GAME 32
2026 Atlantic 10 Championship
#10 Rhode Island (16-15) vs. #7 Duquesne (17-14)
Thursday, March 12, 2026 | 5:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | PPG Paints Arena (19,100)
 
TV: USA Network with Steve Schlanger (pxp), Dr. John Giannini (color) & Marty Snider (sideline)
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 play in the 2026 Atlantic 10 Championship Thursday with a 5:00 p.m. tip against No. 10 seed Rhode Island at PPG Paints Arena, less than a quarter mile from the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
- The Dukes earned the No. 7 seed after concluding their regular season with a 79-77 victory over Richmond (March 7) on Senior Day as part of the Chuck Cooper Classic.
 
- Senior forward David Dixon provided a tip-in with his left hand as time expired off a missed three-pointer from senior guard Tarence Guinyard to help give Duquesne the victory over the Spiders. The triumph helped the Dukes become just the fourth team in NCAA Division I history to erase a deficit of 30 points or more (for a deeper dive into the comeback, please see page nine of DU's game notes).
 
- Senior forward Alex Williams scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second half against the Spiders, while Guinyard contributed 13 of his 16 points after the break. Dixon, meanwhile, logged his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career by matching a season high with 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
 
- In a vote of Atlantic 10 head coaches and select members of the media, both Guinyard and Williams earned Atlantic 10 All-Conference postseason honors. Guinyard was named to the 2026 A-10 All-Conference First Team, while Williams was selected to the 2026 A-10 All-Conference Third Team. Guinyard is the first student-athlete for Duquesne to be named to the first team since forward Damian Saunders (2007-11) in 2010. 
 
- 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 827 points and 590 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 9.7 points in 116 games at the NCAA Division I level thanks to 1,130 points.
 
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 30-33 (.476) 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 Rhode Island tip for the 70th time in the all-time series Thursday, with the Rams owning a 37-32 (.536) edge … The series dates to Jan. 13, 1966, with the Dukes having having split four previous meetings in the Atlantic 10 Championship … DU and URI split the 2025-26 season series, with each team winning on its home court … The Dukes earned a 76-61 triumph over the Rams at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (Feb. 1) before Rhode Island posted a 64-52 victory over Duquesne at the Ryan Center (March 4) … The game in Kingston, R.I., marked the final road game of the regular season for the Dukes … Both guards Tarence Guinyard and Jimmie Williams each averaged 16.0 points in the two games against URI this season, with Williams scoring 22 in the win at home and contributing 10 on the road … Guinyard led the Dukes in the contest at the Ryan Center with 18 points and scored 14 points in the victory at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
Richmond Leftovers – The Dukes snapped a four-game losing streak in the all-time series against the Spiders and earned just their third win in 29 meetings during the Atlantic 10 regular season ... Duquesne's last win over Richmond came at the 2021 Atlantic 10 Championship, a 67-62 win in Richmond, Va. ... The Dukes earned their first home win over the Spiders since 2012, ending a six-game slide ... The Dukes shot 50 percent (17-for-34) from the field in the second half and 43.8 percent (28-of-64) overall ... Duquesne owned a 32-22 advantage in rebounds, including a 15-3 edge on the offensive glass ... The Dukes also posted a 42-26 edge in points in the paint and set a season high in points off turnovers (28) ... The Spiders finished with 11 turnovers in the second half and 16 overall ... For a deeper dive into DU's comeback win, please see page nine of Duquesne's game notes.
 
Tied At The Top – It's fitting senior forward David Dixon tied the Duquesne career record for games played on Senior Day when the Dukes posted a 79-77, come-from-behind victory over Richmond (March 7) at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Dixon has played in 127 games, which ties the school record that was originally established by former forward Damian Saunders from 2007 to 2011. Dixon posted his fourth career double-double win over the Spiders while tying the games played mark, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He also added a pair of blocks and has moved into fourth place in the Duquesne record book for rejections with 180. Former center Michael Hughes finished with 177 blocks in three seasons with the Dukes from 2018 to 2021.
 
Front and Center – Senior forward David Dixon is playing some of the best basketball of his career as Duquesne enters the 2026 Atlantic 10 Championship. Dixon has reached double figures in seven of the last nine games after registering his third double-double of the year and fourth of his career by matching a season high with 17 points while grabbing 11 rebounds in a 79-77 triumph over Richmond (March 7). Over the last nine games, Dixon is averaging 12.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 61.9 percent (39-for-63) from the field. Over the last four years, Duquesne owns a record of 22-13 (.629) when Dixon scores in double figures. Dixon also blocked at least one shot in 17 of Duquesne's 18 games in Atlantic 10 play this year. Among those games were 14 with multiple blocks, including nine with three or more. Dixon posted 41 rejections in 18 games in Atlantic 10 action, an average of 2.28 per contest.
 
Get A Bucket – Senior guard Tarence Guinyard helped the Dukes snap a four-game slide with a 79-77 win over Richmond (March 7) by contributing 16 points, stretching his streak for double-figure scoring games to 13. He's the second member of the Dukes to score at least 10 points in 10 consecutive games this season, joining junior guard Jimmie Williams, who had a 20-game streak earlier this year. Over his last 13 games, Guinyard has produced averages 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. 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 Guinyard finishes with six or more assists in a game. When Guinyard finishes with five assists or less, Duquesne is 9-12 (.429).
 
Heat Check – Very few members of the Dukes can heat up the way senior guard Tarence Guinyard owns the ability to. Against Davidson (Feb. 25), Guinyard scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, marking the sixth time this season he has scored at least 15 points after halftime, including the fifth time in Atlantic 10 play. Guinyard's most impressive streak came in an 88-86 win over George Washington (Feb. 7), when he scored 23 of his 27 points after the break, including 16 consecutive points that powered the Dukes to victory. Guinyard also scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half of a 71-59 triumph at Loyola Chicago (Jan. 24) as well as 18 of his season-high 30 points in the second half at Villanova (Nov. 15).
 
Call Uno – Senior forward David Dixon isn't the only member of the Dukes to provide a buzzer beater to lift Duquesne to a win this year. His classmate, guard Tarence Guinyard, provided the late heroics in a 62-61 victory over La Salle (Feb. 17), 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), also at home. 
 
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 the 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 75-58 (.564), including a mark of 37-35 (.514) in the Atlantic 10, with Dixon a member of the active roster.
 
Did You Know? A member of the Dukes has scored at least 20 points in a game on 23 occasions this year after forward Alex Williams scored a game-high 22 points in a 79-77 win over Richmond (March 7). Tarence Guinyard owns a team-high 11 games of 20 or more points, with the Dukes 5-6 (.455) in those contests. The Dukes are 4-2 (.667), meanwhile, in the six games junior guard Jimmie Williams has hit the 20-point plateau. In each of the two games Alex Williams has scored at least 20 points the Dukes have come out victorious, which also includes a season-high 25 points in a 71-65 win at George Mason (Feb. 4) in his lone start of this year.   
 
Paint Touches – A key to the success Duquesne has had this season in scoring has been due to its work in the low post. The Dukes are averaging 34.5 points in the paint this season, scoring at least 30 in 20 of their 31 games, at least 40 on eight occasions and at least 50 four times. To put that in perspective, Duquesne scored at least 40 points in the paint a total of four times in 32 games last season in the first year for Dru Joyce III as head coach. The Dukes matched a season-high in points in the paint (56) in a 99-49 win over Cleary (Dec. 27) and are 8-4 (.667) since the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign when scoring at least 40 points in the post, including a mark of 6-2 (.750) this year.
 
30-for-30 – The final home game of the 2025-26 regular season for Duquesne began with six seniors honored in a pregame ceremony, including guards Cam Crawford, Maximus Edwards and Tarence Guinyard as well as forwards David Dixon, John Hugley IV and Alex Williams. Richmond looked to spoil the celebration, jumping out to leads of 14-4, 28-8 and, finally, 38-8 at the 6:43 mark of the first half after a three-pointer from Will Johnston of the Spiders. Junior guard Jimmie Williams snapped an 18-0 run by Richmond with a driving layup with 6:27 to go before halftime, helping the Dukes score for the first time in almost six minutes. Collin Tanner answered on the next possession for Richmond, with his pull-up jumper again matching the largest lead of the contest for the Spiders, 40-10, at 6:01. At that point according to ESPN's Win Probability, Richmond owned a 99.4 percent chance of winning the game. Duquesne would trail at halftime, 49-28, and Richmond opened the scoring after the break, as a jumper from AJ Lopez extended the lead for the Spiders to 51-28. The Dukes would outscore the Spiders the rest of the contest, 51-26, culminating with a tip-in from Dixon off a missed three-pointer by Guinyard as time expired to give Duquesne the miraculous comeback. In NCAA Division I history, the Dukes became the fourth team ever to erase a deficit of 30 points or more and the first since 2018. A deeper dive into the comeback ...
 
Hot Start – Duquesne won the jump ball, with junior guard Jimmie Williams corralling the ball before Collin Tanner came up with a steal. Tanner would attempt a shot from beyond the arc but was the off the mark, and on the first shot of the game for the Dukes, senior guard Tarence Guinyard also missed from deep. The Spiders would follow by hitting six of their next seven shots, including 2-for-2 from three, in grabbing their first double-digit lead at the 14:42 mark of the first half, 14-4. Senior forward David Dixon answered with a layup off an offensive carom before Mikkel Tyne buried a shot from deep to again give Richmond a double-digit advantage, 17-6.
 
Double Digits – From the time that Tyne connected from deep at the 13:57 mark of the first half, Richmond owned a lead of double digits until there was 4:13 left in regulation. At that point, senior guard Maximus Edwards converted a layup that capped an 8-1 burst and pulled Duquesne to within 72-64. Lopez would be sent to the line for the Spiders on their next possession and hit both to extend the lead for Richmond to 74-64 before a floater from Guinyard with 3:41 remaining again closed the Dukes to within eight, 74-66. Tyne would answer for the Spiders, connecting for his fourth three-pointer of the game to extend the Richmond lead to 77-66. In all, the Spiders owned a double-digit lead for over 30 minutes (30:19) of the contest.
 
Spider Bite – Richmond shot a white hot 66.7 percent (20-for-30) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of action, including 57.1 percent (8-for-14) from deep. It helped the Spiders grab a 49-28 lead at halftime, with the 21-point deficit for the Dukes alone larger than the previous largest comeback in school history of 19 points. The Dukes have erased a 19-point deficit three times in school history (see page 13 of game notes for DU's largest comebacks in the last 30 years).
 
Maximum Effort – Duquesne got a spark from one of its six seniors honored prior to the game, as Maximus Edwards saw his first action in over a month in the victory over Richmond. He contributed six points, four rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal in the victory and, with Edwards on the court, the Dukes outscored the Spiders by 17 points, the best plus/minus in the game for any Duquesne student-athlete. Edwards also took a charge in the first half, the first for the Dukes since a 101-80 win over Central State (Nov. 26). Edwards, in fact, owns all three charges taken this year for Duquesne.
 
Did You Know? Richmond led for 38:06 of the contest against Duquesne. The only time the Dukes owned the lead came when the tip-in from senior forward David Dixon as time expired (0:00) gave Duquesne a 79-77 victory. The win also improved the Dukes to 3-0 this season in games decided by two points or less. The Dukes also earned Atlantic 10 home victories over George Washington (Feb. 7), 88-86, and La Salle (Feb. 18), 62-61.
 
The Straight Line – Duquesne shot a season-high 94.4 percent (17-for-18) at the free-throw line in the victory over Richmond. Junior guard Jimmie Williams missed the first attempt at the chalk of the contest for the Dukes at the 2:50 mark of the first half, but Duquesne closed the game by converting each of its final 17 opportunities. Included in that was a 14-for-14 performance in the second half, including a 4-for-4 showing from forward Alex Williams that helped the Dukes turn a 77-73 deficit into a tie ball game, 77-77, with 48.5 seconds left.
 
Senior Class – The six seniors honored pregame accounted for 79.7 percent (63-of-79) of the offensive production for Duquesne in its win over Richmond in the final home game of the 2025-26 regular season. Forward Alex Williams scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, while guard Tarence Guinyard also scored 13 of his 16 points after halftime. David Dixon, meanwhile, contributed 11 points and five rebounds after the break en route to his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career courtesy of 17 points and 11 rebounds. He also blocked a pair of shots and of his 11 boards, six came on the offensive glass.
 
Pittsburgh Connection – The first time in NCAA Division I history a team erased a deficit of 30 points or more came Dec. 30, 1950, when Duke fell behind Tulane, 54-22, in the first half before earning a 74-72 win. That team featured Dick Groat, a native of Wilkinsburg, Pa., who averaged 25.2 points per game during his junior season en route to earning All-America honors. That season he scored 831 points, which at the time set an NCAA Division I single-season record. Groat, who had his No. 10 jersey retired at Duke, went on to play 14 years in Major League Baseball (MLB), including nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He helped the Bucs win the 1960 World Series over the New York Yankees after a regular season in which he hit .325 and was named 1960 National League Most Valuable Player (MVP).
 
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