This one hurts.  This one hurts a lot.  This was the one game in the Friars first 5 Big East Conference games that they really couldn’t afford to lose.  Providence led by 9 points at halftime and as much as 12 in the 2nd half, but failed to score a single field goal in the last five minutes of the game and blew a very winnable game on the road to a subpar DePaul team.

The game was all but won even under some dire circumstances for Providence.  Cartwright was hobbled from knee tendinitis that he sustained in the previous game against Creighton and was at about 75% strength.  The Friars were also without Jalen Lindsey who was sidelined with a wrist injury.  With those two very important guys hobbled, the Friars had to look elsewhere for some contributions, most notably from the trio of Freshman.

The Friars held a decent lead for most of the game, even though scoring was a chore to come by. They held the backcourt of Eli Cain and Billy Garrett Jr. in check for the majority of the game. With all that being said, even though PC was undermanned on the road, and blew a 11-point lead with under 5 minutes left, they still had a chance to win it at the end of the game that would have erased everything that happened up to that point.  Kyron Cartwright got a look at the rim that just rolled out at the buzzer.  If his knee was at 100%, I guarantee you that shot goes in…of course, if his knee was at 100% the whole game, they probably win the game before it gets to that point, but I digress.

The Friars are going to need to steal a game or two from the top 4 in the Big East (Xavier, Nova, Butler, & Creighton) and probably win one or two in the BE Tournament in order to make the Big Dance now…it’s a tough ask, but it’s doable.

Quick Hits:

• Rodney Bullock finally returned to his offensive self, scoring a team-high 18 points on an efficient 8-12 from the floor and grabbing 6 boards.
• We also got my favorite Rodney Bullock War Cry…
• Isaiah Jackson was probably the second best player on the floor for the Friars, tallying 12 points on 3-7 shooting, along with 4 boards and 2 assists.
• Emmitt Holt was the third player on the Friars in double figures with 13 points.  He also led the team with 8 rebounds.
• With Jalen Lindsey sidelined with a wrist injury, Alpha Diallo started his first game of the season in his stead.  Diallo was only 1-5 from the floor for 6 points playing in his most minutes in a game (32) for the season.
• His one made field goal was niiiice though.
• Kyron Cartwright did not look right the entire game.  He was favoring his knee throughout the contest and limping at times during dead balls.  Cartwright finished with 7 assists but also turned the ball over 5 times.  He was only 1-6 from the floor (5 points) and his shots looked a little short due to the knee.
• Of course, that didn’t stop my man from still trying to make hustle plays.
• Those five starters played the majority of the minutes for the Friars as the three bench players (Young, Fazekas, White) for the team each played 13 minutes or less.
• Turnovers really hurt the Friars as the gave the ball away 20 times as a team for the game.
• They also didn’t shoot the ball well from three, connecting on just 5 of the 17 attempts for a 29.4% mark.
• We did get one of our patented Kyron Cartwright full court lead passes to a streaking Kalif Young.
• Court vision on a hundred trillion. 
• I still can’t believe we lost to DePual, I don’t care how hard it is to win any conference game on the road.
• Serious question, Billy Garrett Jr. is like 35 right?
• With guys named Eli, Cyrus, and Levi, DePaul is either a team from the 1700’s or an Amish College.
• PC held Garrett and Cain to a combined 6-21 and still lost the game.
• DePaul shot 16.7% from three and still won the game.
• Tough loss.