Given the way the first game went against Marquette, how the season has transpired since, and the fact the Friars have been historically bad in Milwaukee, expecting a win Tuesday night from PC was a fool’s errand. On the flip side, given the way the Friars have been able to compete most nights despite all the injuries, the fact that Marquette was scuffling of late (5-5 last 10, 2-4 last 6), and that it was the Friars’ second crack at the Golden Eagles, the expectation would’ve been the Friars would play much better than their 28-point home loss on New Years’ Eve. However, that would not be the case as the Marquette Golden Eagles once again steamrolled the Friars this time to the tune of 82-52.
Marquette was in need of a bounce back performance after the 81-66 loss at Villanova over the weekend. They got that and then some. Marquette hit 17 three pointers, and their suffocating defense gave the Friars fits all night but especially in the second half where the rout was on.
The bottom has fallen out for the Friars on this season. The second half was a half of jubilation for the Golden Eagles, with them celebrating made buckets with joy and without any resistance from the Friars. The Golden Eagles were hootin and hollerin (pardon the pun) the entire second half, and Providence willingly accepted their fate without any resistance.
That was the most depressing aspect of this game, and you walk away from the game somewhat embarrassed for the program and players. Providence didn’t belong on the same court as Marquette, and that has nothing to do with injuries. The effort and desire weren’t there, and THAT is the biggest issue.
Marquette’s Avalanche of Threes
Marquette came out of the gates letting it fly from three. They attempted 26 threes in the first half (compared to only 4 2-point field goal attempts), 41 for the game and connected on 17 of them. Marquette held a 33-point advantage from the three-point arc in this one. Kim English alluded to it in the postgame, but the gameplan was to let Stevie Mitchell and Tre Norman take open threes, and the focus was to limit the other perimeter players. The Friars helped on Mitchell and Norman drives leading to wide open looks for others and their rotations just weren’t good enough tonight. Marquette got open shot after open shot and 7 Golden Eagle players left the game with a made three-pointer. This is disappointing to see as perimeter defense has been the calling card for the Friars the past few seasons. The defense was an abomination.
PC Offense Goes Cold, Much to Marquette’s Credit
The Friars could only muster 52 points on the night and a horrid 20-points in the second half. The 52 points were the lowest the Friars have scored in a game since New Years’ Eve, unsurprisingly against Marquette. Shaka Smart is known for ratcheting up the defensive pressure and for a team that has been sloppy with the basketball all year long this was a disaster waiting to happen, as it already did happen once before. PC had 22 turnovers in their first matchup against Marquette and while they didn’t cough the ball up that many times in this one, they still committed 18. The Friars also shot 33% from the floor and 23% from three-point land.
Nilivan Gets Burn, Joseph Rides Pine
It was the second time in the last three games where preferred walk-on Navilan Daniels was summoned to play meaningful minutes. He was inserted into the lineup late in the first half and had 5 straight points for the Friars, and finished with 7 points in 17 minutes of play.
Bensley Joseph also had 7-points but played only a surprisingly 18 minutes. It turned out when Kim English subbed out Joseph at the 17:26 he was benching him for the rest of the game. When asked about it postgame Kim said he was upset with his defense, box-outs, shot readiness, and execution.
End of Game Dust Up
It seems like it wouldn’t be a Providence Friars basketball game without a technical foul being issued these past few weeks. Freshman Ryan Mela was playing until the final whistle sounded in this one, after he forced a steal that led to a Rich Barron dunk, Mela went right back to playing hounding defense on Marquette walk-on Sean O’Malley forcing a turnover on the sideline. Mela must’ve said the magic words which got him his second technical in his last two games, and Shaka Smart took great offense. Shaka Smart would say something to Mela which would cause the coaching staffs to converge in the middle of the scorers table. Assistant coach Dennis Felton was also assessed a technical on the play.
The biggest problem I have with this is Shaka Smart wouldn’t think twice if his team was on the wrong side of a blowout and playing hardnosed defense at the end of the game. Did Mela say something not so nice to his walk-on? Probably. To go after the opposing player for that is ridiculous by Smart, but almost as ridiculous is him not receiving a T for inciting this entire situation.
Summary
The Friars would finish the month of February with 1-6 record and now fall to 6-11 in league play and 12-16 overall. It’s been a trying season for all involved in Friar basketball between the players, coaches, and fans. PC will finish out the regular season with home games to UConn and DePaul and wrap up with a visit to Xavier before heading to NYC for the Big East Tournament.