On Billy Donovan’s jersey retirement night, it was the stellar play of Providence’s current guards that led the way to a victory at home against Kyle Neptune and the Villanova Wildcats. Jayden Pierre led the Friars with 19 points and 4 assists while Bensley Joseph poured in 17 with 6 assists. When these two play like they did last night, you feel confident the Friars can beat anybody in the Big East.
It was a complete outing from the Friars outside of those two, with 4 players in double figures and 17 points off the bench. Freshman wunderkind Ryan Mela was on triple double watch with 12 rebounds, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.
The Friars were 48% as a team from deep and more impressively held Big East leading Villanova to 26% from 3.
This was all accomplished with Providence missing four scholarship players. Providence is hanging on by a thread, but is still fighting and not playing like the season is over. It’s an admirable trait that speaks volumes to how English still has buy-in from the majority of his roster.
Compare the Friar roster to the opposition, whose starting line-up consisted of all players whose eligibility runs out after this year. This should be the year they make a run under Neptune, and I’m sure Villanova fans are painfully aware of that.
7 of the 8 Friars who scored last night have eligibility next year. Villanova had nobody score outside of their starters, and none of those starters will be on the roster next year. While the records may not indicate it, you see two teams heading in opposite directions. Eric Dixon is the last vestige of the Wright era, while Kim English is building his roster to his liking and has the opportunity to bring back 10 scholarship players if he so chooses.
Last night gave Providence hope in an otherwise bleak season. We break down the game below.
Pierre The Catalyst
Jayden Pierre has been up and down all season and is a microcosm for the season. When he plays well, Providence usually wins. When he doesn’t play well, Providence usually loses. We got the best version of Pierre last night. He scorched the Wildcats from deep, had a few timely assists, and for the most part limited turnovers.
Pierre may never be a true point guard, but he is at his best being an off ball combo guard that can beat you both from deep and at the rim. Last night is why you absolutely need to bring Pierre back next year. Most important, English needs to pair him with a lead guard that handles the rock. That sets up Pierre and the Friars for success. There’s no harm in saying you are a scorer first and distributor second.
Oswin: No Foul Trouble
Oswin ended up fouling out, but that was in garbage time when the game was well in hand. His 31 minutes were the most minutes played in 6 games.
When he is on the court, good things tend to happen. He limited Boakye to 2 total points and held Dixon in check to 15 points. When he stays out of foul trouble, it gives English the ability to sparingly use his back-up bigs and really lean on Oswin. Essandoko and DeLaurier only played 13 total minutes.
Oswin is probably the most important player right now for Providence if they want to make a Madison Square Garden run. If he can continue to stay out of foul trouble, he provides rim protection and a lob threat that nobody else has the ability to do on Providence’s roster.
Youth Movement
Coming into this season, you actually thought PC would be one of the older teams in the Big East. On paper, that appeared to be true.
Injuries had other plans for the Friars. Out with injuries are upperclassmen Jabri Abdur Rahim, Wesley Cardet, Corey Floyd Jr, and Bryce Hopkins. With those injuries came an influx of young talent. True freshman Ryan Mela, for all the (warranted) hand wringing about his hesitancy in shooting, is going to be an All-Conference player sooner rather than later due to his ability to fill up the stat sheet. We detailed Oswin above, and his ceiling is that of a Big East Defensive Player of Year and modern NBA big. Rich Barron the sophomore has found his freshman form and is a lethal threat from deep. This doesn’t take into account Floyd Jr., who has become one of the most consistent players this year, Jayden Pierre the microwave scorer, and Bryce Hopkins, the All Big East forward.
While the lows have been low this year, Providence is having its young players drink from a firehose, and they will absolutely benefit next season.
I’m very bullish on the future for the Friars and last night shows you why. While the season has been a bust, the season isn’t over, and I’m not quitting just yet.
Reinforcements will be coming with Floyd Jr. and Cardet getting healthy. If they shoot like they did last night, while adding in the two guards above, the Friars will be a VERY tough out at MSG.
Enjoy the ride. Hold no expectations for the remainder of the year, and these Friars may just surprise us. They aren’t playing like a team looking to the offseason.
Go Friars!