By Bob Phillips
This one started out oh so good for Friar fans, but ended oh
so bad…
 | |
| The USC Trojans overcame a 17-point deficit to dash the dreams of the Providence College Friars in an NCAA "First Four" match-up last night. |
Behind a 24-point outburst from Bennie Boatwright, the
University of Southern California Trojans ousted the Providence College Friars, 75-71,
in a so-called “First Four” match-up at the University of Dayton Arena in
Dayton, OH. The First Four is a creation of the NCAA Tournament Committee to
create two extra “play-in” games which, in fact, expands the NCAA field from 64
to 68.
After a solid first-half effort by the Friars, who were
hoping to recover from an error-filled 70-58 loss to Creighton in The Big East
Tournament, simply let their guards down in the second half.
Some might even go so far as to say they choked.
In the first half, the Friars looked like The Bomb Squad,
popping in eight three-pointers. After digging itself out from an early 0-7
hole, Providence took apart USC’s zone defense, and led 44-29 at intermission.
Not really sure what Southern Cal head Andy Enfield said to
his team in the locker room, but whatever he said, it certainly worked. The
Trojans came out for the second half, not a defeated team, but rather one with
a renewed passion. The Friars, meanwhile, came out flat. Completely flat.
“When you miss six layups in one half and you don't guard
anybody… I guess the answer is we were concerned about everything,” said
Enfield “We missed a lot of easy shots and I thought it affected our energy on
the defensive end.”
The Trojans switched to man-to-man in the second half and
then watched the Friars fold like a house of cards. The epic comeback was led
by SC guard Jordan McLaughlin, who nearly put up a double-double (11 points, 9
rebounds) in the second half alone. The Friars also had a difficult time
dealing with USC’s huge height advantage, with 6-10 Boatwright, 6-11 Chimezie
Metu and 6-11 Nick Rakocevic completely dominating the game in the paint.
“We were kind of slicing the zone up in the first half,”
said Providence guard Jalen Lindsey after the game. “They figured to change
something up, and it worked.”
And how. Down by 17 at one point, the Trojans’ fierce
man-to-man and their size advantage took over and allowed them to outscore the
Friars by 20 in the second half.
“It’s a tough loss,” admitted Emmitt Holt, who put up a
double-double (18 points, 11 boards) for Providence. “We've got to learn from it. We've gotta
do the basic stuff work on our dribbling, free throws, passing, all that stuff,
and make a run at it next year.”
Indeed, the mental and physical toughness that defined this
team throughout a season that most expected the Friars to be NIT participants
(at best) seemed to go up in smoke in the second half.
“I just don't think as a group we were fundamentally sound
for the last 20 minutes like you need to be to advance in this tournament,”
said Friars’ coach Ed Cooley. “Hopefully if we’re in this situation against
next season I do a better job preparing my group.”
For the Trojans, the victory avenged last year’s brutal 70-69
defeat to Providence last year on a last-second basket by Rodney Bullock—which gave
the Friars their first NCAA Tourney win since 1997. It was also Southern Cal’s
first win at The Dance since 2009.
For the Friars, it was a heartbreaking ending to a
surprisingly upbeat season. Picked to be also-rans by most, Providence put
together a 20-13 regular season record (10-8 in The Big East) to earn its
fourth straight invite to The Dance—the first time that has happened in program
history.
But there’s always next year, right? Toward that end, Providence
now anxiously awaits their only two recruits for next season—6-8 Nate Watson
and 6-11 Dajour Dickens—who hopefully will allow the Friars to compete with
bigger teams.
“Those kids are in there hurting,” said Cooley of his team after
the game. “I'm proud of our group this season. I think we had a year no one
expected. I thought we did some great things in this game. But in tournament
play you can't have the mistakes we've shown and advance and expect to win.”
—With
Staff Reports
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