In the preview of this game (https://theprovidencecrier.com/2022/12/07/friars-return-to-the-amp-to-face-manhattan/#more-5415), we wrote about how we wanted to see this game be out of reach by start of the second half. Mission Accomplished. Providence scored 53 points in the first half on the way to a 21 point halftime lead. They then extended that lead to just miss the century mark by game’s end.
Five players scored in double digits, with 44 points being generated from the bench. Bryce Hopkins continues to be on a tear, scoring 22 points on 8-12 with 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Sorry, Kentucky.
Below we recap the Friar victory and discuss what we saw as relevant takeaways as Big East play creeps up on us.
Keys to Game
Opportunity for Frontcourt – The Friars did what good teams should do – beat up on an inferior opponent. Providence had 51 total rebounds to Manhattan’s 21. Yes, you read that correctly. The Friars had 30 more rebounds than the Jaspers. Hopkins paced the team with 11 rebounds, with Croswell, Castro, and Moore totaling 19 total rebounds. It was a good outcome for the frontcourt and one they should be able to build off of.
Defensive Improvement – Manhattan started the game on a heater from deep, at one point being 71% from 3. Manhattan came back down to earth and ended up going 37% from 3. It was a strong showing in total for the Friars on the defensive end. Manhattan only scored 59 points and were 34% from the floor. What I most appreciated was the consistent effort on the defensive end with the game out of reach seemingly from the 15 minute mark on.
Consistency from Depth Players – We called for Moore, Locke, and Breed to have another strong showing after URI. Locke only put up 4 points, but Breed put together another impressive showing with 12 points in 21 minutes. Moore had 12 points and 6 boards coming off the bench.
The surprise to me from this game came from the emergence of Corey Floyd Jr. In 9 minutes, Floyd Jr. had 7 points. It is a very small sample size, but Floyd Jr. was assertive and not shying away from the moment.
It’s clear Cooley is going to still provide Locke with quality minutes, but I think that 2 spot in the starting line-up is the most “up for grabs” out of all the starting spots with the emergence of Breed, Pierre, and now potentially Floyd Jr. I’m keeping a close eye on that one, but it may just be giving the veteran a starting nod while Breed continues to log the important end of game minutes.
Pierre Minute Watch – Pierre logged 20 minutes, which is exactly what we predicted in the preview article. In that time, he scored 7 points with 5 assists. What is holding him back right now is his carelessness with the ball, as he also had 4 turnovers to those 5 assists. These are the normal growing pains with a true freshman point guard, but all fans should be encouraged that he can give Cooley 20 minutes as a true freshman. I have absolutely no concerns with Pierre taking the spot of lead guard after Bynum departs Friartown.
Devin Carter, Mr. Do Everything – When I think about the most complete players on this roster, it begins and ends with Devin Carter. Carter is a stat sheet filler. He scored 12, had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. He is also our best defensive player. I get an inkling that all Big East teams are going to despise him. He just continues to amaze me with everything he can do on a court. He’s a swiss army knife.
Dissecting Jared Bynum – Jared Bynum’s play has apparently caused a schism amongst the Friar fanbase. There are those who are imploring he gets less minutes due to his subpar scoring. There are others who, while recognizing he is in a scoring/shooting slump, acknowledge everything else he is doing for the Friar team. I fall in the latter camp. No doubt, Bynum had a stinker offensively. He went 0-8 from the floor. With that said, he had 8 assists and only 2 turnovers.
If you want to objectively analyze his game, you need to see that he can score in bunches (see last year) and that that has to revert to the mean eventually. What should cause Friar fans to be optimistic about Bynum is that he is averaging 1.5 more assists than he did last year. If Bynum didn’t go superhuman last year and set himself up for (potentially) unrealistic expectations, I think the narrative would be around how Bynum has developed into a complete point guard. Heavy lies the crown, I guess.
Providence next plays Albany at home at 2:30 PM EST on FS1.
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