After dropping their rivalry game against URI in Kingston on Saturday, the Friars have a quick turnaround to gear up for the opening of Big East play. The Friars will be in Chicago Tuesday night for a tilt against DePaul. While typically viewed as an easy win in a league where there aren’t many “gimmes”, the DePaul Blue Demons are under new ownership and that’s former Butler and Ohio St Coach Chris Holtmann. Holtmann has a team full of transfers that have played well up until this point with a 7-1 record on the year. PC certainly got a jolt with the return of Bryce Hopkins last Tuesday in a convincing win over BYU; however, with PC dropping the game to Rhody they are all of the sudden staring at a 6-4 record and likely needing a great Big East showing to get an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. If they want to start conference play strong, it starts Tuesday night at Wintrust Arena. Let’s get to it.
Perimeter Game– While plenty of Friar fans are calling for less three-point attempts from the team, that probably won’t happen in this one. PC is 47th in the nation in three-point attempts at 27.5 per game. DePaul is way ahead of them at 31.5 three-point attempts per game, good for 8th in the nation. Oddly enough they both rank within the top-65 of least amount of three-point attempts allowed per game. I still expect the three ball to fly in this one, and it will be key to the game. You probably don’t want to get into a three-point shooting contest, as the Demons rank 17th nationally at 39.8% shooting the three but the Friars do a solid job holding their opponents to around 30% from three. If PC can do a good job defensively running DePaul off the perimeter and forcing them to make tough threes while knocking down some of their own, it would serve them well.
BOC: The name of the game is forcing DePaul to show they can beat you from inside the perimeter. English will probably live with DePaul getting quality looks from two throughout the game, as that will be the gameplan to beating them. Take away the opposing team’s biggest strength, which is the three ball.
Big or Small?– Friar fans will certainly be paying attention to the lineup combinations Coach English and staff deploy for this one. Many thought PC’s failure to go small earlier in the second half against URI did them in. This matchup against DePaul certainly would be a team that you could go small against. They don’t have a ton of size, but their center David Skogman is a pick and pop big man, and you’d certainly be worried about Oswin and Essandoko guarding him on the perimeter.
However, if PC elects to go smaller it’d be a tough matchup because NJ Benson can go off in the paint. You could put Hopkins on Benson in a small ball lineup, but then Skogman can use his size to take advantage of a matchup. It will be interesting to see what PC does.
BOC: Time to go small and put a jolt into this offense. To the first point made above, DePaul wins on the three point line. Force their bigs to beat you by posting up and see if they can do it. I have my doubts.
Homecoming to a Place That Feels Like Home– Bryce Hopkins and sophomore Richard Barron both hail from the city of Chicago. Richard Barron had 12 points on 4/5 shooting in his return home last year with the Friars rolling to a 100-62 victory. Bryce Hopkins had already torn his ACL when PC made their trip to DePaul, but the year prior had 12 points and 8 rebounds in a game PC also cruised to victory. In fact, the Friars have been awesome in the city of Chicago. Since DePaul moved into Wintrust Arena, the Friars have won 5 of 6 matchups in Chicago by average margin of victory being 17.6 points. They even took the eventual National Champions Kansas Jayhawks to the wire at the United Center in the Sweet 16 in 2022. Hopefully Hopkins and Barron have nice homecomings and the Friars can continue their success.
BOC: It’d be nice to see Barron have a good game. He hasn’t progressed the way most fans thought he would. Providence needs him to be the shot taker and shot maker that he was all of last year.
Who Wants It More?– The Friars are reeling and need to be really desperate for a win on Tuesday. DePaul on the other hand certainly views this one as a big one. They didn’t win a single Big East game last season but appear to be a team that’s going to be much more competitive in the league this season. I’m sure they’re chomping at the bit to start off Big East play with a win. Down the stretch in Kingston you could sense that the Rams really wanted to finish the job and get the win, and you didn’t quite see that fire from the Friars. They need to go into this game with a mindset of focus and urgency.
Predictions
Crier: I’m certainly nervous for this game. The Friars are reeling, and this DePaul team has players that can’t be overlooked. They’re going to be well coached and the Friars need to be locked in. However, I’m buying into the success at Wintrust Arena. PC bottles up that early success they had at URI and put into a full 40-minute effort. PC 84- DePaul 69
BOC: Providence 77, DePaul 75