February 28, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Saint Louis Billikens guard Trey Green (3) drives to the basket while Duquesne Dukes guard Tarrance Guillard (1) defends during the first half at Chaifetz Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Image Robbie Avila had 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists Saturday night as No. 23 St. Louis held off visiting Duquesne to a 91-76 win in Atlantic 10 Conference play.
Quentin Jones added 17 points and Trey Green had 14 for St. Louis (26-3, 14-2 A-10), which had dropped two of its previous three games. The Billikens, who trailed by 12 points early in the first half, made 16 of 28 3-pointers (57.1%). Paul Otieno scored 13 points off the bench.
Tarence Guinyard led Duquesne (16-13, 8-8) with 27 points, followed by Jimmy Williams with 16 points and David Dixon with 12 points.
Trailing by two points at halftime, Saint Louis opened the second half on a 15-4 run, and seven straight points by Avila gave the Billikens a 54-45 advantage.
Otieno’s layup with 10:59 left pushed the lead to 65-56. Guinyard’s free throw cut the margin to five with 8:05 remaining.
Williams and Avila traded 3-pointers and the Billikens had a nine-point advantage with 6:20 left. From there, a free throw by Dixon followed by five straight points by Guinyard cut the Saint Louis lead to 76-74.
Green then hit back-to-back triples to get the cushion back to eight points before hitting two free throws to give the Billikens an 84-74 lead with 2:15 left. Otieno’s jumper sealed a much-needed win for Saint Louis.
Guillard and Williams made back-to-back 3-pointers, and then Jakub Nekas’ dunk gave the Dukes a 20-8 lead with 15 minutes and 18 seconds left in the first half. After Green’s three-point play pulled the Billikens within seven, St. Louis answered with five straight points.
Duquesne went more than five minutes without making a field goal before Alex Williams’ triple gave the visitors a 26-20 advantage with 10:06 left.
Ishan Sharma’s 3-pointer with 7:13 left gave Saint Louis its first lead at 28-26.
Late in the first half, Green connected on the Billikens’ seventh triple of the game to cut the deficit somewhat. Dixon’s layup and John Hugley IV’s three-point play gave the Dukes a 40-34 lead.
Guinyard had 14 first-half points for Duquesne, which took a 41-39 lead at the midway point.
–Field level media
