They may have been missing five players but that didn’t stop the Friars from enacting some revenge on the Xavier Musketeers Wednesday night at the AMP.
After the game was pushed back an extra day due to the Blizzard of 2026, the Friars came out from the jump and blasted the Musketeers building a 23-point lead during the first half. The scrappy Xavier bunch under their first-year coach Richard Pitino punched back and only found themselves down 13 at half and cut it to as many 7 points, but the Friars offense led by transfers Jason Edwards and Jaylin Sellers were too much for them to handle. The Friars got contributions up and down the limited roster as Jamier Jones also poured in 19 points, Oswin had a double-double and even Nilivan Daniels hit a three in his first career start.
Their offensive attack beat Xavier off the bounce throughout leading them to shoot 54% from the floor and it opened up the long ball as PC went 9/18 on threes in this one. PC also brought the defensive intensity early albeit they let go of the rope in that department with Xavier going for 50 points in the second half. In the end, PC made enough stops to win.
We recap the game in more detail below.
They Took Care of the Ball!
In the beginning of the year ball security wasn’t too much of an issue for Kim English’s crew but as the season started to slip so did their hands on the basketball.
Even in a win against DePaul the Friars still gave the ball away 18 times, and it’s something Kim has been preaching for his team to take pride in. Well they certainly did Wednesday night as they only committed 4 turnovers the entire game! Without the empty possessions the Friars were allowed to keep Xavier at arm’s length essentially the entire game. Good things happen when you take care of the basketball and it was great to see the Friars do so in this one.
Perimeter Defense Much Improved
The Friars got burnt by X from the three-point line when they went to the Cintas Center earlier this season. We discussed on the Providence Crier Podcast that PC let Xavier do the one thing they are pretty good at, and that’s taking and making threes.
PC came out with the discipline and intensity needed to defend the three. Xavier only shot 5/22 from deep in this one. I thought PC had them taking tough looks and even when Xavier had guys open they weren’t able to convert. With improved perimeter defense PC was able to have a +12 edge in the three-point department despite only taking 18 looks from deep.
The two things we asked the Friars to do they did tonight and thats take care of the ball and be stingy on the perimeter defense.
Edwards/Sellers Combine for 51 Points
Jason Edwards and Jaylin Sellers were the big portal adds this offseason, and they came through huge tonight. With limited bodies they knew they were going to have to carry the scoring load, and they were the aggressors all night. Sellers is continuing his hot play with 27 points on 10/14 from the floor and 4/6 from three. Sellers has now scored 20+ points in 5 of his last 6 games, with the only time he didn’t break 20 was when he was ejected in the St. Johns game.
Jason Edwards is starting to round back into form after returning from the plantar fasciitis injury. Edwards came back for 2 games before sitting out against St Johns and has had two strong performances since. The Friars are going to need his offense the rest of the way.
Other Things to Note:
- The Proposal– During one of the media timeouts they did the Hannoush Jewelers putting contest for a chance to win a diamond. The woman may have missed the putt but in a stunner her now fiancée had the diamond in his pocket the whole time. It might have not been Valentine’s Day but love was in the air for the Friars annual Pink Out.
- Student Manager Hits Em’ With the Zombieland– After Jaylin Sellers hit a massive three a PC student manager unlocks the Cam Ward celebration and TruTV caught it all. Managers put in a ton of work, and it’s good to see they can get into the celebration. If you’re reading this and know who the guy is, we’d love to get him on the podcast!
- Richard Pitino 05′ Finally Takes a L from His Alma Mater– Richard Pitino, who graduated from Providence College in 2005 and was a student assistant coach, was 2-0 going into the night against his alma mater. When he was the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers he came to the Dunk and left with a win and then there was the game this year at the Cintas Center where he won going away. Xavier made a good hire in Pitino, and I think he can do good things there but it was good to see him take a L even if he is a Friar.
Don’t look now but the Friars have won four of their last six games. We have been hoping to see if this team can muster a little momentum heading into the Big East tournament, and it looks like they just might be. Not only are they winning games, SJ and Seton Hall withstanding, but they are also getting a little bit of their swagger back.
Now let’s see how real this stretch for the Friars is on Saturday. They will travel to Omaha to take on a struggling Creighton bunch that has lost four of their last five. PC will look to achieve their first three-game conference win streak since 2024 as painful as that sounds. They just might not be dead yet.
Go Friars!
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