After a disastrous Thanksgiving weekend that saw the Friars drop games to Wisconsin and Florida and gave up 100 points in regulation for the first time since 2009, the team was in dire need of a “cupcake” on the schedule to get the season back on track. Luckily for the Friars the FDU Knights, who entered Tuesday’s contest 1-6 (0-5 against D1 competition), came to town.
Right out of the gate the Friars jumped on the Knights with a 18-5 start, having the Knights burn their first timeout before the first media timeout. PC would finish off their best first half of the season with a 52-21 lead.
The Friars would extend the lead to as many as 36 points but they let go of the leash a bit and FDU responded with a 10-0 run. Some of the defensive lapses that have plagued PC all season long crept back up again, but all in all the Friars would get a 94-64 win and had their best defensive effort of the season.
We recap the game in more detail below.
Defensive Effort Drastically Better
The defensive side of the ball for the Friars has been an issue all season; however, the effort and intent seemed to be there for the most part against FDU. That certainly was not the case in the Wisconsin rout to kick off a poor showing at the Rady Children’s Invitational tournament over the holiday weekend where the Badgers outhustled and out physical-ed Providence in every way. PC was better on that end against Florida and then really was able to put forth a good defensive performance, especially in the first half, on Tuesday night. Providence came out the gates locked in on defense forcing a shot clock violation on the Knights first possession. They showed active hands, forced turnovers and had good communication and rotations on shooters.
In the first half PC held the Knights to 1/13 shooting from 3, and they were around 25% from the floor. The second half PC certainly let up a bit with the Knights shooting 10/13 from deep and would outscore PC 43-42 in the second half. This can be expected in a buy-game leading by 31 at halftime and by as many as 36, however you could argue that given PC’s 4-4 start that this shouldn’t be the case.
Overall though Providence had a good night defensively. Even though it’s FDU, good defensive habits needed to start somewhere. Hopefully Providence can carry over the defensive effort as they close out the non-conference and head into Big East play.
Offense Continues to Show Out
PC put on a show offensively in this one. The Friars shot 58% from the floor with 15 made threes on 15/27 shooting. PC did damage in the paint as well with 34 points, some post touches for Oswin, and a bunch of alley-oops. Sellers, CFJ, Edwards, and Vaaks all finished in double digits scoring. Edwards led the way with 24 points in his second consecutive game in which he came off the bench. Vaaks led the way in the assist department with 10, notching him his first career double-double.
PC had 28 total assists as a team and limited the turnovers with just 10. The ball movement seemed much improved from what we saw against the Badgers and Gators. PC’s offense has been really good this season and that continued Tuesday night.
Davis/Barron/Powell Remain Out
While we might have thought that PC would be getting some of reinforcements back from injury in Daquan Davis, Rich Barron, and Duncan Powell, none of them suited up in this one. Powell has not played since November 14th against Colorado after taking a shot to the mouth in practice prior to UNH.
As mentioned in the postgame presser Powell should return to practice this week and is expected to play on Saturday. Daquan Davis has also been out since the Colorado game with a knee issue although we did not get an update on his status. Rich Barron has yet to appear in a game this season after suffering a concussion prior to the start of the year. One would have to wonder if a potential redshirt season could be in the cards for him.
What’s Next
Providence did what they needed to do in this one, but the goal has to be to finish their non-conference slate without another loss. They have two games remaining both against in-state rivals in URI and Brown. URI is up to 7-2 on the season after a 10-point win over Brown and actually will provide PC with a solid resume building opportunity on Saturday.