The Friars went to Madison Square Garden looking to snap a 2-game losing streak and try to get a big road win against St. Johns. They would leave empty handed despite another valiant road effort. PC dug themselves another early hole before rallying to actually get a second half lead before the Johnnies ultimately prevailed with a 75-73 victory. The Friars have now lost 3 straight and drop to 2-3 in league play. Here’s a few things that stood out.
Rough Start to the Night- It was yet another road game where the Friars got off to a brutal start. After a few missed shots and some turnovers, a Brady Dunlap mid-range jumper would make it 10-0 Red Storm. After the Friars threw their first punches, SJ countered with another blow making it 20-5 St. Johns. The Friars then would battle back throughout the night, but it wasn’t enough. When you’re on the road, one of the worst things you can do is start out slow. I’m not sure if it’s an engagement thing or just making mistakes early, but the Friars really can’t afford to dig themselves these holes. They fought hard to make this a compelling game until the buzzer, but they do themselves no favors with poor starts.
Missed Free Throws Doom the Friars- Another thing you can’t afford to do on the road is miss free throws. The Friars were able to get to the line but only salvaged to make 11 of their 21 attempts. The free throws have been an issue all year and are starting to rear its ugly head. PC entered the night with the lowest free throw percentage in the conference,and tonight’s results will keep them right there. Expect the Friars to improve in this area as the season goes on. They have guys who are better shooters than what they’ve shown. At the end of the day, had the Friars shot at a more reasonable percentage, they walk out of MSG with a win.
Devin Carter Was Spectacular– Devin Carter knows he has to shoulder more of the load these days, and he is delivering. Carter continues to leave it all out on the floor and tried to will the Friars to back-to-back road games. After tying his career high against Creighton, he gave NYC an encore with a career high 31 points in this game.
Almost anytime the Friars needed a big play or bucket Devin Carter was there. He would ultimately foul out in the game, but he was outstanding Wednesday night.
Oduro Struggling in New Role – With Hopkins now out, Josh Oduro has struggled over the past 2.5 games to take on more of a scoring role. I’m willing to be patient and see if his struggles are the result of going up against Kalkbrenner and Soriano, but the second half of Seton Hall is what concerned me, as I don’t think too highly of their bigs. Oduro went 2-8 from the floor and was largely inefficient and ineffective on the offensive end.
The problem that I don’t think has an answer unfortunately is that there are no other bigs to turn to. Friar fans just need to hope Josh finds his footing.
Stock Up For Pierre and Dual- PC’s guards were ultimately going to be how far this team could go. After the injury in the Seton Hall game the young backcourt was going to have to grow up fast. Jayden Pierre had a game that he could build off of against Creighton, and he continued to build tonight. Pierre had 17 points and 5 assists. Garwey Dual also had some nice moments in this one. He finished with 7 points and 4 assists. With this young backcourt of Pierre, Dual, and Corey Floyd Jr there were going to be growing pains. These guys are going to be better from these experiences. As the season goes on, expect them to continue to grow and improve.
My opinion is that we’ll see Dual in the starting line-up alongside Pierre moving forward, as he is offering a lot more currently than a struggling Corey Floyd Jr. You then let Floyd Jr. and Barron battle it out for the remaining minutes.
Summary
I don’t think there will be a Friar fan that doesn’t think this group has shown a ton of fight in front of the adversity of losing Bryce Hopkins. Against Creighton and St Johns the Friars fight gave them a chance to steal both road games. They certainly need to clean things up and they’re relearning after this major shakeup to their rotation. As The Crier tweeted I walk away from this game with more of a confidence in this group after the injury to Bryce. They’re right there. If they can eliminate some of the mistakes, they will find themselves on the right side of the scoreboard. PC will host Xavier on Saturday afternoon. Despite the Musketeers 7-8 record, they are going to fight like hell to get a win. The Friars need to trust themselves and get a win. While a win against Xavier isn’t a must, the Friars have to find a way to steady the tide.
One thought on “Friars Forced to Play Catch-Up from the Jump, Drop Game at St Johns”