RADNOR — As things wrapped up on Saturday night from Finneran Pavilion in Radnor, PA, on the campus of Villanova University, it was the Duquesne Dukes who were on the losing end of the scoreboard for the first time this season. The final tally showed 87-77 for the Villanova Wildcats, a Power 5 program in CBB terms. The Dukes put up a fight, a fight that surely caught the eyes of Sixers center Andre Drummond, who stuck around after to talk to some players.
When you step back and look at the full four-game body of work, it isn’t difficult to find a ton of positives that point the needle in the right direction for the Dukes.
Defensive Variety
Even though it was a loss on the scoreboard, it felt like it was a positive experience for the Dukes, who had led for the majority of the first half and never really let Villanova get comfortable throughout the night.
Dukes Head Coach Dru Joyce III and his team played a zone for a portion of the game, and he thought it was a factor in the Wildcats’ slow start.
“ We went to a zone the night for a stretch, and we actually played it well,” Joyce explained. “Played ’em all the way down to the shot clock, and they hit two bombs.”
If Duquesne can effectively utilize the zone and give teams different looks defensively, it could be a very valuable tool for Joyce and his squad in the future.
Scoring Variety
There is perhaps no better example of how Duquesne has been able to find scoring in different ways than their game last Tuesday against Queens. They shot 4/23 from three-point land, but they found different avenues for their points.
John Hugley IV has been a welcome addition to this Dukes team. His 16.8 PPG average has been valuable to Duquesne, helping it win the paint battle in three of the first four games this year. He is averaging seven boards a game, and his most impressive body of work was the two-game stretch against Sacred Heart on November 7 and Queens on November 11.
He scored 25 points and eight rebounds against Sacred Heart and then followed that up with a 27-point and 11-rebound masterpiece to help Duquesne survive Queens in overtime.
Tarence Guinyard has been even better. He is averaging 22 PPG and won the A-10 Under Armour Player of the Week in the opening week of the season.
He has put up 19 points or more in three of the first four games, with 19 vs Niagara, 22 vs Sacred Heart and a 30-spot against Villanova. On Saturday, he did more than just score; he also contributed a team-high four assists and two steals. Guinyard also leads the A-10 in assists per game with 5.8.
Depth Check
Duquesne has gotten valuable contributions from its guards off the bench. Alex Williams has been a plus for the Dukes, with this being proven in the Queens game. He gave his team 9 minutes in the Sacred Heart game, and the Dukes were letting their lead slip away. But Alex Williams kept his team moving forward with two crucial buckets and went down as a +7 in the +/- category.
Dom Aekins is a freshman trying to find his place in a crowded Duquesne backcourt. But if you watched him play, you would swear he is older than a freshman.
Aekins went into a hostile environment on Saturday and dropped 9 points, with 7 of them coming in the first half, to continue applying pressure on a trailing Villanova team at the time.
He also logged 12 points in an overtime win over Queens. He only gets around 9 minutes a game on average, but he is making a serious impact in that time. It’s certainly plausible to see him get more time on the court each night going forward if he continues to impress.
Last on the list of guard standouts, but definitely not least, Jimmie Williams. Williams has been a great fit alongside Guinyard, as he has notched 13+ points in three games so far. He hit four shots from downtown on Saturday, kick-starting the Duquesne offense that shot 12-23 from three on the night.
Bonus Points
Duquesne guard Jake DiMichele dressed for Saturday’s game against Nova, but he did not play any minutes. He has not touched the court since November 26, 2024. He has dealt with Plantar Fasciitis and then a stress fracture in that time, and after a couple of setbacks, he is on the right trajectory to finally get back on the court to help his team win games again.
“ Yeah, he’s not there yet,” Joyce said on DiMichele’s status. “Like he’s freshly just back. “We want to get him up to where he is a hundred percent.
He is off back-to-back injuries, right, and I think it behooves us to make sure that we get him in the right form.”
Up Next
Duquesne will come back home and play Loyola-MD (Ranked 291 in KenPom) on Wednesday at 7 PM. Following that, they will go to LeBron James’ old high school, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s to play Northeastern (Ranked 189 in KenPom) in a neutral-site game.
