A week ago, the Friars were sitting in a great spot. Either a road upset over Marquette or a home win versus Villanova would all but solidify a NCAA tournament bid. Instead, Milwaukee remained a city of horrors for PC and then the offense would stall at the worst time against Villanova.
So here the Friars sat with their backs against the wall with two games remaining on the schedule. Many thought the Friars tournament chances would be dead, but they sat on life support for the final two games of the season. The Friars have once again responded with a win over Georgetown on Tuesday night, which will now set up a huge matchup against UConn at home on Saturday. Devin Carter led the way, but the Friars got contributions throughout the lineup and found themselves with a double-digit road victory. Lets see how the Friars swept the Hoyas.
Devin Carter (once again) Takes Over When Needed– The Friars were cruising throughout the return of Ed Cooley before the Hoyas made a late run to make things interesting. Devin Carter then took over for the Friars with deep threes and monstrous dunks. This game was awfully similar to the first one. The Friars led throughout but couldn’t quite put the Hoyas away. Carter would score 20 of his 24 points in the second half and propel the Friars to another victory. With 18:33 left in the game, the Friars would lead by 1 and Carter went to work. He would score 10 of the Friars next 12 points propelling them to a 11-point lead, and PC never looked back. Carter just continues to save the day for the Friars when they need it the most. He may not win Player of the Year with Scheierman looking like the clubhouse favorite and Tristen Newton also threatening, but he has absolutely locked in a place as a first team All Big East player. There is not a more important player in the Big East to their team than Devin Carter.
Georgetown Kept Counter Punching, Until They Couldn’t- The Friars knew they wouldn’t want to make things interesting on the road against the now 9-21 Hoyas. In the first half, they built two 7-point leads only to give it right back with turnovers and sloppy play. In the second half, they would build a 13 point lead after a Ticket Gaines and-1 3-pointer. Georgetown would get it back to 5 with 9:51 to play, but never got closer. The Friars showed their resolve in this one. It wasn’t always pretty, but they kept punching back and got the job done.
Bench Provides a Boost– If you were watching the game at home, you probably thought early on the Friars would get no bench production as the announcer indicated Richard Barron was out with a lower body injury. It turns out he was just fine, and the birthday boy netted the Friars 11 points, with three timely triples off the bench. Garwey Dual was able to provide a bit of scoring boost with 6 points on 3/6 from the floor. Even though Castro didn’t score he provided a solid sequence where he grabbed an offensive rebound and made a sweet dish to Dual for a hoop. PC’s bench would outscore Georgetown 17-10 and played a vital role in the Friars claiming victory. As we’ve talked about non-stop at The Providence Crier, the role players are ultimately going to determine how far this Providence team goes.
Georgetown’s Offense Lets them Down- The only surprise in Capital One Arena was that Georgetown’s defense was stellar by their standards, giving up 71 points to the Friars. The Hoya offense though couldn’t make enough shots to keep them in the game.
Jayden Epps scored 16 points but it took him 19 shots to get there. Once he became Devin Carter’s assignment, he cooled off. While Georgetown missed some open looks in the second portion of the second half, the Friar’s defense deserves some credit. They took a pair of charges and created a few other turnovers as well. They also did a solid job on the glass not allowing the Hoyas multiple chances off those missed threes.
Oduro’s Efficient Night – We called out in the preview that the key to this game is get Oduro started early and often. While he didn’t have a monstrous night, he did finish with 14 points and 9 rebounds on 5-8 shooting. Most important, he limited Supreme Cook to 7 points. A takeaway here may be that Oduro doesn’t need help on bigs on defense and that English can trust him to play solid defense without fouling. Clearly, we still have PTSD from the Villanova game.
Three Point Shooting – Providence did it’s job from deep, going 33% on 27 attempts. Providence will never be confused with a Creighton or UConn from deep, but if they can shoot 33-35% every night, it gives them a chance to win. The 20-25% nights torpedoes the Friars.
Pierre’s Health – Pierre looked to be closer to his former self, finishing with 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 27 minutes. If PC is going to make a push into the tournament, they need him to play more like he did against Xavier. He has it in himself.
Capital One Arena – AMP South?– It’s a sad state of affairs when it felt like a PC home game in Washington, D.C. I understand it is Ed Cooley’s first year, and the results have been abysmal, but you would think the Georgetown faithful would come out in droves to support their new coach against his old team.
I’ve said from the moment he took this job that the Georgetown of the present is not the Georgetown of old, and I stand by that. I’m sure Cooley loved hearing the “Let’s Go Friars” chants at a Georgetown home game.
What’s Next
The Friars will now wrap up the regular season on Saturday when they host the #2 Connecticut Huskies. While UConn will be rightfully favored, the Friars have to feel confident that they can potentially pull this upset off, especially with a raucous crowd on senior night. Providence played UConn incredibly tough at Storrs, and English will have the boys ready.
If the Friars are to win it, they will essentially book their trip to the NCAA Tournament without anything needed at MSG. Now that would be Divine Providence.
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