Friars’ Thanksgiving Woes Continue in Wisconsin Runaway

In the Friars prior two victories over Wisconsin, they did it by playing physical and tough. In the two teams meeting on Thanksgiving Day in San Diego, the Badgers totally flipped the script. Not only was Wisconsin tougher on the glass and getting what they wanted in the paint, but they beat the Friars at their own game. The Badgers forced Providence into 14 turnovers and cashed those in for 18 points.

They also surprisingly smoked the Friars in fast break points 32-14. The Badgers also launched 40 threes in this game connecting on 14 of them, each one made their lead feel more insurmountable.

In summation the Badgers really outclassed the Friars in essentially every facet en route to a 104-83 victory.

We break down the bludgeoning below and where the Friars go from here.

For Friar fans these uncomfortable Thanksgivings are becoming all too familiar. Last Thanksgiving the Friars lost to Davidson in the losers bracket of the Battle4Atlantis after a tough loss the night before to OU, and then followed that up with a blowout loss to Indiana on Black Friday. If the Friars were able to beat Wisconsin they’d have get a chance to fix their MTE struggles while drawing the opportunity to win the Rady’s Invitational final against TCU. Instead the Friars had similar mistakes of prior MTEs crush them in a blowout loss to Wisconsin and now have to face the defending National Champion Florida Gators in the third place game Friday at 3pm (FOX).

This game was actually close at one point. While PC never lead a Stefan Vaaks 3 with 7:14 remaining in the first half had PC within 3 points at 24-27. Then everything just fell apart for the Friars.

They turned the ball over leading to easy layups, missed shots and allowed the Badgers to close on 24-8 run and just like that it was all but over at the halftime buzzer. Wisconsin made matters worse early in the second half ripping off a 12-0 run and had their largest lead of the night at 28. The Friars at least showed a little fight getting it down to 19 but at that point it was all window dressing, and the Badgers hung 104 on them. It’s the first time a Friars team gave up over 100 points in a regulation game since February 21, 2009, a loss to Notre Dame in year 1 of the Keno Davis era. It’s the second time this year the Friars have given up 100, and they were far too close to allowing it against Colorado too.

The defense certainly didn’t travel to San Diego and it’s really been an issue the entire season. In this one Providence did themselves no favors on defense with careless turnovers on offense and allowing the Badgers to rack up the points on the fast break. PC had trouble on dribble drives, especially by Nick Boyd, and once the points in the paint started piling up, poor help defense led to wide open Wisconsin shooters. It was just an utter collapsing of the defensive unit once that happened.

On offense the turnovers were killer, but I actually would’ve like to seen them hunt for more 3s. Wisconsin only made 3 more threes than PC and took 12 more attempts. If PC was closer in the attempt department they probably make as many if not more than the Badgers. However to close that gap it would require you not to give up offensive rebounds which was another failure to the defense.

The biggest surprise in the game however had to be in the effort department. In PC’s prior two losses they competed. In this one, they really didn’t. Loose balls have been a bit of bad juju for the Friars but they also didn’t play with nearly the intensity and effort to get any loose balls. We thought Providence would be able to play with force in this game but they didn’t bring that at all. It was just a frustrating night all around and the noise on the outside of the Ruane Center walls are only going to get louder.

That is, of course, unless they can get themselves their first top-25 win of the season against the defending champs on Friday. That will certainly be a tall order though considering the Gators should show up with a sour taste in their mouth after losing late to TCU in the Rady Children’s Invitational opener. They also on paper appear to be a team that could give the Friars plenty of trouble. They could salvage their trip and perhaps even their season if they beat the Gators but the more likely outcome appears to be something similar to what Providence saw against Indiana last year in Atlantis. Like we said these Thanksgiving weekends are getting all too familiar under Kim English. It’s a shame.