high eight from both senior forward David Dixon and redshirt senior guard Brandon Hall.
 
- The duo of Guinyard (19.7 ppg) and Jimmie Williams (18.5) have combined to average 33.3 points per contest over the last four games.
 
- 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 756 points and 545 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 402 points in his time at Duquesne. He owns a career scoring average of 9.8 points in 115 games at the NCAA Division I level thanks to 1,124 points.
 
- Duquesne heads to Dayton Saturday, Feb. 21, for a 2:00 p.m. tip after hosting the Explorers.
 
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 28-29 (.491) 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 Explorers – La Salle and Duquesne tip for the 84th time in an all-time series that dates to Feb. 10, 1940, with the Explorers owning a 47-36 (.566) advantage … The Dukes, winners of three of the last four in the series, have won four of the last five contests in Pittsburgh, Pa. … La Salle has outscored Duquesne by just five points in the last 24 meetings (1,890-to-1,885) dating back to 2006-07 … The Explorers own a 13-11 edge during that span … In the lone meeting between the two programs last season, Duquesne earned a 67-62 victory at John E. Glaser Arena (Feb. 26, 2025) … Leading, 57-56, the Dukes kept the Explorers at bay thanks to a turnaround jumper from Tre Dinkins III and a dunk from Eli Wilborn … Duquesne sealed the win at the free-throw line, going 6-for-6 in the final 38 seconds … Guard Cam Crawford scored a team-high 15 points, while Dinkins III notched a double-double thanks to 12 points and 10 assists.
 
St. Bonaventure Leftovers – In securing a split of the 2025-26 season series, the Dukes snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bonnies ... Duquesne has outscored St. Bonaventure by a total of 80 points (9,948-to-9,868) over 139 career meetings in the all-time series after the five-point win ... Nine of the last 10 meetings between the two programs have been decided by 10 points or less, including five by five points or fewer ... SBU owned a 41-30 edge in rebounding, including a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass, as Frank Mitchell posted a double-double for the Bonnies with 20 points and 13 rebounds ... A total of 65 of the 73 points for St. Bonaventure were scored by four players, each of whom played 33+ minutes ... In contrast, each of the first nine field goals of the contest for Duquesne were scored by nine different players ... Duquesne owned a 24-9 advantage in points off turnovers, while the bench for the Dukes outscored the reserves for the Bonnies, 24-8.
 
AWill, AWay – Down two starters at George Mason (Feb. 4), including Duquesne's leading scorer (Tarence Guinyard) and leading rebounder (Jakub Nečas), forward Alex Williams took advantage of his first career start on the Bluff in a 71-65 victory. In scoring a game-high 25 points, Williams became the fourth different player this season for the Dukes to reach the 25-point plateau in a game. He has also shown a penchant for big shots. In a 78-73 win at St. Bonaventure (Feb. 14), Williams gave the Dukes the lead for good, 75-73, with a three-pointer from the corner with 1:06 to play. In the Atlantic 10 opener at Davidson (Dec. 30), Williams also connected from deep with 13.7 seconds remaining in regulation that tied the game, 69-69, and forced overtime in an eventual 89-83 double OT victory. Thanks to 12 points in the win over the Bonnies, Duquesne is 5-3 (.625) this season when Williams scores in double figures, and over the last five games he is averaging 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 91.7 percent (22-of-24) at the charity stripe.
 
The Comet – Arguably turning into the most consistent scorer for the Dukes this season is junior guard Jimmie Williams. Williams enters Wednesday's game against La Salle having scored in double figures in 20 consecutive games, the longest streak by a Duquesne student-athlete in over 15 years. Former guard Aaron Jackson (2005-09) closed out his career on the Bluff by scoring 10 or more points in each of his final 22 games with the Dukes, which concluded with a 46-point effort in a 116-108 double overtime loss at Virginia Tech (March 18) in the first round of the 2009 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Over the last 20 games, Williams has produced averages of 17.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per contest while shooting an even 50 percent (124-for-248) from the floor and 81.4 percent (57-for-70) at the free-throw line. Each of the six efforts or 20 or more points for Williams this year have come during his current streak, including a career-high 28 points against No. 24 Saint Louis (Jan. 20). He also posted his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in a 71-59 victory at Loyola Chicago (Jan. 24).
 
Dynamic Duo – While junior guard Jimmie Williams has settled into his role as a consistent scorer for Duquesne, senior guard Tarence Guinyard has found his rhythm, as well. Guinyard contributed 18 points in a 78-73 victory at St. Bonaventure (Feb. 14), his seventh consecutive game scoring in double figures as well as the 10th occasion in his last 11 games. Over his last seven games, Guinyard has averaged 17.0 points and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 45.2 percent (38-for-84) from the floor. Included in that stretch is a 27-point performance in an 88-86 win over George Washington (Feb. 7) in which he scored 23 points after halftime as well as 16 consecutive in one stretch. Guinyard missed Duquesne's 71-65 victory at George Mason (Feb. 4) due to injury but despite that in the last seven games he has teamed with Williams to provide the Dukes with an average of 36.2 points per game on 47.3 percent (86-for-182) shooting from the field, including 40 percent (36-for-90) from beyond the arc. Probably more impressive than their scoring exploits during that stretch, a span in which the Dukes are 6-2 (.750), Guinyard and Williams have dished out 59 assists against 21 turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.81.
 
Distributor – Despite an 87-79 setback to St. Bonaventure (Jan. 28) that opened a two-game homestand at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, Duquesne is 8-2 (.800) this season when senior guard Tarence Guinyard finishes with six or more assists in a game. Against the Bonnies, Guinyard tied a Duquesne single-game record for dimes (12), becoming the fifth member of the Dukes in program history to finish with at least 12 assists in a game. When Guinyard finishes with five assists or less, Duquesne is 7-8 (.467). As a team, the Dukes rank second in the Atlantic 10 in assists per game (16.28). Guinyard, meanwhile, is the only player in the Atlantic 10 to rank in the top five this season in scoring, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. He enters Wednesday's game against the Explorers tied for the conference lead in assists per game (5.17) with Christian Henry of Fordham, ranks second in scoring (16.6 ppg) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.38).
 
Front and Center – Despite having his streak for consecutive games with a block snapped at 11 in an 88-86 victory over George Washington (Feb. 7), senior forward David Dixon got right back to rejecting shots in a 78-73 victory at St. Bonaventure (Feb. 14). He blocked two shots in the win over the Bonnies while also adding nine points, finishing 4-for-4 from the floor and 1-for-2 at the free-throw line, four rebounds and three steals. Dixon is playing some of the best basketball of his career during the home stretch of the 2025-26 regular season. He scored a season-high 17 points in the win over the Revolutionaries and over the last five games has scored in double figures three times. During that span, Dixon is averaging 10.2 points and 4.2 rebounds while knocking down 60 percent (21-for-35) of his shots from the field. More impressive is that of his 21 rebounds over the last five games, 11 have come on the offensive glass. Dixon enters Wednesday's game against La Salle with multiple blocks in eight of Duquesne's 12 conference games while sitting fifth all-time on the Bluff with 165 career blocks.
 
Even Flow – Duquesne knocked down 11 three-pointers in a 78-73 victory at St. Bonaventure (Feb. 14) as six different Dukes connected from beyond the arc. Duquesne was also successful converting high percentage shots against the Bonnies, scoring 32 points in the paint. It marked the seventh time this season that the Dukes have hit at least 10 three-pointers while also scoring 30 or more points in the paint. Duquesne is 6-1 (.857) in those contests, with its only loss coming against the Bonnies in the opener of the season series at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (Jan. 28). The Dukes enter Wednesday's game against La Salle ranked third in the Atlantic 10 against conference foes with an average of 9.67 three-pointers per contest.
 
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