After a few days of exhausting online discourse following PC’s loss to Virginia Tech at Mohegan Sun on Saturday, it was great to see the Friars back on the court and in the win column. PC didn’t disappoint as they cruised past the Penn Quakers 106-81 at the AMP on Tuesday night.
For the Friars it is the first time since the 2008-2009 season that they have scored at least 100 points in back-to-back games. The captain, Corey Floyd Jr, led the team in scoring with 20 points and once again PC showed a balanced offensive attack. With the win the Friars improved to 2-1 on the season and continue to take care of business against teams that they have no business losing to.
We recap the game below.
Balanced Offensive Attack Once Again Leads the Way– Providence had six players in double figures scoring in this one for the first time since 2022. In all three games this season the Friars have had at least four players put up double-figures in the box score. As mentioned, PC got 20 points from Corey Floyd Jr but Ryan Mela had a 18-point, 12 rebound double-double, Jason Edwards and Jaylin Sellers contributed 14 and 12 points respectively, and Jamier Jones and Stefan Vaaks each put up double figures off the bench.
If Floyd Jr. and Mela can be consistent scoring options, this team becomes lethal offensively. I think they will be the third or fourth scoring options each night and get high quality looks all season that they’ll be the beneficiaries of.
For freshman Stefan Vaaks he continues his strong play with three straight games scoring double digits to start his collegiate career. PC had 23 assists on 36 made field goals, hit 13 3s, had 46 paint points, 24 points on the fast break and shot 21/23 (91%) from the free throw line.
After three games one thing is very apparent on this team: they have a lot of guys that can score the basketball and are looking like one of the better offenses in the country. If they can find their way to be even a slightly above average defensive team, they’ll be dancing.
Vaaks Continues to Impress, Enjoy His Time Here – I’m not sure how long Vaaks will be wearing a Providence jersey, but it won’t be for four years. The Estonian just continues to amaze me. Against Penn, it wasn’t the scoring that wowed me. It was his vision.
He had a few sidearm cross court passes that you hardly ever see at a collegiate level. You don’t want to make the Ernie D comps yet, as that is sacrilegious in Friartown, but his flair for the dramatic and flashy passes make a comparison not too difficult to see.
There were two wrap around passes to our bigs in the paint that they were caught off guard by. It should have been an easy finish, but these bigs aren’t used to getting the ball in these situations. Everybody has to keep their head on a swivel when he has the rock.
Vaaks is an elite player, and he’ll be in the NBA before long. His game is tailor made for the League.
Defense Was Good– When BOC reads this Wednesday morning, he’s probably going to spit out his coffee but since he’s in bed I’m not afraid to say it: I was fine with the defense Tuesday night. Many might disagree here considering they gave up 81 points but here are a few key numbers to may get you in the Crier’s corner. PC held the Quakers to 34% shooting from the floor and held a +19 advantage on the glass. Remember we said PC scored 46 points in the paint? On the flip side PC held the Quakers to only 18 points in the painted area.
Kim English wanted to see an improved transition defense, and PC only gave up 4 fastbreak points. PC did allow Penn to make 12 threes (12/28) and allowed too many free throw attempts (24) for my liking, but PC focused on some key areas on defense and executed. The defense is far from a finished product and I’m not naive in knowing that they need to be better, but Friar fans need to get used to this style of basketball.
The way they want to play basketball this year is going to lead them to giving up points, it’s an inevitability. If they want to reach their full potential, they do have to clean up the defense but just don’t expect them to give up under 70 points most nights. It’s not going to happen. The days of them winning games 63-58 are over.
BOC: I’m not ready to chalk up the defense as “it is what it is” like Mike did, but I will say I was more impressed with Penn’s offensive execution than I was disappointed in Providence’s defensive efforts. Now, was Penn’s execution due to lapses on defense? Probably. But I didn’t walk away from this one thinking the Providence defense was the reason Penn dropped 81 points. Penn played just really solid ball offensively.
Hargrove: What the Doctor Ordered: Cole Hargrove’s statline won’t wow you, but he is everything Providence has been missing these last two years. When watching the game, you weren’t sure if it was Hargrove or Oswin in, and that is a GOOD thing. Hargrove had 6 boards on 18 minutes of play, and team play didn’t dramatically fall off once Oswin subbed out. This was a great find this offseason by English because Hargrove is filling the exact role we need of him, and he doesn’t seem to be a selfish player demanding touches.
Davis/Powell Out, Harrell/Pinnis Make Debuts– It was a bit of a shocker to hear that Daquan Davis and Duncan Powell wouldn’t be suiting up for this one. Speaking on the postgame radio show assistant coach Matt Palumbo indicated that they are both a little banged up, but the team doesn’t expect them to be out too long.
This will be something to monitor here in the next few days, but I think you have to keep Ryan Mela in the starting line-up. You can’t put Mela back on the bench. He’s proven himself and is playing too well right now. The team is better with him on the court.
In their absence it gave freshman Jaylen Harrell his first opportunity, and he took advantage. His first collegiate points came off a made three-pointer where he was fouled. He would complete the 4-point play and would later add another triple to finish with 7 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal in 8 minutes of play. The moment didn’t seem too big for him, and this game action is something we should store away for the future. Harrell will stay ready if/when called upon.
Latvian freshman Peteris Pinnis also made his debut in this one but didn’t add to the box score outside of his two turnovers and two fouls in three minutes. It remains to be seen if Pinnis will provide any meaningful minutes in his first season here, but he does make for a pretty good human victory cigar. With the game well in hand the students started chanting to bring in Pinnis. We’re not sure if they were pronouncing his name correctly (or incorrectly on purpose), and when Kim did bring him in the crowd erupted.
The Friar season will continue with their first true road test of the season as they travel to Boulder on Friday to take on the University of Colorado at 9pm EST on ESPN+. The game figures to be another high scoring affair.
You can tell Kim English is really enjoying this team, which is night and day from last year. A road win against a hard charging Colorado team will do wonders for the team psyche.
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