(Photo credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images)

No. 23 Saint Louis has been one of college basketball's best stories of the 2025-26 regular season. The Billikens, though, are now hoping to battle through their first stretch of adversity in the final week before the postseason.

Saint Louis (25-3, 13-2 Atlantic 10) has dropped two of three games since a 24-1 start. The Billikens will look to regain momentum on Saturday against visiting Duquesne.

The Billikens are still viewed as an at-large team in next month's NCAA Tournament, but a Quad 3 loss against the Dukes could be catastrophic. Last time out, Saint Louis fell flat in a 77-62 loss at Dayton on Tuesday. The Billikens missed their first 11 3-point attempts before finishing with a 23.8% clip (5-for-21) from behind the arc.

Coach Josh Schertz's team boasts an excellent NET ranking at No. 24 and holds a pair of wins over VCU and a nonconference victory against Santa Clara. The Billikens seemingly have done enough so far to hear their name called on Selection Sunday, but Schertz is ready to see his team toughen up down the stretch.

'We don't get to the point we're at by being soft, but we've certainly been trending that way,' Schertz said. 'You look at the last three games. We've led for maybe 10 minutes of the last three games. The two things that I've noticed are really the physicality piece and then the turnovers. ... We're lacking some force and physicality on both ends of the floor.'

The A-10's highest-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. While Saint Louis' mini-slump has been proven in the box score, it's more than just scoring points that Schertz is trying to address.

'We've got to look at everything,' Schertz said. 'We've shown the capability of being a physical team and playing with force. We're just not doing it. Dayton was really good and really sharp. They made shots. But we'll have to look at why we're getting off to such slow starts.'

Dion Brown adds 11.1 ppg, while Amari McCottry chips in 10.6 and Kellen Thames scores 10.1 points per contest. Thames had a career-high 24 points in the loss to Dayton.

Duquesne (16-12, 8-7) enters play on a two-game skid that has followed a five-game winning streak. The Dukes are playing for seeding in the upcoming A-10 tournament, currently sitting in the No. 7 spot in the 14-team conference.

For second-year head coach Dru Joyce III, the last three games of the regular season will be about overcoming the mental battle, beginning on Saturday.

'These games, especially in conference play, feel like they just keep coming one after another,' Joyce said after Duquesne's 67-56 home loss to Davidson on Wednesday. 'You're deep in February, it can be monotonous at times. You've got to have a toughness to you because your body doesn't feel the same as it did in November. You're banged up. It's a mental challenge as much as it is physical.'

The Dukes, who fell 81-77 to Saint Louis on Jan. 20, are paced by Tarence Guinyard's 16.5 points per game and Jimmie Williams' 15.3 ppg.

--Field Level Media