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| Sophomore David Duke was one of four Friars who scored in double digits as Providence rebounded after dropping two games at the Wooden Legacy Tournament with an 80-77 victory over Pepperdine. |
By Bob Murphy
ANAHEIM, Calif.— Has the
ship been righted? One can only hope…
Junior Nate Watson and sophomore A.J. Reeves scored 15 points apiece to lead the Providence
College Friars over the Pepperdine Waves, 80-77, in the 7-8 game at the Wooden
Legacy Tournament at the Anaheim Arena at Anaheim Convention Center on Sunday.
The win softened the blow suffered by losses to lowly Long Beach State on Thanksgiving
Day, and the College of Charleston on Friday in the tournament.
Watson went 7-for-10 from the field and
grabbed three rebounds. Reeves shot 4-for-8 from the field and 2-for-6 from three-point
land. Senior swingman Alpha
Diallo, who scored 13 points and had two steals, led the Friars in both
rebounds (nine) and assists (six), while David Duke added 10 points and grabbed five boards.
Senior forward Kalif Young opened
the scoring for the Friars with a jump shot from inside. The Vaughan,
Ontario, native finished the contest with eight points and seven boards. The Friars
struggled at the outset, and trailed 7-2 at the first media time out. When play resumed, 5-11 grad student Luwane Pipkins popped in the
first trey of the afternoon and followed with a quick floater to bring the Friars
within one, 12-11, with 12:01 left in the half. Although Reeves and Watson were
able to finish in the paint coming out of the timeout, Pepperdine held onto the
lead and was up by four, 23-19, with 7:54 left in the half.
Providence went on a 6-0 run with
made baskets from Watson and Diallo—both in the paint—giving the Friars a 26-25
with 4:52 remaining in the period. After the teams traded baskets, PC extended its
lead to seven with less than a minute on the clock, sparked by threes from
White, Gantt and a put back slam from Watson giving the Friars a 38-31 lead at
intermission. Providence shot 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) from the field in the
first half, including 3-for-12 (25 percent) from beyond the arc. The Waves were
12-for-30 (40 percent) from the floor and 4-for-11 (36.4 percent) from downtown.
The Friars owned the glass in the first half, hauling down 24 boards compared to
Pepperdine's, 12.
Pepperdine opened the half with a three to pull within four. Young answered with a reverse layup and quickly got back on defense to force a Pepperdine turnover. At the other end, White scored his second trey. The Waves responded with a three-pointer of their own to cut the Friar lead to six, 43-37.
With 16:40 on the clock, Pepperdine went on a 7-0 run that Reeves ended with a pair of made free throws followed by a three to make the score 48-41 with 13:19 left. Diallo converted on one in the paint to give the Friars an 11-point lead. Less than 30 seconds later, Holt found himself in the same situation down low, and converted one in the paint and got fouled. He converted the free throw for a traditional three-point play and gave the Friars a 14-point lead, nd getting sent to the line. Holt made the free throw to give PC a 61-47 lead, their largest of the lead of the day.
Providence led by nine, 63-54, with 7:28 remaining in regulation. Reeves buried his second three of
the night which the Waves were
able to answer on their end with a three of their own. Pepperdine's Jan Zidek
fouled out with 5:30 on the clock sending Watson to the line for an and one.
Going into the final media timeout Providence led 71-67. Colbey Ross scored the last eight points for the Waves, while Duke responded with four points on a dunk and layup.
With just over a minute to play, Diallo scored on a second-chance layup. The Waves made a basket down low to cut the Friar lead to just two, 77-75. But the Friars went 3-fof-4 from the charity stripe, staving off the Waves and holding on for the victory. The win moves the Friars over .500 at 5-4. And if you’re looking for some positive news going forward, consider that exactly half the points scored by Providence came from the bench vs. Pepperdine.
Pepperdine opened the half with a three to pull within four. Young answered with a reverse layup and quickly got back on defense to force a Pepperdine turnover. At the other end, White scored his second trey. The Waves responded with a three-pointer of their own to cut the Friar lead to six, 43-37.
With 16:40 on the clock, Pepperdine went on a 7-0 run that Reeves ended with a pair of made free throws followed by a three to make the score 48-41 with 13:19 left. Diallo converted on one in the paint to give the Friars an 11-point lead. Less than 30 seconds later, Holt found himself in the same situation down low, and converted one in the paint and got fouled. He converted the free throw for a traditional three-point play and gave the Friars a 14-point lead, nd getting sent to the line. Holt made the free throw to give PC a 61-47 lead, their largest of the lead of the day.
Providence led by nine, 63-54, with 7:28 remaining in regulation. Reeves buried his second three of
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| Providence head coach Ed Cooley implores his team to give it their all in the Friars' victory over Pepperdine at the Wooden Legacy Tournament in California. Next up is URI in Kingston. |
Going into the final media timeout Providence led 71-67. Colbey Ross scored the last eight points for the Waves, while Duke responded with four points on a dunk and layup.
With just over a minute to play, Diallo scored on a second-chance layup. The Waves made a basket down low to cut the Friar lead to just two, 77-75. But the Friars went 3-fof-4 from the charity stripe, staving off the Waves and holding on for the victory. The win moves the Friars over .500 at 5-4. And if you’re looking for some positive news going forward, consider that exactly half the points scored by Providence came from the bench vs. Pepperdine.
The Friars now return to the Ocean
State where they will head to Kingston to challenge in-state arch-rival URI
on Friday. The Rams are 5-3 overall, and the game promises to show fans just
where the Friars are as the gear up for Big East play. But keep this in mind,
after the Rhody game, followed by a “gimme” vs. Stony Brook (and the 2019-20
season had proven that there is no such thing as a “gimme” for these Friars),
the schedule will have back-to-back games against extremely tough teams: the
6-2 Florida Gators from the SEC (Dec. 17 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn) and the 7-1 Texas
Longhorns (Dec. 21 at The Dunk) of the Big 12.
Big East play commences on New Years Eve when
the Friars will entertain 4-3 Georgetown—88-82 winners over Texas a few weeks
ago at MSG—at 5:30 p.m. at The Dunk. The Hoya game will be televised on FS1.
Tip-off for the URI game is at 7
p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2. And as always, on-the-go Friar
fans can follow their team on WPRO 630 AM and 99.7 FM, TuneIn or SiriusXM, with
Joey Hassett and John Rooke calling the action.
—Staff Reports
@pcfriarsmbb @PCAthletics #gofriars #Friars #Providence @provcollege
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