GAME 23
Duquesne (12-10 | 4-5 Atlantic 10) at George Mason (20-2 | 8-1 Atlantic 10)
Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
Fairfax, Va. | EagleBank Arena
 
Stream: ESPN+ with Bill Rohland (pxp)
Radio: 104.7 HD2 | iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) (pxp) & Darren Zaslau (color)
 
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Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team heads on the road after a two-game homestand, traveling to Fairfax, Va., Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip against George Mason at EagleBank Arena.
 
- The Dukes are coming off a 76-61 victory over Rhode Island (Feb. 1) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse to open their February slate, earning their first Atlantic 10 home victory of the year. Junior guard Jimmie Williams scored a game-high 22 points to pace Duquesne and also added nine rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
 
- Senior guard Tarence Guinyard chipped in 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win over the Rams, while off the bench forward Alex Williams contributed 12 points, four boards and two dimes.
 
- The Dukes enter Wednesday's game at George Mason with a record of 3-1 (.750) in conference road games, a stretch in which Duquesne has averaged 81.0 points per game while holding opponents to a field goal percentage of 40.4 percent (108-for-267), including just 24.2 percent (29-for-120) from beyond the arc.
 
- Among Atlantic 10 leaders, the Dukes rank third in field goal percentage (.476) and fourth in both scoring offense (82.9 ppg) and three-point field goals made per game (9.55).
 
- Individually, Guinyard is the only player in the A-10 to rank in the top five in the league in scoring (16.1 ppg), assists (5.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.50), pacing the circuit in assists per game, ranking second in assist-to-turnover ratio and fourth in scoring. 
 
- 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 717 points and 529 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 UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse after taking on the Patriots, hosting George Washington Saturday, Feb. 7, in a 2:00 p.m. tip.
 
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 25-29 (.463) 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 Patriots – Wednesday marks the 18th meeting in the all-time series between Duquesne and George Mason, with the Dukes owning an 11-6 (.647) advantage … The series dates back to New Year's Eve 2001, with Duquesne having won six consecutive games over the Patriots as well as nine of the 10 meetings dating back to 2014 … Overall Duquesne has won 10 of the last 12 meetings, including an 85-68 triumph last season at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse … In that victory  the Dukes hit a season-high 15 three-pointers, including a combined 11 from guards Tre Dinkins III (6) and Cam Crawford (5) … The Patriots grabbed a 45-42 edge after a pair of free throws from Jalen Haynes with 15:18 remaining, but a 16-2 run helped the Dukes open up their first double-digit advantage with just under 10 minutes to go, 58-47 … Forward David Dixon scored six consecutive points during the burst, including a three-pointer that snapped a 45-45 tie … Dixon finished with 13 points and five boards, while Crawford scored 16.
 
Rhode Island Leftovers – Duquesne has won six consecutive games over Rhode Island in Pittsburgh, Pa., as well as four straight in the all-time series ... The Dukes set a season high in free-throw percentage, converting 20 of their 22 attempts, a success rate of 90.9 percent ... URI finished just 9-for-18 (50%) at the stripe ... Senior guard Tarence Guinyard buried his 100th career three-pointer at the 18:18 mark of the second half, which gave Duquesne a 40-28 advantage ... Guinyard also earned his 50th career start at the NCAA Division I level against the Rams (28 at UTM last season) ... The Dukes owned a 38-28 edge in rebounding despite both teams grabbing 10 offensive boards ... Each team also scored 20 points in the paint, which marked a season low for Duquesne ... Bolstered by 12 points from Alex Williams, the bench for the Dukes outscored the reserves for Rhode Island, 26-6.
 
Downtown – Duquesne finished 12-for-27 (44.4%) from beyond the arc in a 76-61 victory over Rhode Island (Feb. 1) and has hit at least 10 three-pointers in each of their last three games, four of their last five contests and five times in nine tilts against Atlantic 10 foes. Overall this season, the Dukes are 9-3 (.750) when connecting for 10 or more triples in a game and in two years under head coach Dru Joyce III are 15-9 (.625) when turning the trick. The season high for three-pointers for the Dukes came in the Atlantic 10 opener, an 89-83 victory in double overtime at Davidson (12/30) in which Duquesne finished 16-of-35 (45.7%) from deep.
 
The Comet – Arguably turning into the most consistent scorer for the Dukes this season is junior guard Jimmie Williams. Williams enters Wednesday's game at George Mason having scored in double figures in 17 consecutive games, a stretch in which he has produced averages of 17.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per contest while shooting 50.7 percent (106-for-209) from the floor and 85.7 percent (48-for-56) at the free-throw line. It's the longest streak by a member of the Dukes since last season, when former guard Tre Dinkins III closed out his lone year on the Bluff by reaching double figures in 17 consecutive games to close out the 2024-25 campaign. Each of the five 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 Duquesne's last road game, a 71-59 victory at Loyola Chicago (Jan. 24).
 
How About That – Entering the second half of the Atlantic 10 schedule Wednesday at George Mason as well as 70.9 percent (22-of-31) of the regular season complete, the top two scorers for Duquesne are separated by a single point. Senior guard Tarence Guinyard has scored 354 points (16.090 ppg), while junior guard Jimmie Williams is at 353 (16.045 ppg). The pair rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Atlantic 10 in scoring.
 
Point Break – Senior guard Tarence Guinyard tied a Duquesne single-game record for assists against St. Bonaventure (Jan. 28) at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in posting his first double-double on the Bluff as well as the second of his career. In setting a career high with 12 dimes, Guinyard, who also scored 12 points against the Bonnies, became the fifth player in program history to accomplish the feat and the first in almost 20 years. Former guard Bryant McAllister (2002-06) was the last to record 12 assists in a game, posting the total against Fordham Feb. 4, 2006, at the A.J. Palumbo Center. Guinyard's first career double-double came last season while at the University of Tennessee-Martin (UTM) when he finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds at Tennessee Tech Feb. 20, 2025.
 
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. When Guinyard finishes with five assists or less, Duquesne is 4-8 (.333). As a team, the Dukes rank second in the Atlantic 10 in assists per game (17.00), a total that ranks 45th in NCAA Division I. In conference play, Duquesne ranks third in the circuit with an average of 15.78 assists per contest.
 
Did You Know? A member of the Dukes has scored at least 20 points in a game on 17 occasions this year after junior guard Jimmie Williams scored a game-high 22 points in a 76-61 win over Rhode Island (Feb. 1). Williams has eclipsed the 20-point plateau five times this season, with the Dukes 3-2 (.600) in those contests. Senior guard Tarence Guinyard owns a team-high eight games of 20 or more points, with the Dukes 4-4 (.500) 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. 
 
Instant Impact – The latest recruiting class has paid dividends for Duquesne this 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 62.6 percent (1,142-of-1,823) of Duquesne's offense through 22 games of the season. A total of 82 double-figure scoring games have been tallied so far this year, with 55 (67.1%) received from a newcomer. The latest to join the fray is Hall, who contributed 10 points in his second career start against St. Bonaventure (Jan. 28), which marked his first career double-figure scoring effort at the NCAA Division I level. Amazingly, a total of 12 different players have registered a double-figure scoring game for Duquesne this season thanks to the performance by Hall against the Bonnies.
 
Did You Know? Duquesne owns a record of 18-6 (.750) in two years under Dru Joyce III when holding opponents to under 70 points after a 76-61 victory over Rhode Island (Feb. 1), including a perfect 6-0 record this season.
 
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