La Salle Explorers vs Duquesne Dukes Prediction, 2/18/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: La Salle Explorers vs Duquesne Dukes

Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Location: UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: ESPN+

The La Salle Explorers (7-18) are traveling to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Wednesday where they will go up against the Duquesne Dukes (15-10).

The La Salle Explorers faced off with VCU and went home with a loss by a final score of 77-68 in their last game. When discussing personal fouls, the Explorers ended up finishing with 19 while VCU racked up 17 personal fouls. They converted 8 of their 20 shots from long range. VCU shot 57.9% from the free throw line by knocking down 11 of their 19 shots. Furthermore, VCU snagged 37 rebounds (12 offensive, 25 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. VCU doled out 14 dimes and had 4 steals in this contest. In the matter of defense, La Salle let their opponent shoot 48.3% from the floor on 29 of 60 shooting. They also recorded 13 assists in this matchup as well as forcing the opposition into 12 turnovers and earning 7 steals. With regard to rebounding, they earned 27 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. At the free throw line, the Explorers converted 16 of 21 tries for a rate of 76.2%. La Salle ended having earned a 39.3% FG percentage (24 of 61) and made 4 out of their 19 shots from downtown.

Rob Dockery is someone who came through for this contest. He finished with 17 points on 6 of 12 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 27 mins and collected 8 boards. He finished 50.0% from the field and also earned 2 dimes.

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La Salle will enter this contest with a mark of 7-18 on the campaign. They have an average of 65.8 points per contest (349th in the country) while shooting 41.3% from the floor. The Explorers are connecting on 29.1% on 3-point shots (125 of 430) and 71.4% from the charity stripe. As a unit, La Salle is pulling down 35.1 boards per game and has tallied 337 dimes on the campaign, which has them ranked 256th in college hoops in terms of passing. They turn the ball over 12.2 times per contest and as a team are committing 16.0 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Explorers are forcing their opponents into 11.4 turnovers per game and they draw 16.8 fouls. They are 324th in Division 1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 410 surrendered on the year. The Explorers defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 45.7% (652 of 1,428) and they relinquish 34.2 boards per game as a unit. They concede 36.5% from 3-point land and they rank 144th in college hoops in points per game allowed (72.6).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Duquesne Dukes went home victorious with a score of 78-73 when they played St. Bonaventure. The Dukes pulled down 22 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 28 in the game. They gave up possession of the ball 6 times, while getting 9 steals for the game. St. Bonaventure committed 14 personal fouls for this contest which took the Dukes to the free throw line for 16 attempts. They were able to knock down 11 of the free throws for a clip of 68.8%. When talking about 3-point attempts, Duquesne knocked down 11 of their 30 attempts (36.7%). When the final whistle was blown, the Dukes finished shooting 28 for 63 from the floor which gave them a rate of 44.4%. The Dukes permitted St. Bonaventure to make 27 out of their 55 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 49.1% for this contest. They went 33.3% from behind the 3-point line by going 3 out of 9 and ended up going 16 of 22 at the free throw line (72.7%). Regarding team rebounding, Duquesne allowed St. Bonaventure to get 37 in total (6 on the offensive glass).

Jimmie Williams was important for the Dukes in the game. He earned 19 points in his 33 minutes on the hardwood and earned 3 assists for the game. He made 7 out of 11 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 63.6%, and totaled 4 rebounds.

Duquesne has a record of 15-10 on the year. As an offense, the Dukes are connecting on 47.4% from the field, which is 58th in college. Duquesne has scored 2,060 pts on the year (82.4 per contest) and they grab 35.9 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 16.3 times per contest (56th in college) and they turn it over 12.8 times per game. The Dukes are committing 20.0 fouls per game while shooting 71.5% from the free throw line.

The Duquesne defense concedes 33.9% on 3-point shots (197 of 581) and their opponents are connecting on 73.5% of their free throw shots. They have allowed 14.1 assists and 34.3 rebounds per game, which is 246th and 177th in the country. The Dukes on defense are ranked 251st in the nation in points allowed per contest with 76.4. They are forcing 13.2 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.1% from the floor (192nd in college).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Duquesne

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