Game Recaps Archive

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Around the Web: Providence Falls at Notre Dame

By
dave@friarblog
– March 3rd, 2012 12:15 PM

Friars.com: Men’s Basketball Defeated At No. 20 Notre Dame, 75-69

The Providence College men’s basketball team gave No.20 Notre Dame all it could handle for 30 minutes of action Friday night, but the Irish were too much for the Friars in the second half, as Notre Dame pulled away to earn a 75-69 victory inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.

Providence (15-16, 4-14 BIG EAST) trailed by just three (31-28) at the break, but Notre Dame (21-10, 13-5 BIG EAST) used runs of 11-2 and 15-0 in the second half to build a double-digit lead the Friars could not overcome, despite a furious comeback in the game’s final minutes.

Junior guard Vincent Council paced the Friars with his ninth double-double of the season, posting 17 points and a game-high 10 assists in 40 minutes of action. Council – who entered the game leading the BIG EAST with 7.4 assists per contest – recorded his eighth game with 10 or more helpers on the year. Sophomore guard Gerard Coleman added 17 points, including 11 in the second half, while freshman forward LaDontae Henton notched his 10th double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

YouTube: Highlights

StatSheet.com: Boxscore

GoLocalProv: Friars fall short, Irish fight back to win 75-69

Despite some cold outside shooting during the first half, PC managed to stay in the game on the road with 20th ranked Notre Dame – trailing by only three at halftime.

Then, the trap door opened. And the Friars fell through it.

Paced by 6-9 junior center Jack Cooley’s dominating first half performance, the Fighting Irish fought through their own shooting woes and caught fire against the Friar defense to open the second half, and held off a late run to win 75-69 at the Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, IN.

Washington Post: Jack Cooley scores 27 to lead No. 20 Notre Dame past Providence, 75-69

Cooley scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half, hitting 7 of 10 shots. He finished 10 for 15 from the field.

“He made a couple of shots and he’s a physically imposing post player. But I thought we played great position defense,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “There were a lot of ticky-tack things around the basket, but that’s how they saw it and how they called it.”

Chicago Tribune: Notre Dame clinches Big East double bye

Double bye in hand, Irish coach Mike Brey redirected his team’s attention to what they planned to do with it.

“I said in there, last year’s group only got to Friday,” Brey said. “We couldn’t get to Saturday. I really want that for our program and feel that’s another building block. Now it’s going to be hard to do. But when you get the double bye, you’re in better position to do it.”

wsbt.com: Notre Dame men’s basketball: Cooley, Irish deliver in season finale

A combination of Brey substituting a bit too freely too early and the Irish losing a little of their edge so quickly managed to make it interesting. Down big, Providence scored 12 unanswered points in 1:59 to get within 13 and create a little drama. After leaving to an ovation on Senior Night with 2:27 remaining, Martin had to hustle back in for the final minute to help solve the Providence pressure.

The Friars got within six in the final 55 seconds.

“It,” Brey said, “kind of got a little weird.”

Vincent Council led the Friars (15-16, 4-14) with 17 points.

“To try and come back from a very large deficit is always hard on the road,” said coach Ed Cooley. “I am very proud of the resiliency of our guys.”

Friar Basketball: Providence Interior Exposed in South Bend

Yes, having a Jack Cooley would have made the Friars significantly better in 2011-12, but it also served as a reminder of how important it will be for Providence’s Cooley to either find or develop a few big men capable of defending the paint and clearing the glass next season.

The additions of Kris Dunn, Ricardo Ledo and Josh Fortune are only going to make the Friars that much more explosive in the 1-3 positons next season. The difference between being an explosive offensive team and a contender for an NCAA Tournament bid will be in how the power forward and center spots comes together over the next six months.

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Friars Beat UConn, Give Them Huge Blow to NCAA Chances

By
dave@friarblog
– February 28th, 2012 10:58 PM

The Providence Friars beat the Connecticut Huskies 72-70, closing out their season at the Dunk with a great comeback win over their biggest rival. Winning games in late February? IS THIS REAL LIFE? Thank you, Ed Cooley.

ESPN: Providence 72, UConn 70

Connecticut (17-12, 7-10 Big East) started the second half with an 11-1 run and eventually gained a 14-point lead.Cotton’s four 3-pointers led a Providence (15-15, 4-13) charge, giving the Friars a 63-55 advantage.The Huskies scored the next six points, but Friars freshman LaDontae Henton stopped their charge with two 3-pointers to create a 69-61 lead with 1 minute to go

Why the Friars Won: Despite getting repeatedly alley-ooped on by Andre Drummond in the first half and missing pretty much from everywhere, Providence kept it close on a late run over the last minute to take only a two point deficit into halftime. This was huge, because UConn came out swinging in the 2nd half to build that 14 point lead. In the 2nd half comeback, the Friars got hot shooting from Ice Cotton, the defense picked up some key steals, and the team showed toughness with great offensive rebounding. This was all done without the player having the best game (LaDontae Henton) out on the court, who had to sit big minutes with foul trouble. With the Huskies climbing back in the final few minutes, Buckets came off the bench and drilled two huge threes to give PC the cushion they would need.

"I can shoot a three like this, and it would go in. True story"

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Around the Web: Providence Beats DePaul

By
dave@friarblog
– February 26th, 2012 1:38 PM

Friars.com: Providence College Men’s Basketball Earns Road Win Over DePaul, 73-71

The Providence College men’s basketball team (14-15, 3-13 BIG EAST) defeated the DePaul Blue Demons (11-17, 2-14 BIG EAST) by the score of 73-71, in Chicago, Ill. on Saturday, February 25. The game marks the first BIG EAST road victory for the Friars since the last time they played at DePaul and defeated the Blue Demons, 79-62, on January 14, 2010.

Freshman forward LaDontae Henton (Lansing, Mich.) and junior guard Vincent Council (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each earned their eighth double-double in the game as Henton scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Council added 14 points and dished out 11 assists. Sophomore Bryce Cotton (Tucson, Ariz.) registered 19 points in the victory.

StatSheet.com: Boxscore

FriarTV: Highlights

GoLocalProv: Friars find their way, dispatch Blue Demons

With some travel difficulties getting to Chicago due to snow on Thursday and Friday, the Friars’ trip to the Midwest was delayed by more than two hours Friday afternoon. After landing – and missing their appointed practice time halfway across town on the DePaul campus, with rush hour traffic in full swing – Ed Cooley took a different tact. He called off practice, and took the team bowling. “We just felt like it was something we needed to do, since practicing really wasn’t going to help us all that much with the travel trouble,” the coach said. “I thought, we needed to lighten things up. And we have some really bad bowlers! But we had fun. And I thought it helped us come together.” For the record, sophomore Ted Bancroft was the top bowler, while freshman Brice Kofane (from Yaounde, Cameroon) had never picked up a bowling ball in his life.

Chicago Sun-Times: More heartbreak for Demons

‘‘It’s a tough one to take,’’ DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said. ‘‘Our guys did a really good job of battling back [to a 71-71 tie with 33.5 seconds left on Jamee Crockett’s two free throws]. We have one defensive stop to make to go into overtime, and it didn’t happen.’’

The outcome means the Blue Demons likely will remain the No. 16 seed for the Big East tournament, which begins March 6 in New York.

Friar Basketball: Playing like a Veteran, Henton Leads PC Past DePaul

The numbers and game winner will most likely be remembered in years to come, but what shouldn’t be forgotten is the sheer will of a freshman who made all of the key plays to help end a long road losing streak and reverse the trend of February’s past.

While he’s not playing like it, Henton is still only a freshman, yet he’s providing the on-court leadership and tenacity that Providence fans hope are part of brighter days ahead under Cooley – virtues that had been lacking during past February skids.

Times Union: Providence edges DePaul 73-71

“I set a ball screen, pick and pop, and they trapped our point guard. It’s a shot I take every day in practice. I was wide open. If I didn’t make I would’ve been mad at myself. There wasn’t too much pressure because I was wide open. I just took my time and made it,” Henton said.

The DePaulia: Late rally not enough for men’s basketball in loss to Providence

“We got away from our defensive mindset. We knew that (Ladonte) Henton, he’s left-handed and we knew we had to force him to the right but we have to stay focused and make sure we know the player’s strength,” said Kirk. “You’ve got to stay mentally strong and stick to your defensive game plan.”

“Trying to win the game you know trying to get a win out though so we can get motivated and win more games, but you know we can’t wait to do that until the last minute to do that we have to do that when the ball tips up,” Young said.

“It hurts but we’ll be back tomorrow,” said Purnell. “We’ll try and try again until we get it right.”

Tweet of the Game

Lofty celebration prize for just a 3rd BE win but that's how I support Ed Cooley's #pcbb. Go #Friars. http://t.co/JZgLcR9L
February 25th, 2012 5:13 PM 5:13 pm via Photos on iOSReplyRetweetFavorite
@DeansDesk
Dean Harrington

Buckets Himself

Other Fan Reactions

Ed Cooley, all his assistants & his players deserved that win. Nobody should suffer as many ridiculous, close losses as they have. #pcbb
February 25th, 2012 5:07 PM 5:07 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@RichSlate
Richard Slate
I want to cry. I just witnessed a Friars Big East Road Win! Thank you BUCKETS!!! #pcbb
February 25th, 2012 5:06 PM 5:06 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
FRIARS WIN! First Big East road win since I was a freshman! #pcbb
February 25th, 2012 5:06 PM 5:06 pm via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@crousselle
Christine Rousselle
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Around the Web: Providence Loses to South Florida…Again

By
dave@friarblog
– February 12th, 2012 12:07 PM

Ed Cooley got a T late in the game. How did the ref not shit his pants afterwards?

Friars.com: Men’s Basketball Falls To South Florida, 55-48

Only one Friar scored in double digits as junior guard Vincent Council (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 16 points in the game. The Bulls held Providence’s second leading scorer, sophomore Bryce Cotton (Tucson, Ariz.), to six points. Overall the Friars shot 30.8 percent from the field, 8.3 percent from behind the arc and 78.9 percent from the free throw line.

GoLocalProv: Disaster strikes again, Friars bulldozed 55-48

How much misfortune can a team be forced to endure, without having the basketball gods send at least one positive result their way?

Plenty – if you’re the 2012 Providence Friars.  For the third straight game, PC found itself with a late second half lead…and for the third straight game, the opponent found a way to win.  This time, the culprits came from South Florida, as the Bulls outscored the Friars 14-2 over the final 2:30 to win 55-48 at the Dunkin Donuts Center Saturday.

Woonsocket Call: Basketball gods not kind to PC again

With Vincent Council checking him, Noriega swished home a trey from the corner opposite the Bulls bench, one that made it a one-point white-knuckle affair at 2:20. An offensive foul by Kadeem Batts took away a hoop by Council and gave the Bulls another crack at running something with the intent of freeing Noriega.
Running off of what the USF hero-of-the-game dubbed “a triple screen,” Noriega banged home a three with 1:40 remaining, putting the visitors up at 48-47. Two attempts, two makes in exactly 60 seconds of floor time. Certainly it’s not bad work if you can get it, but as Noriega noted afterwards, he knows why Heath deploys him in certain situations as opposed to others.

Friar Basketball: Late Surge Pushes USF to Victory

Providence struggled through their ugliest offensive night since a 40 point performance against Georgetown in early January, and the closing minutes were not much better. Their only field goal of the final four minutes came when LaDontae Henton squeezed home a shot at the rim with 1:19 left, but USF closed by doing what PC could not six days prior against West Virginia – hitting all eight of their free throw attempts in the game’s final minute as they ripped off a 14-2 run over the game’s final two and half minutes for the victory.

It was a sluggish effort from the start for Cooley’s group, a team that must be discouraged after conceding leads of 15 and 19 points in their two losses prior to this one.

Tout.com: Shaun Noriega gets a BIG celebration postgame in the locker room

Tampa Bay Times: USF Bulls rally to beat Providence Friars for second time, 55-48

The Bulls, who led 24-21 at halftime, also did a better job with their man-to-man defense against Providence than has been the case in the past. They held the Friars to 30 percent shooting and limited freshman forward Henton to seven points after he scored a career-high 33 on Jan. 29 in USF’s 81-78 win.

“We knew we had to take away their transition,” Heath said. “We did a much better job in the second half. I think it took some of their guys who can really score and didn’t allow them to get in a rhythm that they’ve gotten into before.

“I don’t know how those guys feel, but I’m exhausted,” he added, with a laugh. “The guys did a fantastic job, and there are a lot of heroes in that locker room.”

Tampa Bay Online: Noriega makes most of his shot(s)

“I definitely knew my time was going to come,” Noriega said. “We needed some shots at the end, and my coaches and teammates have faith in me.”

Noriega hadn’t played in four of USF’s previous six games, and the 12 total minutes he earned on Jan. 24 against Marquette and Feb. 4 against Georgetown came in contests that the Bulls lost by a combined 50 points. The junior guard had gone from starter to afterthought before sealing a season sweep of the Friars, a stint that Heath had in mind when he addressed the team a day earlier.

“You never know when your turn is going to come,” Heath said. “He perked up and had a pretty good practice (Friday).”

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Groundhog Day: Friars Blow 19 Point Lead, Lose 21st Straight BIG EAST Road Game

By
dave@friarblog
– February 8th, 2012 9:32 AM

I guess Keno Davis saw his shadow earlier this month, meaning 6 more weeks of heartbreaking Friar basketball with poor defense. After last night, I feel like punching Ned Ryerson square in the face after seeing Providence blow another strong lead only to lose in the final minute. Against Villanova on the road, victory seemed a little more assuring with a 60-41 lead with around 14 minutes to play. In building that huge cushion, everything the Friars were putting up was going in. Ice Cotton looked unstoppable, hitting 6 of 7 three pointers in the first half. The pace in which they were drilling threes was obviously unsustainable, so the interior defense was going to be a huge factor when the shots stopped falling. And boy, did the shots stop falling. Is fatigue a factor? You bet. The Friars missed 14 straight field goals allowing Villanova to claw back. JayVaughn Pinkston abused PC’s interior defense, and carried the Wildcats on his back for the insane comeback victory.

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Bilal Dixon Leads Friars to Victory Over Rutgers

By
dave@friarblog
– February 1st, 2012 11:57 PM

The Providence Friars were able to get their 2nd BIG EAST win of the season by defeating Rutgers at the Dunk 78-67.

Bilal Dixon scored a season-high 18 points, and Vincent Council had 11 points and 14 assists to lead Providence to a 78-67 victory over Rutgers on Wednesday night.Rutgers (12-11, 4-6) whittled the deficit to 64-60 with 2:38 remaining after switching to a full-court press midway through the second half, but the Scarlet Knights didn’t get any closer the rest of the way.Cotton hit two 3-pointers in 20 seconds, both on assists from Council, to give the Friars (13-10, 2-8) a 70-60 lead with 1:51 remaining. Cotton finished with 17 points.

Wait a minute, Bilal Dixon 18 points? Yeah that’s right. Dixon played perhaps his best game ever in a Friars uniform, really giving the team a presence in the paint on both ends of the floor. “A man amongst boys” according to Rutgers head coach Mike Rice.

I dig the high socks - (Photo by PC Athletics)

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Around the Web: Providence Defeated by South Florida

By
dave@friarblog
– January 30th, 2012 9:13 AM

Friars.com: Providence College Men’s Basketball Falls To South Florida, 81-78, On the Road

The Providence College men’s basketball team (12-10, 1-8 BIG EAST) fell to the South Florida Bulls (13-9, 6-3 BIG EAST) by the score of 81-78, on Sunday, January 29 in Tampa, Fla. Despite shooting 53.8-percent from behind the arc, 79.2-percent from the free throw line and 45.6-percent from the field, Providence could not seal the victory.

Freshman LaDontae Henton (Lansing, Mich.) led all players in scoring with a career-high 33 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Bryce Cotton (Tucson, Ariz.) registered 16 points and five rebounds while junior guard Vincent Council (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 10 points and a game-high seven assists.

GoLocalProv: Bulls Rush at the end, hold off Friars 81-78

With a big, physical front line, USF has been able to match up well with most teams on its’ schedule, and the Bulls entered the game with a 5-3 mark in Big East play. Led by a defense ranked at the top of the league (and 13th nationally) in points allowed at 58 points per game, South Florida has steadily improved throughout the season.

But in the first half Sunday, the Friars managed to find freshman forward LaDontae Henton open inside and out – and “Buckets” led the way with 24 points in the opening 20 minutes. Leading by as much as seven in the period, PC ended the half tied at 39 – with the 39 points scored the most USF has allowed in the first half of any game this season.

Offense, however, wasn’t the problem.

Tampa Bay Times: USF Bulls beat Providence Friars 81-78 to remain in third place in Big East

“I don’t think we played great,” said coach Stan Heath, whose team is 11-1 at home this season. “Normally our defense has been our staple, but our offense kicked in. … I thought some guys stepped up at some key, key moments.”

Tampa Bay Online: Team effort lifts USF past Providence

Heath said he felt “fortunate” to defeat Providence, which got a superb performance from freshman forward LaDontae Henton (33 points). Henton had five 3-pointers and a career-high 24 points just 17 minutes into the game, but only attempted three field-goal attempts after halftime.

“In the second half, we tried to stay attached to him and not give him open looks,” said USF guard Hugh Robertson, who was among a multitude of defenders trying to check Henton.

Friar Basketball: Henton Explodes in First, Friars Falter in Second

Probably more concerning to Cooley is the defense. The lowest scoring team in the Big East (309th in the country) broke 80 points for only the third time this year (81 versus Marist, 83 against Florida A&M) and for the third straight game the Friars were done in by their inability to defend the three point line.

An atrocious outside shooting team went 5-5 from beyond the arc down the stretch, after starting just 1-10 from deep. Cooley’s game plan was to dare Anthony Collins to beat him from deep, and the freshman with the funky looking jump shot hit a pair of “give-me-a-break” threes in the final eight minutes of the second half.

Sports Page Magazine: USF Shares the Wealth in, 81-78, Win over Providence

“That goes to show how deep our team is,” said Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who scored 13 points for the Bulls (13-9, 6-3). “We have guys that can make things happen.”

USF committed only five turnovers and had 17 assists while improving to 11-1 at home this season. The Bulls were coming off a 67-47 loss to No. 17/18 Marquette on Tuesday when they committed 22 turnovers.

“We put that behind us and everybody came together,” Robertson said. “We worked on being tough with the ball in practice and it paid off in the game.”

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Friars Drop 20th Straight BIG EAST Road Game

By
dave@friarblog
– January 29th, 2012 8:31 PM

The Providence Friars dropped yet another BIG EAST road game (20th straight, if you are counting at home) this time falling to the surprisingly good South Florida Bulls 81-78. The Bulls got hot from behind the arc (who doesn’t lately? — like I said on Twitter during the game, Shaq could nail 10 threes in a game against Providence) and their defense clamped down during a 16-1 run halfway through the 2nd that was the difference in the game.

Another punch to the gut of Ed Cooley. Can he and the Friars bounce back?

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Around the Web: Providence Loses to Marquette

By
dave@friarblog
– January 22nd, 2012 10:38 AM

Friars.com: Men’s Basketball Team Fell To No. 21 Marquette, 79-72

With 11:36 remaining in the second half, Marquette took the lead 57-55 and would not look back. The Golden Eagles would lead by as many as 13 points in the final minutes of the game.

Marquette shot 53.7-percent from the field and was 9-for-11 (81.8-percent) from behind the arc which is the highest of any BIG EAST team this season. Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder each scored 18 points for the Golden Eagles.

ESPN: Recap (AP)

“We spend an inordinate amount of time in practice on our defense,” Williams said. “I think in the last 13 minutes we were good defensively — maybe our best all year.”

The Golden Eagles’ tough man-to-man defense combined with some solid shooting turned a close game into an easy win. Marquette shot 68.2 percent (15 of 22) after halftime.

“I don’t know why we start out slow, but in the second half we always pick it up and get the job done,” Gardner said.

Like its last game, Marquette started sluggishly, but responded with a quick turnaround. In the second half, Wilson took over, scoring nine points in a key stretch.

Providence Journal: Friars drop ‘winnable’ game

The second half, however, was a different story. Marquette, now 16-4 and 5-2 in the Big East, dominated most of the final 13 minutes and beat the Friars, 79-72. On defense, the Golden Eagles limited the Friars to one field goal in a nine-minute stretch as the game turned for good. Offensively, Marquette shot a sizzling 68 percent in the second half and 53 percent for the game and left Cooley talking to himself.

“Today was as winnable a game as we’ve had in about a month,” Cooley said. “Our lack of overall toughness from a physical standpoint and a mental standpoint defensively really, really bothered me today.”

GoLocalProv: Marquette’s hot shots top Providence, 79-72

In the second half alone, Marquette shot 68% from the floor (15 of 22 field goals made), adding 3-for-3 from the three-point stripe to the 6-for-8 performance in the first half. The Friars were also held to just seven offensive rebounds in the second half, after gaining 14 in the first period.

In total, those numbers were too tough to overcome, especially on a night where the Golden Eagles didn’t need much help from the free throw line…shooting their way to a fifth Big East win, and their first on the road this season.

The Sun Chronicle: Marquette tops defenseless PC

“He’s (Cooley) got those guys playing extremely hard,” added Williams. “They keep you off balance, they do a great job of getting fouls, a great job of offensive rebounding.”

The Friars out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 40-33 and outscored them (20-12) at the charity stripe, but Marquette shot a Big East season best nine of 11 three-point field goals.

Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: Wilson leads Marquette victory

Wilson then went to work.

He broke the tie with a jumper and then hit a three and Marquette led by five. Wilson later picked up a loose ball off the court under the Marquette basket and scored. He then hit a jumper, giving him nine straight Marquette points, and the Golden Eagles led, 66-59, with 7:57 left.

Friar Basketball: The Marquette Model: Golden Eagles Ride Physical Play to Victory in Providence

You can be physical (see Jae Crowder) without being tall. Buzz Williams has built a roster short on length, but long on physical, bruising guards who are constantly in attack mode.

What they also have is a bruising small forward in Crowder and another long small forward developing in Wilson. The lengthy, tough, athletic small forward has been something that so many of the better Big East teams have featured recently, and it’s been a serious deficiency around these parts of late. JaKarr Sampson anyone?

Williams’ style of play allows his team to fall behind Providence 14-6, Louisville 18-2, and Pittsburgh 14-5, only to come back and win each time. His group is in constant attack mode, wears on their opponents and they are physical on both sides of the ball. The recent results have been a series of second half comeback wins. Longer term, it’s a formula that’s turned Marquette into a perennial top 25 team.

Anonymous Eagle: No. 21/22 Marquette 79, Providence 72

I know Keno Davis isn’t the coach at Providence anymore, but his fingerprints were all over the Friars’ defensive effort this evening. Marquette shot 53.7% from the field and 81.8% from 3-point land for the game. That includes a ridiculous 71% shooting in the 2nd half!

Photos:

Photo by @Friartown97

This about sums it up - (AP Photo/Stew Milne)

Ed Cooley bobblehead night! - Photo by @PCAthletics

 Tweets:

For every great run the Friars make, Marquett makes an even better...thank goodness Odom is finally graduating #pcbb
January 21st, 2012 9:39 PM 9:39 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite
@RhodeIslandMark
Marcus in RI
Marquette can't miss, and refs are giving charges when guys are camped out in the circle. Other than that, it's going well. #pcbb
January 21st, 2012 8:31 PM 8:31 pm via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite
@PhillyFriar
Kevin O'Brien
The Providence fans haven't been happy with the officiating (as is often the case), but now it seems Ed Cooley isn't happy, either.
January 21st, 2012 8:54 PM 8:54 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@PhilKasiecki
Phil Kasiecki
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A Bounce-Back Loss

By
dave@friarblog
– January 1st, 2012 11:00 AM

“A blind man could have scored today. I promise you we will correct that.” – Ed Cooley after the St. John’s loss.

After probably suffering through hell in practice this week after Ed Cooley promised to improve the defense, the team responded with a tough defensive performance on the road against the 12th ranked Georgetown Hoyas but ultimately lost 49-40. The offense? Yeah, that may need to be corrected at a later time by a future Ed Cooley press conference tirade. The team scored TEN points in the first 17 minutes of the game and dug themselves in to an early 14 point deficit. Georgetown and their zone gave the Friars some problems, and it didn’t help that Council kept turning it over, Bryce Cotton missed open threes, and nobody could hit a layup. Despite the offensive ineptitude, PC didn’t let the game get too out of hand in the 1st half because of strong defense (shoutout to Brice Kofane!) and only trailed 27-19 after the offense had a nice little 3 minutes.

Vincent Council stepped up late in the 1st half (welcome to the BIG EAST season, bro!), and started to open up some scoring opportunities by setting a faster tempo. If only he finished some of his drives, or even was able to keep the ball out of Gerard Coleman’s hands. I’m loving what Coleman has done for the team this year, but that was just a terrible all-around performance that probably cost a shot at an upset win. The sophomore forced a lot of bad shots, finishing 1-10 from the field. His lack of passing was almost Greedy Peterson/Black Hole-esque, except without the production. I would applaud the fact that he was able to draw fouls, but he went 1-8 from the foul line, including two big misses with PC trailing 43-40 in the final minutes. PC’s lack of depth shows up again, since the Friars don’t have any other scholarship guards to spell Coleman, Council, or Cotton. If any one of them have nights like this, the offense is going to have serious problems.

On several possessions late in the game, PC had a chance to tie or cut the lead to 1, but Vincent Council and Gerard Coleman both missed threes. Georgetown finally decided they would be a little less worse, and closed out the game with some foul shots and a Michael Starks field goal.

Despite the problems on offense and the off night from Coleman, it was definitely great to see the team bounce back after the terrible performance in Queens. The team could have wilted after coming out of the gate slow again, but fought back and put themselves in a position for a road upset. Wins might be few and far between this year in BIG EAST play, but effort and defensive improvement should make Friartown excited for the future.

LETS TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT ‘THE FOUR FACTORS’

More on the Four Factors

Hit up the rest of the recap after the jump.

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