Dru Joyce III is no zebra. If he were, Duquesne’s basketball coach probably would have seen more of his talented guard tandem together on the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse floor Saturday against defending Atlantic 10 champion VCU.
As it was, junior Jimmie Williams — like his senior backcourt mate Tarence Guinyard, among the Atlantic 10’s top 10 scorers — took a seat on the bench early in the first half with his second foul and returned only sporadically before halftime of the Dukes’ 93-80 loss to the surging Rams.
“I thought he got hit with some ticky-tacks, and that’s unfortunate,” Joyce said. “I also don’t walk around with a striped shirt and whistle. That’s not my job.”
After picking up two quick fouls in a span of 20 seconds in the first three minutes of the game, Williams, who scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime, was tagged with his third infraction less than three minutes into the second half.
In all, five Duquesne starters were whistled for at least four fouls — senior big man David Dixon fouled out — and both teams combined for 56 free-throw attempts.
Though a pair of VCU players each received four fouls, it was the extended absence of Williams — he played just 17 minutes — that stood out most.
“He’s one of the best guards in this entire conference,” Joyce said. “To get hit with the fouls that he did, consistently, that’s rough. You don’t want your key players picking up those type of fouls. He’ll be better. He was good when he was on the floor. He just wasn’t on the floor very much.”
VCU kept taking Duquesne’s punches, but the Rams wouldn’t go down.
Terrence Hill Jr. scored 21 points off the bench to lead five players in double figures as VCU powered its way to its fifth consecutive victory and seventh in the past eight games.
Lazar Djokovic added 18 points and 11 rebounds, Ahmad Nowell scored 14 points, Nyk Lewis finished with 13 and Jadrian Tracey chipped in 11 for the Rams (11-4, 2-0), who won the A-10 Tournament championship a year ago following a loss to Duquesne in the 2024 title game.
VCU shot 53.7% in eclipsing its season scoring average of 86.8, which ranked third in the A-10.
Duquesne (9-6, 1-1), which came in averaging 86.5 points — fourth in the league — was led by Guinyard’s 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Williams’ 20 followed on 6-of-8 shooting (3 for 3 from 3-point range), and Maximus Edwards wound up with 10 for the Dukes, who saw their modest three-game winning streak end.
Duquesne shot 52.8% but struggled from the 3-point line (34.8%) and at the free-throw stripe (64.0).
The Dukes allowed VCU to shoot 53.7%, including 44.0 (11 for 25) from 3-point range. Both teams paraded to the free-throw line, where VCU converted 24 of 31 attempts (77.4%).
VCU outrebounded Duquesne, 33-25.
“They do a great job of attacking the rim, and getting to the free-throw line is one of their biggest strengths,” Joyce said.
VCU entered the game tied for 22nd in the nation in foul shots per game (26.6).
Duquesne bolted to a 5-0 lead but quickly fell behind and trailed the rest of the way. VCU enjoyed its largest lead of 14 points in the first half and settled for a 46-34 halftime margin.
Duquesne began the second half on a 14-4 run to slice the deficit to 50-48.
After the teams traded baskets, Edwards’ 3-pointer pulled Duquesne within 54-53 with 13:33 left before VCU scored nine unanswered points to take a 63-53 lead and never again was threatened.
“We did a good job coming out in the second half,” Joyce said. “Good start to the game, too. We just weren’t able to carry through the momentum. We never bounced back from a mistake or a turnover, and it led to them going on another run. We have to do a better job, defensively. We gave up 93 points on our home floor. That’s entirely too much.”
Though Duquesne’s offense has been potent, the Dukes rank last in the A-10 in scoring defense (77.9 ppg.).
“We made some undisciplined plays,” Joyce said. “Some of the fouls we committed, we’ve come a long way since committing those types of fouls. We didn’t do a good enough job of protecting the paint. We’ll be ready to go in our next game.”
The Dukes, who were coming off an emotional 89-83 double-overtime victory at Davidson on Tuesday, spoiling the return of Davidson’s all-time leading scorer, Stephen Curry, are back on the court Wednesday night at Saint Joseph’s.
Duquesne was playing its fifth consecutive game without senior John Hugley IV, the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder.
The 6-foot-10, 265-pound Hugley, who is averaging 15.4 points and 5.6 rebounds, has been absent from the team for what has been deemed a “coach’s decision,” and Joyce has been mum on the situation since Hugley was benched following an 86-64 loss Dec. 10 at Boise State.
