The Friars will be competing in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle4Atlantis tournament for the first time in program history this week. Whether you’ll be spending your Thanksgiving in Paradise Island or at home watching the games we got you covered with our viewing guide for the tournament. We will provide brief scouting reports of each team and possible tip times for the Friars.
Oklahoma Sooners (4-0 KenPom: 47th)
The Sooners will be the Friars first opponent in the tournament. The Friars will look to avenge a 72-51 loss to Porter Moser’s squad in last year’s Big East / Big 12 Battle. The Sooners are a vastly different looking team this season returning only one of their top four scorers from a year ago. Freshman Jeremiah Fears making that transition easy for them as he has dazzled this year to the tune of 15.5 ppg and 4.5 apg. If you recall the Friars were in on his late recruitment this offseason but ultimately he ended up in Norman. As of now a victory over the Sooners would be a quad 1 victory.
Arizona Wildcats (2-2 KenPom: 23rd)
The Arizona Wildcats would likely be the Friars opponent in round two if the Friars are to be fortunate enough to win their opener against the Sooners. While they only 2-2 on the season the Wildcats still appear to be a very formidable team. They boast one of the best backcourts in the nation with Caleb Love and Jaden Bradley. However, they don’t have their typical size at all positions like you are accustomed to with an Arizona team. Even though they are coming in with two consecutive losses to Wisconsin and Duke expect a hungry team that can certainly win this tournament.
Davidson Wildcats (4-0 KenPom: 117th)
If the Friars were to lose to OU they would likely draw the Davidson Wildcats in round 2. So far Davidson has proven to be potent offensively averaging 87 ppg. They have three players averaging at least 16 ppg including Massachusetts native Reed Bailey. The Wildcats are coached by Matt McKillop, who succeeded his father the legendary Bob McKillop. In two plus seasons since taking over for his father he posts a 35-33 record with no NCAA tournament appearances. A loss to the Wildcats would hurt, as it would be a quad 3 loss and would likely mean the Friars started their Atlantis trip 0-2.
Gonzaga Bulldogs (5-0 KenPom: 2nd)
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have been the most impressive team this season that is in the field and they are absolutely loaded. Gonzaga’s top-8 can go toe to toe with anyone in the nation. Their 5-0 record includes a dismantling of a very good Baylor team, an 8-point victory over ASU, and a 23-point drubbing at San Diego St. Two names that may be familiar to Friar fans are Graham Ike and Ryan Nembhard. Ike was a guy the Friars coveted in the portal going into the 23-24 campaign. Now in his second year with the Zags he is their leading scorer and rebounder. Ryan Nembhard surprised Creighton fans when he left Omaha for Spokane last season. It looks like he may have made the right decision as he gets to quarterback a talented roster. Friars would likely only see Gonzaga in the championship, as I don’t see a world where they battle for in the 5th or 7th place game on Friday. Zags will take on WVU in their opener.
Indiana Hoosiers (4-0 KenPom: 36th)
The Indiana Hoosiers are off to a good start to the season going 4-0 with a nice win over South Carolina. Their frontcourt is absolutely terrifying this year with sophomore sensation McKenzie Mgbako, Oumar Ballo, and Malik Reneau. Combined they are averaging 44.3 ppg, 22.8 rpg, and 4.1 bpg. Fun fact Oumar Ballo could face not one but two of his former teams in this tournament. Ballo started his career at Gonzaga and played at Arizona last year. The Hoosiers will have an interesting matchup against Louisville in the opener.
Louisville Cardinals (3-1 KenPom: 58th)
The Louisville Cardinals were absolutely abysmal with Kenny Payne at the helm. For a program with such prestige, it was no surprise that they parted ways with Payne and brought in Pat Kelsey as their new head coach. Pat Kelsey has won everywhere he’s been (Winthrop, College of Charleston) and he already has Louisville in a much more respectable position this year. He totally flipped the roster via the portal with Ryne Smith (CoC), Kesean Pryor (USF), Terrence Edwards Jr (JMU), Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin), and Jayvone Hadley (Colorado). The Cards could possibly see the Friars matchup for a 5th place game and it would be a resume builder.
West Virginia Mountaineers (3-1 KenPom: 71st)
The West Virginia Mountaineers were also in the market for a new head coach this offseason and they tabbed Darian Devries for the job. Devries had 6 consecutive 20-win seasons at Drake before moving him and his son, star guard/forward Tucker Devries, to Morgantown. The younger Deveries isnt leading the mountaineers however, that would be guard Javon Small. Speaking of small this team is undersized and if the Friars to meet with them they should take advantage of the size advantage that they will hold.
Friars Schedule
Round 1- Wednesday 11/27
Providence vs Oklahoma 5pm ESPN2
Round 2- Thursday 11/28
Providence vs Arizona/Davidson- Rd 1 Win: 5pm ESPN, Rd 1 Loss: 7:30pm ESPN2
Round 3- Friday 11/29
Providence vs Gonzaga/Indiana/Louisville/WVU
Rd 1 & 2 Win: 5:30pm ESPN, Rd 1 Win, Rd 2 Loss: 3pm ESPN2,
Rd 1 Loss, Rd 2 Win: 8:30pm ESPN2 Rd 1 Loss, Rd 2 Loss: 11am ESPN2