Game Friars Fall To No. 4 Wildcats

By Bob Murph

The Friars gave it all they had, but ultimately fell to the defending national
champions, Villanova, 66-57.

Today may be Groundhog Day, but last night Friar fans couldn’t help but wonder if Punxsutawney Phil had made an early stop in the Ocean State’s capital city. For the second straight year, Providence College gave Villanova all it could handle, but unlike last year, the results weren’t quite as satisfying for the Friar faithful. Providence held the high-powered ’Nova offense in check over the game’s final six minutes, but in the end, the Wildcats showed why they are the defending champs, pulling out a hard-fought 66-57 victory before a raucous, sellout crowd of 12,453 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Wednesday night. It was the Wildcats’ fourth straight win at The Dunk.

After the Wildcats second-half advantage peaked at 13, ‘Nova held a relatively comfortable seven-point lead with just under six minutes remaining in regulation. But the Providence defense—which has become the trademark for Ed Cooley’s team this season—ratcheted it up and held the defending national champs scoreless for 4:18 down the stretch.

A nine-point Friar run capped by an Aqlpha Diallo bomb launched from somewhere between the Rat and Brad’s cut the ’Nova advantage to two, 59-57, with 2:12 left in regulation. But a key turnover by Rodney Bullock (STATS HERE) followed by a three-pointer by Jalen Brunson (STATS HERE) sealed the deal for the Wildcats, who improved to 21-2, 8-2 in Big East play.

“You can survive some mistakes,” said PC head coach Ed Cooley. “But I thought we had critical, critical turnovers at important times. We're getting to a critical point here—make or break—on the type of season we want to have. I hurt for our fans and I hurt for our players in a loss like this.”

After an extremely competitive first half, which saw the Friars head into the locker room down by just three points, 32-29, at intermission, the Wildcats opened the second half on a 12-6 run, opening up a 10-point advantage.

“They guard you,” continued Cooley, a master of understatement. “I think they're totally, totally underestimated on the defensive end.”

For the game, the Friars shot just 39.6 percent from the field, including a paltry 4-for-17 from beyond the 3-point arc.

But the Friars would not go down easy. A trey by Alpha Diallo (18 points, matching his career high) made it a one-possession game with about two minutes to go—but the Friars just couldn’t get over the hump. Diallo got virtually no help from his teammates. Kyron Cartwright scored eight points on just 4-for-11 shooting, while Rodney Bullock could only put up six points on 3-for-11 shooting.

Brunson led all scorers with a 21-point effort.

“It's great having a guy like [Brunson],” said ’Nova guard Josh Hart, a 2016 All-Big East first-teamer. “Someone who's talented, someone whose basketball IQ is as high as can be. He knows when to get in the lane, get himself shots and get other people shots.”

The game produced memories of the Jan. 24, 2016 classic in which Providence pulled perhaps the upset of the season with an 82-76 victory over Villanova in Philadelphia. Back then, the Wildcats were also ranked No. 4, and were on their way to the national championship. The Friars were ranked No. 16, and were led by two first-team All-Big East players: Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil. Dunn is now playing in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Bentil, who without a doubt left a year too early, is playing with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants—the D-League affiliate of the Indiana Pacers.

The Friars, who are fighting for their postseason life, fell to 14-10 overall (1-6 vs. ranked opponent), and 4-7 in Big East Conference play. They now must travel to South Orange, NJ, where they will face the 13-8 (3-6) Seton Hall Pirates on Wed., Feb. 8. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 and, as always, will be broadcast on WEEI, 103.7 FM.

THE SKINNY