After the Friars squeaked out a win in the season opener against Central Connecticut Friar fans had their right to show a little concern. Well those concerns are quelled, at least for now, as the Friars defeated Stonehill 76-49 at the AMP on Saturday night. The Friars played with much better synergy compared to their opening victory that only saw them score 59 points and shoot 38% from the floor. One thing that remained consistent was their defense, holding the Seahawks to 32% shooting and a +21 advantage on the boards.
Abdur-Rahim and Cardet in Double Figures- In the opener it was transfer portal addition Bensley Joseph, who starred for the Friars. Saturday night Wes Cardet and Jabri Abdur-Rahim showed fans what they’re capable of. Cardet scored all 12 points of his points in the first half, showing off his jump shot and ability to attack the basket. Jabri came off the bench and had a game high 16 points, including 3 made three pointers. In the postgame press conference Jabri spoke about his uncle, USF coach Amir Abdur-Rahun, who suddenly passed away last week:
Turnovers Still an Issue- The Friars had 15 turnovers in their opener and it seemed to lead to an offense that was out of sorts. Ironically enough despite the Friars playing a much better brand of basketball on the offensive side they committed a whopping 20 turnovers in this game. Christ Essandoko, who has struggled taking care of the ball out of the center position, had 4 turnovers and Bensley Joseph, who only had 2 in the opener, added 5 turnovers himself. Friars added several new rotational players and they’re still learning how to play together but they have to take better care of the basketball. They can get away with it when playing Central Ct and Stonehill of the NEC but they’ll get burned being careless with the basketball when the competition stiffens.
Lotta Dudes- Kim English and staff decided to do deeper into their bench in second game of the season. Eleven Friars saw at least ten minutes in this game. Ryan Mela, who was a DNP in the season opener, played meaningful minutes and took advantage of the opportunity. Mela finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds and an assist. Anton Bonke played 10 minutes much to the delight of the PC faithful. In the final minutes and with the game well in hand Coach English emptied the rest of the bench. It will be really interesting to see how this rotation shakes out as the season ramps up. It seems like the Friars have at least 10 guys that can make contributions this season and that’s not counting Big East First-Team selection Bryce Hopkins.
So far this season the Friars seem like a little bit of a work in progress. After all Kim English did say in the postgame that they’re 3 weeks behind. However you’re starting to see what some of the new faces can do and can be really excited for what can be in store this season. The Friars are in action next Tuesday night as they welcome Ivan Thomas and Hampton University to town.