Friars Throttle Blue Demons 90-72, Win Two in a Row

The Friars strung together their most complete game of Big East play, putting forth 40 minutes of complete basketball on both ends to win with ease against the DePaul Blue Demons. The win gets the Friars to 11-13 on the season and in a 4-way tie for last place in the Big East at 4-9.

It was the most healthy (and deep) the roster has been in quite some time, and the numbers bore that out. Jason Edwards returned from his plantar fasciitis injury after missing the last 7 games and didn’t skip a beat, leading the team in scoring off the bench with 25 points on 8-13 shooting from the floor. It wasn’t just Edwards though. Jaylin Sellers followed up his career performance against Butler with an efficient 21 points on just 6-8 shooting, while Ryan Mela chipped in with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Lastly, big man Oswin continues his ascending play of late, going for 10, 13, and 4. It was Oswin’s stout defense that particularly impressed me in this one.

For the Friars, this is the second conference win in a row. While the season is still Big East Tournament or bust, you sense and can feel a steady tide of positive momentum building for these Friars as they head into a pivotal week with match-ups against Seton Hall and St. John’s. As a Friar fan, that’s all you can ask for as the season enters the homestretch.

Can Friars Show Some Consistency with Two in a Row? DePaul Game Preview

We break down the game in more detail below.

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Can Friars Show Some Consistency with Two in a Row? DePaul Game Preview

Providence found some life in the double overtime win against Butler. Can they show some consistency unlike what they’ve shown all season to win another conference game in a row and build some momentum? We shall see.

Providence at 10-13 is last in the conference at 3-9. DePaul is not far ahead of them at 4-8 in conference and 12-11 overall. The game is home for the Friars with a 4PM tip.

DePaul is a good story, and I think Holtmann is going to eventually get them to be competitive in the Big East (truly believe that). They are incrementally improving as a program that needs some stability.

Can Providence win two in a row or will this be another sequence of one step forward, two steps back? We preview the game below.

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Jaylin Sellers Wills Friars to 2OT Victory Over Butler

History was made at Amica Mutual Pavilion on Wednesday night, and no it wasn’t the Friars allowing an opposing player to get their career high. Well, Finley Bizjack did actually tie his career high but that’s beside the point…

It was the first time in the history of the Big East that two games between conference foes went to double overtime in one season. This time it was the Friars getting revenge for their 110-113 loss in 2OT at Hinkle Fieldhouse back on December 13th with a 97-87 2OT in at the AMP. It was truly a gritty performance for the Friars, who were missing five players going into the game, had Stefan Vaaks leave the game with injury, and had Oswin and Jamier Jones foul out. In a season full of close loses, including four in overtime, the Friars executed down the stretch and made the plays to win the game.

How about that Nilavan Daniels three ball?!

DEALIN’ DUCKS

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Providence Returns Home to Take on Butler: A Lifeless Arena Upcoming?

Providence returns home to the AMP after two road losses to Connecticut and Villanova. With nothing to play for until the Big East Tournament commences, I’m sure I can speak on behalf of most Providence fans when I say we want to fast forward the rest of the regular season and get to Madison Square Garden in March.

It is a sad state of affairs in Friartown, with levels of frustration, apathy, and depression all setting in to varying degrees. The season has not gone as planned, obviously, but the show still goes on, and I’ll reluctantly still turn on my television and support my alma mater Wednesday night. A team that was supposed to be fighting for an NCAA tournament bid is now last in the conference.

Providence is looking to avenge a road double overtime loss to Butler where they had the game won, but let it slip away before falling short in overtime. Ring a bell?

We break down the keys to the game and what we’re looking for below.

The Bottom Has Fallen Out: A Connected Villanova Wildcats Best Friars 87-73
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The Bottom Has Fallen Out: A Connected Villanova Wildcats Best Friars 87-73

So the Crier is back on the mountain, this time in Vermont with pals from high school. BOC was so disgusted with the performance he called it quits early, turned the game off with about 8 minutes remaining, and asked for the Crier to create a skeleton version of a postgame recap.

The Friars made my job easy because they played like a bag of bones against Villanova on Friday night at the Finn. We all thought the “bottom drops out game” would come on the road against Connecticut. To the Friar’s credit they played well in Storrs but saved their stinker for Villanova.

PC got blitzed from the jump and showed all their weaknesses against Nova in the first half. A team that has shown all year they can’t defend the 3, have poor transition defense and too often individualized play was on full display Friday night.

The Friars poor play found themselves in a 45-28 hole at halftime. PC did make a run cutting it to as low as 7 points, but as soon as they did the Wildcats exposed the Friars for all the issues they have and pushed it back to 18 points rather quickly.

We’ve reached the point of the season where we are just hoping to see the Friars show signs of life for a potential Big East Tournament run. Instead, PC gave us plenty of reasons to believe that the 2025-2026 season is a lost cause.

OK BOC I gave you your skeleton, and I’ll leave it to you to discuss the reasons the Friars had an uninspiring effort against Villanova.

Alright, Crier. I’ll take it from here. Enjoy your weekend of debauchery and tomfoolery in the mountains while I change diapers for the next 48 hours. Remember to not eat the yellow snow…

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Friars Head to City of Brotherly Love to Take on Wildcats

Providence is 9-12 on the season and head to Philadelphia to take on my surprise of the Big East season, the Villanova Wildcats. Led by new coach Kevin Willard, Villanova has played itself into the NCAA tournament as of this writing and are looking to continue to build up their resume Friday night with a win.

Villanova is an 8.5 point favorite, with the Wildcats beating the Friars in Providence 88-82 earlier in the year. In the first match-up, it was a stellar first half by the Wildcats that did the Friars in, as they went into half with a 12 point lead. Providence tightened the screws defensively in the second half, but it was too little too late. Nova’s bench production was superb in that one, with grad transfer senior Devin Askew scoring 20 points and promising sophomore Malachi Palmer chipping in with 10.

There is the sentiment amongst the Crier and I that all of these close losses are going to inevitably show their lingering effects on the team one night, and Crier and I fear that night may be this one against Villanova. We applauded the Friars for valiantly fighting against Connecticut on the road, but they still ended up on the wrong end of that outcome. There may come a point where the wind is completely out of the sails for the Friars.

We breakdown the game in more detail below and highlight what the Friars can do to potentially secure a road victory.

Friars Fall to Villanova 88-82
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Friars Compete but Fall at UConn 87-81

After blowing a 21-point second half home lead to Georgetown, it would be expected that the Friars would get blasted in a trip to Storrs, CT to take on the #2 UConn Huskies. We at The Providence Crier didn’t think the team would be able to pick themselves off the mat and both of us predicted a loss that flirted with the 15.5 point spread. Instead the Friars came out, competed, and made UConn earn a 6-point victory for their 16th consecutive win.

Providence was led by strong games from Oswin Erhunmwunse, Jamier Jones and Jaylin Sellers but down the stretch PC turned it over and couldn’t get key stops or rebounds for what might’ve been the most shocking upset of the college basketball season.

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Husky Onslaught Incoming? Providence Reeling As It Heads to Play Connecticut

After a disastrous collapse against both Marquette and Georgetown, Providence is blessed to be able to go on the road and play against the #2 Connecticut Huskies.

This was always going to be an incredibly arduous match-up: the Huskies are the superior team from a coaching and talent perspective, and it is hard to win on the road in the Big East. Now, couple that with Providence in a freefall, and this one has the makings of being a potential bloodbath.

We detail below what we’re looking for in this game.

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Rock Bottom: The Kim English Era Hits its Low Point in Second Half Collapse Against Ed Cooley, Georgetown

You could just feel the pending doom in the Amica Mutual Pavilion. As the lead slowly shrunk to Ed Cooley’s Hoya squad, all every fan could think of was, “Not again! Especially to this guy!”

What caught my attention as I watched the lead disintegrate was the fans putting their jackets on and heading to the exits while Providence still had a 4-5 point lead. Everybody in the building knew what was coming, and that tells you everything you need to know about the Providence Friar program under Kim English.

All Friar faithful have seen this script play out countless times this season, most recently against Marquette. Relinquishing second half leads is something that has unfortunately become a common theme for Kim English and the Providence Friars. A game that was all but wrapped up in the second half with the Friars holding a 21 point lead ultimately ended in a 3 point loss to the Villain of Providence, Ed Cooley.

With this loss, the Kim English era is all but over. You can stomach a loss to Connecticut team despite giving the game away, citing their championship pedigree and elite shot making in the final moments. The Marquette loss was a backbreaker and was the inflection point for a lot of fans on the fence with English, yes, but losing at home with a 20 plus point lead to the guy who betrayed your program is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I don’t see how English comes back from this, and I don’t think he should be given that opportunity, quite frankly.

We discuss the game in more detail below.

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This Is Year 3: Looking Back at Cooley’s Decision

When it happened no one actually had a clue how it would work out.

On March 20th, 2023 it was announced that Ed Cooley would leave Providence College after 12 seasons to coach at Georgetown University. It was the first and only time in the history of the Big East a coach left one Big East program for another. At the time the college basketball national media pundits would tell you that Georgetown, with their tradition and history, was a better job than Providence. Providence fans would chirp back whether or not that was actually the case given the Hoyas epic fall from college basketball glory, while the support and fan base of Providence had never been stronger.

Georgetown fans, for the most part, agreed with the national media and felt with Georgetown’s “war chest” of resources and Cooley’s coaching acumen the Hoyas would be back to national prominence in no time.

So, 2.5 years later, is that the case?

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House of Horrors: Friars Can’t Close in Regulation, Lose to Marquette 105-104 in OT

Milwaukee has always been a difficult place for the Friars to play. Entering Martin Luther King Day’s early evening tip against Marquette, the Friars posted a 3-15 record for road games against the Golden Eagles and hadn’t won since 2020. With 37 seconds remaining in regulation and PC up 4, it seemed like PC would snap its 5-game losing streak at Marquette and perhaps Friar fans would make the comparison to the 2020 team who was struggling going into the Marquette game only to complete a big turnaround by season’s end. Instead PC made crucial error after crucial error late in regulation and in overtime and fell to a struggling Golden Eagles club.

With the loss PC fell to 9-10 (2-6) on the season in which it’s getting harder and harder to glean any positives. PC once again got great contributions from their freshmen duo of Stefan Vaaks (26 points) and Jamier Jones (17 points), but they both made key errors in crunch time. Senior captain Corey Floyd Jr had the ball for what seemingly should’ve been the last shot of overtime in a game tied at 104, but he turned it over and fouled allowing Marquette to hit a free throw to secure the win. Providence is now 0-4 on the season in overtime games and 1-6 in games decided by 6 points or less.

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House of Horrors No More? Marquette Providence Preview

For whatever reason, Providence has had absolutely no success of recent when traveling to Milwaukee to take on the Golden Eagles of Marquette. It’s gotten to the point where I’d rather play the Connecticut Huskies at their place and feel better about a chance of victory there solely because of how poorly Providence has played against Marquette.

Yes, the Golden Eagles have been a perennial Top 25-ish program over the past few years under Shaka Smart, but it just seems like whenever Providence travels there, you can chalk up the game to a loss. The last win by the Friars on the road against Marquette was in 2019-2020 by one point. Since then, the Golden Eagles have made easy work of the Friars on their home court, winning by an average of 20.4 points. Yes, that stat is accurate as I checked the numbers in few times out of shock. Providence of recent lays down on the mat whenever they go on the road to Wisconsin, but I’m hopeful this year will turn the tide.

The fall of the Golden Eagles this year is shocking due to just how drastically they’ve fallen off the map in college basketball, but it isn’t exactly surprising if you follow recruiting, the transfer portal, and how Shaka operates the two. Shaka Smart is a big believer in building a culture through roster continuity and building through high school recruiting exclusively, and the last few years have shown him to be directionally accurate in this approach despite the NCAA heading in the complete opposite direction.

He is Dabo Swinney like in his refusal to add players via the portal, with the belief that his ability to find players in high school and develop them throughout their tenure at Marquette trumps plugging holes in the transfer portal via one year mercenaries. While I am personally a huge advocate of “majoring in high school recruiting, minoring in the portal” and appreciate the intent of what Shaka is trying to do, it is malfeasance to not at least look to add 1 or 2 players per offseason in the transfer portal. There are without a doubt guys in the portal that would fit seamlessly with the Marquette culture. Not at least entertaining the idea of augmenting your already strong roster with a portal player or two is managing a team with one hand tied behind your back, and that is a choice Smart is actively making.

Marquette has flamed out in the NCAA tournament over the past few years, and I’m certain Golden Eagles fans are frustrated with Shaka’s stubbornness in not adding a piece or two to put these Top 25 rosters over the top to be legitimate national title contenders. That’s not hyperbole either, by the way. Adding 1 or 2 immediate impact portal guys to the Marquette rosters over the past few years that had Oso, Kolek, Jones, etc. could have made them a contender to win it all, but Shaka just outright refuses to add via the portal.

By not adding any portal guys, you essentially have to nail every high school evaluation, which is an impossibility. That hasn’t happened for Smart, and this year is the culmination of not adding portal players and the talent recruits out of high school not making the year over year leap we’ve come to know with the Golden Eagles.

Marquette is currently 6-13 and last in the Big East at 1-7. If Providence is going to pick off the Golden Eagles at their place, this year is the year to do it.

We preview the game below and what the Friars need to do to win on the road.

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