#23 Providence Friars 89 (7-1)

Hartford Hawks 66 (3-5)

The Providence Friars had a chance for a let down game after such an exhausting and hard fought trip across the country last week, but they were able to rise to the occasion and handily put the Hartford Hawks away at the Dunk.
Kris Dunn led the way with a triple-double and Ben Bentil continued to be awesome with a game-high 21 points.  The walk-ons were able to get in at the end of the game which tells you all you need to know about how this one went.
Game Notes:

• Kris Dunn dropped 11 assists in the first half…11.  But he wasn’t ‘Dunn’ there (get it?).  He recorded the second triple-double of his career finishing the game with 16 points (on 8 of 12 shooting), 10 rebounds, and 14 assists (coming up just 2 shy of the PC single-game record).
• Ben Bentil was great…again.  He scored over 20 points for the fourth straight game on 9 of 12 shooting and snagged 6 boards.
• Jalen Lindsey finally said hello to Friar fans this season, at one point connecting on three straight three point shots within a minute.  He finished with 15 points and 4 for 6 from three.
• Providence ended the first half on an18-0 run, not too shabby.
• The Friars continued to force a shit ton of turnovers, 14 overall, including 9 in the first half.
• There is no other point guard in the nation that can do this.  Dunn was flat-footed, standing underneath the hoop and slammed a one-handed dunk off the rebound.
• It was nice to see a couple of the bench guys get some minutes in this one.  Drew Edwards decided it was his job to jack up every single shot in garbage time, but whatever.
• Quadree Smith is impossible for a defender to get around.  That is a big dude.
• The Friars shot an impressive 53.1% from the field, 40.9% from three, and 85.7% from the line.  This was the first game where they shot well from all three of facets of the game.
• PC recorded 24 assists on 34 made baskets.  That’s the kind of unselfishness I want to see.
• I can never get over Kris Dunn’s athleticism.  
• The Friars out-rebounded the Hawks 42 to 26.  For being undersized, Providence has been doing a really solid job on the glass this year.
• Rodney Bullock was held under double-digit points for the fourth straight game.  Him and Bentil have gone in opposite directions since the start of the Wooden Legacy tournament.
• Ryan Fazekas was continually getting on a stationary bike (so I heard) whenever he came out of the game, so I hope it’s something minor like cramps that was bothering him.

   

  Next Up, Providence travels to URI for the rivalry game on Saturday at 7 PM on ESPNU.