Bryan Hodgson said it best postgame that the Friars aren’t good enough yet to win that caliber of college basketball game. He isn’t wrong, but the effort and compete level by Providence should give Friar fans hope for the future. This isn’t a re-run of last year where PC plays a high major in a non-conference game and looks entirely overmatched. This was more so a game that shows the Friars where they need to get to to be considered a team of national relevance. Nebraska may not have the perception of a blue blood, but I’d be hard pressed to find 20 better teams than the Cornhuskers this year.
Nebraska’s roster composition is everything the Friars are not (yet): the majority of the Cornhuskers contributing roster played together last year on their way to a Sweet 16 birth while the Friar roster is playing with each other for the first time ever. And it showed. When watching the two teams, one looked like a roster that has been through battles together while the other looked like a team still trying to figure itself out.
I can appreciate the frustration level from Providence fans who make another weekend trek to Mohegan and pony up significant dollars only to end up taking in another loss. That needs to be remedied regardless of who is coach. But don’t mistake this for a continuation of the Kim English era falling short. Bryan Hodgson’s team showed a defensive aptitude we hadn’t seen in two years and if they weren’t ice cold from the floor offensively, this is a game much more in the balance than the score indicates.
The sun still came up today, and the Friars are going to learn A LOT from this game. Good coaches say you learn more from a loss than a win, and I think the Providence Friars will be better off because of this game against Fred Hoiberg and the Cornhuskers.
We break down the game in more detail below.
Providence Goes Ice Cold Offensively
If you are going to take down an objectively superior team in Nebraska, you need to be on your “A” game. While the defense played stellar (in my opinion), the offense left a lot to be desired. Mohegan Sun could have built an extension with all the bricks thrown up by the Friars.
Providence ended up shooting 31% from the floor, and 18% from 3 on 38 three point attempts. The frustrating thing is that a lot of the shot attempts were of the quality variety, but the shots weren’t falling for anybody. All of the players outside of Jacob Bannarbie and Marangon shot at or below 33% from the floor, with Marangon only shooting 41.7% from the floor.
While it was a frigid night from the floor for the Friars (more on that later), I am going to chalk it up to the length and size of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I wrote pregame that the size of the starting line-up scared me, as they had 6’6-6’8 guys all over the floor, and their smallest starter was 6’4. Their size frustrated the Friars all night on the perimeter and at the rim. It was not only the contesting of shots, but it was the disruption of the passing lanes and fundamental defense that hurt the Friars. Providence turned the ball over 18 times to only 10 assists.
Point Guard Needs Further Evaluation
I mentioned after the Maine game that one of my few areas of concern was point guard play. That reared its ugly head in this game, as the duo of Mack and Hightower combined for 13 points on 2-12 shooting with 3 assists and 4 turnovers. The size of Nebraska overwhelmed both guards, and I think this is something Hodgson and staff will need to keep a close eye on. Providence lacks ideal size at the 1 spot. This is going to be an issue against larger, more athletic teams all season.
Here’s to hoping Derek Simpson gets the 5th year waiver because Providence may need another body in the point guard room.
Page Injury Loomed Large
Arrinten Page being out hurt the Friars in this one. Besides his size and athleticism, him being out resorted to having to play Elijah Saunders at extended minutes at the 5, which works if Saunders is knocking down the deep ball with consistency. He wasn’t.
Hodgson said postgame that he didn’t play Samson Aletan because he thought it’d be a tough match-up for the Yale transfer. He mentioned postgame maybe overthinking that one.
I am a huge fan of Bannarbie, but Page would have presumably provided a spark for the Friars. Here’s to hoping he is back for the Bryant (and Colorado) game.
Miles Byrd – Game to Forget
Byrd had a game he’ll want to forget about. I was really looking forward to the Byrd – Sandfort match-up, and Byrd seemed up to the task early, forcing an early turnover. Fouls ultimately did him in, as he was saddled with foul trouble all game long. Byrd only played 18 minutes and was a non-factor all game.
Byrd is an elite defender in the same way that Dunn, Carter, and Minaya were. What did we always say with those guys though? They are their own biggest enemies with playing such aggressive defense that they get themselves in early foul trouble and take themselves out of the game. You have to walk a fine line with playing stellar defense while comprehending you are most valuable to your team when you are on the court.
Byrd will learn from this one, and I know Hodgson is hammering home just how important he is to this squad. He needs to play smarter when there is a chance to be in early foul trouble.
Defense is Here to Stay
You’ll forgive me if I’m not overly concerned about the outcome of this game as it relates to the future. I am not concerned because the Friars just held a KenPom Top 15 squad to 45% from the floor, 21% from 3, and forced 15 turnovers.
Providence is going to be a tournament team (barring injuries) because they hound you on the defensive end. Many teams are not going to have the experience and composure that Nebraska did. The Friars are going to feast on teams that don’t take care of the basketball.
I’m extremely bullish on this team, warts and all from yesterday, due to their defensive abilities.
Mohegan Sun Curse…May be Real?
The assist goes to Section 234 season ticket holder Joe with this stat. We’ve long joked about Mohegan being a secondary house of horrors (Marquette will always be #1 until proven otherwise), but there are some asinine stats to back up that Providence truly plays terrible at Mohegan. See the following stats below from our recent games at Mohegan.
St. Bonaventure Loss – 31.3% from 3, shot 35.6% from 3 on season
Virginia Tech Loss – 33.3% from 3, 35.5% from 3 on season
Penn State Win – 18.2% from 3, 35.5% from 3 on season
Nebraska Loss – 18.4% from 3, 25.0% from 3 on season
We often hear about how Final Four and National Championship Games have poor shooting numbers because the player’s depth perception with the rim are altered with being in a “non-basketball” arena. The same may be said here for Mohegan, and the numbers do back it up.
At the end of the day, Providence needs to start winning these games. It’s a neutral site game in title only. It’s an extension of a home game. PC has no excuses but to win here moving forward, especially when you demand your fans and alums to pay a premium price and sacrifice a beautiful fall weekend to be in a casino in the middle of nowhere Connecticut. PC needs to do better.
Summary
Chin-up, Friar fans. Don’t make the comparison to past regimes. It is night and day from where we were last year. Give this team time to gel, learn how to play together, and find rotations that work. Nebraska was an amazing early test for the Friars. This is going to help them immensely come Colorado and the Maui Invitational.
Go Friars!
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