GAME 27
Duquesne (16-10 | 8-5 Atlantic 10) at Dayton (17-9 | 8-5 Atlantic 10)
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 | 2:00 p.m.
Dayton, Ohio | UD Arena (13,409)
 
Stream: ESPN+ with Alex Mikos (pxp) & Brooks Hall (color)
Radio: 104.7 HD2 | iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) (pxp) & Jim Duzyk (color)
 
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Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team, winners of a season-high five consecutive games as well as six of its last seven, travels to Dayton, Ohio, Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. tip against Dayton at UD Arena.
 
- The Dukes extended their winning streak to five in dramatic fashion, as a coast-to-coast layup with 0.3 seconds left from senior guard Tarence Guinyard gave Duquesne a 62-61 win over La Salle (Feb. 17) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The winning basket came after Rob Dockery of the Explorers missed the back end of a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds to play and led to the fast break for the Dukes.
 
- Guinyard was one of four players to reach double figures in the win over La Salle, as he finished with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. Senior forward David Dixon registered his second double-double of the 2025-26 season and third of his career with game-high totals in both points (13) and rebounds (10), while guard Brandon Hall scored a career-high 12 points and forward Alex Williams chipped in 12 points and two rebounds.
 
- During its five-game winning streak, Duquesne is yielding an average of 69.2 points per game and has forced opponents into an average of 15.6 turnovers per contest. The Dukes, a perfect 8-0 this year when holding foes under 70 points, have outscored their opponents, 110-61, in points off turnovers the last five games, including a season-high 27 in the triumph over La Salle.
 
- 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 769 points and 555 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 returns home to host Davidson at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Wednesday, Feb. 25, in a 7:00 p.m. tip after taking on the Flyers. 
 
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 29-29 (.500) 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 – Saturday marks the 93rd meeting in a series that dates to Jan. 5, 1953 … Dayton leads the all-time series, 66-26 (.717), including a 44-11 lead in Atlantic 10 games during the regular season … UD has won three consecutive games in the series after earning a 71-65 victory over the Dukes in the first game of the 2026 season series at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (Jan. 21) … The Flyers hit three-pointers on four consecutive trips down the court, including two from Jaiun Simon, to give Dayton a 63-55 edge … Duquesne had one last charge, getting five points from Jimmie Williams as well as a free throw from Tarence Guinyard to trim its deficit to 63-61 with just over two minutes to play … The Flyers called timeout, and out of the break Javon Bennett drove the lane but missed a floater … Simon grabbed the offensive carom and dished it to Bennett, who set the offense before burying the opportunity on the second chance to keep the Flyers in front … Alex Williams and Jimmie Williams each scored 15 points to lead the Dukes, with Alex scoring 11 points in the opening 20 minutes.
 
La Salle Leftovers – The Explorers have outscored the Dukes by just four points (1,951-to-1,947) in the last 25 meetings between the two programs dating back to 2006-07, a stretch in which La Salle owns a 13-12 record over Duquesne ... The Dukes improved to 3-3 (.500) this season in games decided by five points or less with the victory, and each of the three wins have come in the last three games for the Dukes ... The one-point victory was the first for Duquesne under second-year head coach Dru Joyce III ... The Dukes own just one loss in two years under Joyce III by a single point, which, ironically, came last season on the road against Saturday's opponent, Dayton ... Last year the Flyers defeated Duquesne, 77-76, at UD Arena (Feb. 15, 2025) ... Jaden Johnson led La Salle with 11 points and was the only member of the Explorers to score in double figures ... Duquesne outscored the Explorers in the paint, 34-24.
 
Call Uno – Senior Tarence Guinyard provided the late heroics in a 62-61 victory over La Salle (Feb. 17) that extended Duquesne's winning streak to five, scoring on a layup with 0.3 seconds left to give the Dukes the win. The last time Duquesne was victorious in a one-point game also featured a buzzer beater. Former guard Jimmy Clark III (2022-24) buried an off-balance three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give the Dukes a 78-77 victory over Ball State (Dec. 3, 2022) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. That marked the second game-winner late in four games for Duquesne, as former guard Tevin Brewer (2022-23) connected for a floater in the lane with one second left that gave the Dukes an 83-82 triumph over North Florida (Nov. 21, 2022) at home. Guinyard also helped Duquesne earn its first one-point victory in Atlantic 10 play since Feb. 23, 2019, a 79-79 triumph at George Mason. As for Clark III? He helped Tel Aviv earn a 109-90 win over Bnei Herzeliya (Feb. 19) to claim the 2026 Israeli Cup.
 
Duquesne Dave – Senior forward David Dixon contributed his second double-double of the 2025-26 season and third of his career in a 62-61 victory over La Salle (Feb. 17), logging 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win. It marked the 74th win for Dixon on the Bluff since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, the most wins by a player in program history. The Dukes won 92 games from 1951-55, the most wins in a four-year span, but freshmen weren't eligible to play in varsity games until Jan. 8, 1972. From 2007 to 2011, former guard Bill Clark and former forwards Damian Saunders and Bill Theis helped guide Duquesne to 73 wins and appearances in the3 2009 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) as well as back-to-back spots in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2010 and 2011. Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Duquesne has amassed an overall record of 74-54 (.578), including a mark of 36-31 (.537) in the Atlantic 10, with Dixon a member of the active roster.
 
Front and Center – The double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds for David Dixon in a 62-61 win over La Salle (Feb. 17) is part of a stretch of some of the best basketball the senior forward has played during his time at Duquesne. Dixon also notched a pair of blocks in the win over the Explorers, marking the ninth time in 13 Atlantic 10 games he has registered multiple rejections. Entering Saturday's game at Dayton, Dixon has converted each of his last 10 attempts from the field dating back to an 88-86 victory over George Washington (Feb. 7) after finishing 4-for-4 from the floor in the win over La Salle. During the five-game winning streak for the Dukes, Dixon is supplying 10.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 67.9 percent (19-for-28) from the floor. Against conference foes, Dixon ranks third in the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage at 59.7 percent (43-for-72), trailing only Keeyan Itejere (.645) of Rhode Island and Kellen Thames (.628) of Saint Louis.
 
AWill, AWay – The ying to David Dixon's yang in recent weeks for Duquesne has been forward Alex Williams, who has establised himself as one of the top options off the bench for the Dukes. Williams contributed 12 points in a 62-61 triumph over La Salle (Feb. 17) and over the last five games has produced averages of 13.6 points and 4.8 rebounds while converting 47.2 percent (17-for-36) of his shots from the floor. More impressive during that stretch has been the work for Williams at the free-throw line. He is 28-for-30 at the stripe in the last five games, a success rate of 93.3 percent. Williams scored a season-high 25 points in a 71-65 victory at George Mason (Feb. 4) in his first career start for Duquesne, becoming the fourth different player this season for the Dukes to reach the 25-point plateau in a game. The Dukes are 6-3 (.667) this season when Williams scores in double figures, and when both Williams and Dixon reach double figures in the same contest, Duquesne is 3-1 (.750). Williams also ranks second in the Atlantic 10 against conference foes this year in free-throw percentage (.889) while sitting ninth (.852) overall.
 
Get A Bucket – The basket for Tarence Guinyard that gave the Dukes a 62-61 victory over La Salle (Feb. 17) helped the senior guard stretch his streak for double-figure scoring games to eight. In matching his longest streak of the season (first eight games of the 2025-26 campaign), Guinyard scored 11 points against the Explorers. Over his last eight contests, Guinyard is averaging 16.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game, a stretch in which the Dukes have posted a record of 6-2 (.750). Included in that stretch is his first double-double on the Bluff and second of his career thanks to 12 points and a career-high 12 assists against St. Bonaventure (Jan. 28). 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. Duquesne is 8-2 (.800) this season when senior guard Tarence Guinyard finishes with six or more assists in a game. When Guinyard finishes with five assists or less, Duquesne is 8-8 (.467). As a team, the Dukes rank third in the Atlantic 10 in assists per game (15.96). 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 Saturday's game at Dayton ranked second in the conference in scoring (16.4 ppg) and assists per game (5.04) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.29).
 
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