Friars Hold On for Big Win vs. No. 10 Seton Hall

By Bob Murphy

PROVIDENCE–And whaddaya know, just like that, the Friars are back on the bubble. Alpha Diallo threw down a career-high 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead PC to a 74-71 victory over No. 10 Seton Hall before a partisan crowd of 13,255 fabs at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Saturday. It was the ninth double-double of the season for Diallo, including a lights-out 5-for-5 from beyond the arc.

“I haven't seen many people have a performance like that in my 14 years as a head coach,” Ed Cooley said.

Luwane Pikpkins was the only other Friar to score in double-digits. The 5-11 fifth-year guard from Chicago had 13. Greg Gantt led the Friar rebounders with nine.

The game followed a pattern familiar to Friar fans as Providence raced out to an early lead, and then virtually watched it vanish in the second half. This time, however, they were able to hold on for the victory.

After Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili opened the scoring with a layup a minute into the game, Nate Watson put the Friars on the scoreboard with a free throw at the 16:53 mark. That ignited a 20-0 Providence run that put PC in control. Three three-point bombs from Diallo and another by Pipkins fueled the run. Diallo’s first trey gave the Friars their first lead of the contest , 4-2, with 15:51 remaining in the first half. Following the media timeout, Pipkins stole the ball from Pirates’ All-American Myles Powell and made the layup in transition. 

The Friar defense did not allow a Seton Hall field goal for seven minutes. David Duke converted on an and-one three pointer with 11:45 remaining in the first half. Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard was called for a technical foul just before the media timeout. Duke made both free throws to give Providence a 25-5 lead. The Pirates had made only one of their last 16 shots at the 10-minute mark.

Diallo made his fourth three of the night to keep the Friars rolling. Kalif Young  finished in the paint to extend the lead to 22 points. The Friars had made 10 of their last 11 shots. The Friars extended their lead, 32-8. Indeed, the Friars had kept Seton Hall under 10 points for nearly 14 minutes of the first half. The Pirates reached 10 on a made free throw with 6:06 left on the clock. Duke drew the fifth Pirates turnover of the half when he forced an offensive foul on Powell. 

The Friars entered the locker room at halftime leading by 14, 41-27. First half stats weren’t good. They were great. PC shot 41.4 percent from the floor (12-for-29) including 6-for-10 (60.0%) from beyond the arc. They were equally proficient from the charity stripe—not their strongest point—knocking down 11 of 16 freebies (68.8%). The Friar D held Seton Hall to 28.6 percent from the floor (8-for-28), including just 3-for-13 from downtown. The Friars’ largest lead in the first half was 25.

They kept it going when Diallo opened the second half with a second-chance layup. But, as one might expect, the Friars struggled early in the second. Seton Hall’s Jared Rhoden threw down a three pointer, and the Friars converting just two of their first nine shots of the half. By the first media timeout of the second half, the Pirates had cut the Providence lead to nine, 45-34.

Then, over the next six minutes, Seton Hall went on a 13-2 run. A slam dunk by Mamukelashvili cut the Providence lead to five, 45-40, with 13:20 remaining in regulation.

And the jitters started to kick in.

Diallo finally ended the Friar’s scoring drought that lasted longer than five minutes with 11:35 remaining, and the New York native continued his strong performance by knocking down a trey on the Friars’ next offensive possession. Maliek White added a layup to extend the PC lead to eight.

Next, Diallo knocked down back-to-back field goals. But the pesky Pirates refused to go away. They kept up the pressure from the charity stripe, knocking down their last four gimmes.

With just under five minutes to play, Pipkins sunk a mid-range jumper to extend the Friar lead to six. Young stole the ball on Hall’s next possession, and the Friars were up by seven, 61-54, with 3:08 on the clock.

With less than a minute remaining in regulation, the Friars held on to a six point advantage, 65-59. Pipkins sank two free throws following a foul by Jared Rhoden, his fifth. Hasta la vista, baby. But the Pirates were not through. Powell did what you’d expect an All-American to do, banging down one from Warwick and cutting the Friar lead to just five with 47 ticks left on the clock.

Diallo converted two from the charity stripe with 32 seconds remaining to give PC a seven-point cushion. The teams continued to trade baskets Powell knocked down another three. Duke, the local kid, threw down two from the line, but Seton Hall came back with another trey. However, the Friars were hold on and came away with arguably their biggest win of the season.

The Friars finished with a rather unimpressive 21-59 performance (35.6 percent) from the field, but that included 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc. They also had a solid day from the foul line, converting on 25 of 35 shots (71.4 percent) from the stripe. Seton Hall finished 20-for-55 (36.4 percent) from the field, including 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) from three-point land, and 22-27 (81.5 percent) from the free throw line. Powell led the Pirates with 27 points.

“I just tried to do whatever it took to get the win,” Diallo said. “My teammates were finding me and it gave me the confidence that they would go in.”

With the win, the Friars improved to 14-12 overall, and 7-6 in Big East play. It marked the third win for the Friars over a ranked opponent this season. The last time they topped a Top 10 team at the Dunk was in February 2018.

“I'm proud of this group,” said Cooley. “Now we have to go on the road coming off of a big-win today. I am very proud of the team's toughness." 

Cooley was referring to the Friars’ next game—a trip to DC where they will challenge the Georgetown Hoyas on Wednesday. Tip-off is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on FS1.

THE SKINNY

—with staff reports

Bob Murphy was the sports editor at The Cowl from 1972-1975. He killed off way too many brain cells during that stretch to have a clear recollection, however. His claim to fame was using the urinal next to the late, great Curt Gowdy in the men’s room at the St. Louis airport upon landing for the 1973 Final Four.

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