Duquesne guard Jimmie Williams didn’t hesitate when asked a question about what his team needs to focus on to be better against St. Bonaventure this time around.
“The scout,” Williams said instantly.
No. Not the scouting report itself, put together by the coaching staff. Williams said that was spot on, even though the Dukes (14-10, 6-5 Atlantic 10) fell to the Bonnies (14-10, 3-8) at home 87-79 back on Jan. 28.
Williams says he and his fellow players need to pay attention to those notes better in advance of their rematch on the road with the Bonnies on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m.) and lock in on them better once the ball is tipped.
“The scout was great. But, as players, we need to adhere to the scout better. We know what they want to do. We know what certain players want to do,” Williams said.
Williams only had 11 points against the Bonnies, his lowest offensive output in Atlantic 10 play all season. Coach Dru Joyce III was encouraged when he heard about Williams’ statements, because the message of studying homework was one he delivered specifically to Williams this week in practice.
“I asked him, ‘How much time are you spending on the scout?’ The answers are right in front of you,” Joyce said. “Everything you want to know about a player, we are giving you the details and the insight. The best of the best aren’t always coming up with ideas on their own. But they are following through on them. They spend the extra time in the video room learning all the details.”
Since a four-point loss to nationally ranked Saint Louis on Jan. 20, the Dukes have fallen just once in their past five outings. That was the loss they suffered at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse to the Bonnies.
One thing the Dukes need to do much better this time around is take away the good looks from guards Darryl “Buddy” Simmons II and Dasonte Bowen.
1,000 points and then some ????
— Bonnies Men's Basketball (@BonniesMBB) February 7, 2026
Buddy posted a team-best 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting while crossing the 1k threshold for his career pic.twitter.com/gxoAtfLqsW
Those two combined for 50 points (31 for Simmons, 19 for Bowen) on 15 of 22 shooting during Game 1 between the clubs.
“We have to guard them. Simmons gave us a 30-piece. He’a a game-changer for them,” forward Jakub Necas said.
“They are a tricky team to play. They have a lot of shooting. They are tough guys. They don’t have the depth that we have. We have to use that, wear them down. Play our offense, which we didn’t in the first game.”
In particular, Duquesne must take away Simmons’ mid-range floater. He’s proven to be a master of that shot and repeatedly hurt the Dukes with it last month, even though it was a point of emphasis from the coaching staff.
“He does it with great poise. For some people, that would be a tough shot, and we would accept it. But he shoots it at an elite level from 5 to 7 feet. He is very dangerous. We have to do a better job of getting him off his mark,” Joyce said. “He was able to continually get to the middle of the floor, which was causing our defense problems. … How we maneuver and get through screens will be very important.”
Simmons is third in the A-10 in scoring at 16.3 points per game. That’s sandwiched between Duquesne’s leading scorer, Tarence Guinyard (16.6) in second place, and Williams (16.1) in fourth.
On the offensive end of things, Joyce also said he didn’t want his players to be intimidated by the rim protection of the Bonnies. Frank Mitchell, Joe Grahovac and Andrew Osasuyi combined for six blocks when the teams first met.
“They have lengthy guys. They are going to contest every shot around the rim,” Necas said. “We need to make the right play, shot-fake and let them fly by you and finish.”
As Joyce referenced, knowing the answers to the test won’t be the problem Saturday. Filling out the multiple-choice bubbles once the exam is placed under their noses will be the challenge.
And the Dukes would certainly like to boost their collective grade as high as possible before the final exam at PPG Paints Arena for the A-10 Tournament next month.
