Corey Floyd Jr. was fouled. We all remember the game, and The Foul That Wasn’t. Josh Oduro missed the game due to the birth of his son. Providence was without Bryce Hopkins. 7 total players played with no true 5 playing for the vast majority of the game.
Providence seemingly had no chance heading into this game once it became apparent that Oduro was going to miss the game. It was Corey Floyd Jr. with a team high 20 points that put the team on his back to give the Friars a fighting chance. Unfortunately, his late drive to the tin where he tried to end the game with a tomahawk dunk over two Butler players was highly contested, with the two Bulldogs each appearing to foul Floyd on his flight to the rim. No foul was called, to the amazement of Friar fans and players alike, and Butler was able to secure a home win 75-72.
Now, Providence returns back to Hinkel to sweep the Butler Bulldogs for the regular season. They won their home game 84-65 on the backs of 36 from Pierre and Joseph and 17 from Wes Cardet.
Below, we look into what the Friars need to do to secure a road victory and get back to .500.
Health of Cardet – We received some terrible news before Creighton that Jabri Abdur-Rahim was out with a meniscus injury and was likely out for the season. To make matters worse, Wes Cardet has played a grand total of 6 minutes in the last 5 games. He is clearly trying to battle through a knee injury, where details are hard to come by. Providence needs a healthy Cardet with the injury to JAR, as Wes provides a scoring punch that Providence needs. In the last game against Butler, he went off to the tune of 17 points. The Friars could really use him back.
Containing the Dynamic Duo – There’s a world where Telfort and Brooks are the two best players on the court tomorrow. They combined for 34 in the first game, more than half of their team’s points. Providence needs to slow them down at home and not allow them to combine for 35 or more. If they can hold these two to 30 or below on the road, that’s a massive win.
Find McCaffery – McCaffery is a three point sniper, shooting 41.5% from deep. Providence needs to locate him in the half court and in transition and not allow him to get a ton of quality looks from deep. He averages just under 6 three’s a game, so that is clearly his offensive weapon of choice. Providence needs to put the clamps on him and force him to take the ball off the dribble.
Screen vs. Oswin – Screen has been playing better of late and poses a threat at being 7 foot plus. I think Oswin has some of the most natural raw talent in the Big East, but the issue of late for him has been foul trouble. English needs to drill into his head the Friars cannot afford to have him playing 17-20 minutes a game. He is far too valuable.
Continued Offensive Emergence of Corey Floyd Jr. – In a bleak season, Corey has been one of the bright spots. In the last seven games, Corey has averaged 12 points a game. On the season, he is averaging 9 points a game, 4 higher than last year. He can use these late season games to show he can be a vital starter for the 2025-2026 Friars.
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I think that the Friars need Mela more than ever to wake up and start playing better. He actually shot 2 trey’s the other night making one. He missed at least 4 layups against Creighton. Without his production, its another visit to the dentist offense looking at the gang that cannot shoot strait. Very hard to watch game in game out. Oswin needs an off season of bulking up and skill development. My hope is that Josh O’duro comes back to Providence after his season ends and works with the bigs. I also hope that Kim brings in another experienced coach to help him out. It is more than obvious that the BE coaches are eating his lunch game in game out.