February 13, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; St. Louis Billikens center Robbie Avila (21) stands on the court during the second half of the game at Joseph J. Gentile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images No. 23 St. Louis was one of the best stories in college basketball during the 2025-26 regular season. But the Billikens are now hoping to overcome their first set of adversities in the final week before the postseason.
St. Louis (25-3, 13-2 Atlantic 10) has dropped two of three games since getting off to a 24-1 start. The Billikens will try to get their momentum back on Saturday when they face off against visiting Duquesne.
The Billikens are still considered an at-large team for next month’s NCAA Tournament, but a Quad 3 loss against the Dukes could be disastrous. Last time out, St. Louis lost 77-62 in Dayton on Tuesday. The Billikens missed their first 11 3-point attempts before finishing at a 23.8% clip (5-for-21) from behind the arc.
Coach Josh Schertz’s team boasts a respectable NET ranking of No. 24 and has two wins over VCU and a non-conference win over Santa Clara. The Billikens seem to have done enough so far to hear their name called on Selection Sunday, but Schertz is ready to see his team go from strength to strength until the end.
“We’re not at the level we’re at now by maintaining softness, but we’re definitely trending toward that,” Schertz said. “Look at the last three games. We’ve led for about 10 minutes in the last three games. The two things I’ve noticed are the physicality really and then the turnovers. … We’re lacking a little bit of power and physicality on both ends of the floor.”
The A-10’s top scoring offense (89.1 points per game) is led by Robbie Avila’s 12.6 points per game and Trey Green’s 11.3 ppg. St. Louis’ mini-slump is evidenced in the box score, but what the shirt is trying to solve goes beyond scoring.
“We have to look at everything,” Schertz said. “We’ve shown the ability to be a physical team and play hard. We just don’t do that. Dayton was really good and sharp. They made their shots. But we’ll have to look at why we got off to such a slow start.”
Dion Brown adds 11.1 ppg, Amari McCottry adds 10.6 ppg and Kellen Thames has 10.1 points per contest. Thames scored a career-high 24 points in a loss to Dayton.
Duquesne (16-12, 8-7) enters a two-game skid following a five-game winning streak. The Dukes are playing for seeding in the upcoming A-10 tournament and currently occupy the seventh-place spot in the 14-team conference.
Second-year coach Drew Joyce III’s final three games of the regular season will be about overcoming a mental battle starting Saturday.
“It feels like these games, especially in conference play, just keep coming over and over again,” Joyce said Wednesday after Duquesne lost 67-56 at home to Davidson. “It’s deep in February and it can be monotonous at times. You have to be strong because your body isn’t the same as it was in November. It’s completely broken. It’s as hard mentally as it is physically.”
The Dukes, who lost 81-77 to St. Louis on Jan. 20, are behind Tarence Guillard’s 16.5 points per game and Jimmy Williams’ 15.3 points per game.
–Field level media
