The Friars faced adversity before even stepping onto the Wintrust Arena court on Saturday night. The Friars’ flight to Chicago Friday night had them stuck on the tarmac for 6 hours before being sent home for the night. An additional 4 hour delay Saturday morning followed. PC eventually did make it to Chicago and their flight home should be much more enjoyable than their travel there. PC rallied in the second half to build a lead and then survived late game errors they seem to consistently make all season before hanging on for a 71-68 victory. With the win the Friars improve to 12-15 and 5-11 in the Big East conference.
Rebounding Critical
In FS1’s Inside the Huddle segment during a time out in the second half while the Friars were responding to DePaul’s 11-1 run to start the half, Kim English told the team that they can pull away in this game if they clean up the glass and not give the Blue Demons second chance opportunities. PC responded with having DePaul go one and done for several possessions and turned a 7-point deficit to a 6 point lead with around 9 minutes left.
PC wasn’t able to keep guys like NJ Benson off the glass forever but held steady when they needed to. DePaul had a 13-9 edge on the offensive glass but PC ended up out rebounding them 41-31. While the Blue Demons grabbed plenty of offensive rebounds the biggest one was undoubtedly when Oswin grabbed a missed 1-1 free throw from Jason Edwards with 8.2 seconds left to help secure the victory.
Jason Edwards Gives a Boost
Outside of travel issues PC was dealing with a thin roster in this one. Daquan Davis, Rich Barron, and Jaylen Harrell had been ruled out for the season for some time but PC was also missing Duncan Powell with the suspension, Floyd was ruled out and Edwards listed as questionable. Jason Edwards ended up playing and gave PC a huge boost. He finished with 17 points on 6/10 from the floor and added 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Edwards did have two unnecessary turnovers late and missed a crucial 1-1 but despite that he was really good. PC probably doesn’t win without him.
BOC: I’ll readily admit that I’m not as high on Edwards and his game as Crier is, but that’s a me problem. He plays a style that I don’t advocate for, but he is undoubtedly an explosive offensive player that has a gear most others don’t. I’d love for him to get hot at season’s end so we can strike some fear in opponents in the Big East Tournament.
Turnovers Galore
In four games, Providence now has 66 turnovers. Last night they had 18 turnovers and should have lost the game due to said turnovers. This team has lost so many close games because they throw up on themselves in late game situations and have no clue how to operate in end of game sets. If it wasn’t for DePaul trying harder to give the game away, Providence’s end of game execution should have led to a loss.
Blocker’s FT Woes
The Friars with their 17 turnovers and late game errors left the door open for DePaul to win. Jaylin Sellers, who led PC in scoring with 21 points, fouled out when he bit on a Layden Blocker shot and fouled him with 10.3 seconds left with PC clinging to a 69-68 lead. Blocker entered the night 84% from the free throw line but it was his first trip late in this one. He ended up missing both free throws, similar to the Finley Bizjack play. Then after Mela knocked down two clutch ones PC fouled Blocker up 3 with 2.8 remaining. Blocker would miss the critical first attempt and while he made the second PC just unbounded and ended the game.
The victory has PC in a 3-way tie for 8th place in the Big East with a 5-11 record. PC will finish their season with games against Xavier, Creighton, Marquette and Georgetown remaining. PC will likely still have to play Wednesday night at the Big East tournament but only trail Creighton by 2.5 games from that 5 seed which includes a bye. Hopefully PC can carry this momentum through the regular season’s 4 remaining games and see where it can take them in the BET.
Go Friars