Tonight, history was against the Friars. PC came to Norman, OK looking for their first non-conference road win over a ranked opponent since 1975. Going into the game it might have seemed that the Friars had a good chance to rewrite that history. Starting off the season 7-1 with their only loss to Kansas State in overtime, PC showed to be a team that will have an opportunity to win a lot of games. Well, tonight wasn’t one of them. PC dug themselves a massive early hole (didn’t BOC say not to do this) and were able to claw back into the game. They then would take the lead with 14 minutes left, but OU then delivered the knockout blow. Fortunately for the Friars, it is one game against a team who may end up being pretty damn good. Lets look at how it went down.
Slow Start- The Friars really started off on the wrong foot in this game. Oklahoma would race out to a 12-0 lead, at the time the largest deficit of the season, due to PC’s sloppy turnovers leading to instant offense for the Sooners. Credit the Friars, and mainly Devin Carter, for absorbing the initial blow and instantly going on a 11-0 spurt to get right back in it. The Friars would only trail by 4 points at halftime and would even take a 40-39 lead with 14 and change left to play. PC would have given themselves a better chance to win this game if it wasn’t for the slow start.
Pierre seemed unprepared for the ball pressure, which is confounding, and Oduro had issues passing out of a double. It was good game planning by Porter Moser and excellent execution by the Sooner squad, but you can’t start off games that poorly on the road and expect a win.
Turnovers Continue to Doom the Friars – At some point we need to point out that taking care of the basketball just doesn’t seem to be a priority for this team. They had 15 turnovers in the game and a lot of them led to transition buckets for the Sooners.
Pierre, while still returning from injury, looked rattled out on the court the entirety of the game. That was a shocking development we weren’t expecting. Bryce Hopkins again continues to turn the ball over at an alarming rate, turning it over 4 times to just 1 assist.
Rough Finish– As mentioned, the Friars did in fact lead in this game with 14 minutes left, 40-39. At that point I was feeling pretty good about PC winning this one, as they had been outscoring the Sooners 40-27 for about 20+ minutes of play. However, the Friars offense would fail them down the stretch of this game. PC would only score 11 points the remainder of the game even though they had some open looks to keep themselves in it. Ultimately OU’s wagon would roll PC the rest of the way.
With Devin Carter carrying the team offensively, you knew it was a matter of time before his tank went empty, and Providence needed the rest of the squad to step up and take the baton from him. Besides Oduro, the rest of the team shrunk in the limelight. Hopkins, Pierre, Gaines, Dual, and Floyd Jr. combined for 12 points. That’s unacceptable. Barron put in 7 points in 14 minutes, and he may be warranting more time if the rest of the starters and role players are non-factors.
Backcourt Youth Shows Its Youth- While people may want to get on the poor night of Bryce Hopkins, which we can concede he didn’t play his best, the guard play let PC down a little bit. Sophomores Jayden Pierre, Corey Floyd Jr, and freshman Garwey Dual combined for 4 points in 60 minutes of action. That is bad enough as is, but they also only combined for 1 assist.
We know these three are capable, but they showed their youth and lack of experience tonight. While Carter, Hopkins, and Oduro are the headliners, it’s the backcourt that will ultimately determine their fate this season. I have little doubt these three will bounce back and only get better from this experience.
Board Man Gets Paid- The Friars have actually held their own on the glass this year even though they have to do it through gang rebounding. Against URI they did an excellent job limiting the Rams on the offensive glass. That was certainly not the case in this one as the Sooners grabbed 10 offensive boards, compared to PC’s 1, and OU scored 16 points on those second chance opportunities.
SUMMARY
While we may be disappointed at an opportunity lost for the Friars, we also have to see the other side of this. Oklahoma may be worthy of their 19th ranking, and perhaps they can end up even better. Their ball pressure, especially early on, really shocked the Friars. While PC diced them up on some defensive breakdowns, the Sooners were able to tighten the screws and make it hell for the Friars to get any buckets down the stretch.
Also, Providence will certainly be able to execute better. Devin Carter and Josh Oduro were essentially your only offense tonight, and we know they have several other options that can score. The up and down play of Bryce Hopkins continues to be a head-scratcher, as Providence needs him to be more consistent in his third year in college and second as a Friar.
Providence rounds out their non-conference schedule with Brown and Sacred Heart before opening up Big East play by hosting defending champions Marquette.