The Friars went into the season dealing with injuries and not a lot of practice time with the whole unit together. It certainly was apparent in the opener as the Friars were able to escape Central Connecticut State with a 59-55 victory Monday night at the AMP. PC trailed 11-10 with 12 minutes left in the first half and wouldn’t regain the lead until 6:16 left in the game and wound up holding on for a 4-point victory. For the Friars, it certainly wasn’t the opening game performance you were hoping for, but the Friars did escape with the win.
Disjointed Effort– It was expected for the Friars to show a little rust, considering preseason Big East 1st teamer Bryce Hopkins is still working his way back from a torn ACL, and the Friars went into the season with a bunch of guys hurt. Everyone but Hopkins was available tonight yet the lack of practice with everyone together reared its ugly head in the opener. PC only had 24 points in the first half, and it was a miracle they only ended up with 15 turnovers, as they nearly had 10 in the first 12 minutes of the game. The half court offense looked out of sorts throughout the game, and they could never quite find any sort of continuity.
Bensley Joseph Comes Up Big– Bensley Joseph has been the apple of Providence’s eye for quite sometime. Coming out of Cushing Academy, Joseph was a guy PC recruited heavily out of high school. Ultimately he would play in Coral Gables, where he played his first 3 seasons of collegiate ball. Now he is back in New England and showed Friar fans just how valuable he can be. Joseph had a team-high 21 points with 3 rebounds and 2 assists in his debut in the black and white. It was two scoring spurts that helped saved the Friars. Down 38-31 he would hit a 3, then after a stop push it down the floor for a layup. Then down 4 with 3:21 to play Joseph would can a triple and follow it with another that would put the Friars up essentially until the final whistle. While it may not look like it tonight, the Friars have a team where multiple options can have the big night. Tonight it was Bensley Joseph, who probably drew rave reviews from Friar fans as he saved the team from a horrendous loss to open the season.
Points in the Paint- This year’s squad has something a bunch of previous Friar iterations have never seen, and that’s an abundance of big men. Josh Oduro was your starting 5 man last year at only 6-8. The Friars addressed that in the offseason getting Essandoko, Oswin, and Bonke. The bigs didn’t show a huge advantage against a Central CT team that didn’t have the bodies, only out scoring the Blue Devils 26-24 in the paint. We know the Friars will attempt a lot of threes in Kim English’s offense, but it would’ve been nice to see them attack the paint more. It will be something worth monitoring in the next couple of games.
It was the opening game I envisioned making my way down to the AMP tonight, but it can’t be stressed enough that a win is a win. Will KenPom try to make this result haunt us the rest of the season? Maybe but the Friars can afford to work out the kinks with an easier opening schedule, so long as you win the remaining games before heading back to the Bahamas. The Friars were able to do that, so we are onto the next game. PC hosts Stonehill on Saturday.
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