Game Recap: PC Friars Open Up Big East Play with a Trashing of St. John’s

On By The Morning HangoverIn Basketball Game Recaps, PC Men's Basketball

Providence Friars 94 (10-4)

St. John’s Red Storm 72 (10-3)

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Oh, what a difference a healthy Kyron Cartwright and Alpha Diallo make.  With the Friars almost back to full strength (no Maliek White yet), Providence went into Carnaseca Arena and took it to St. John’s in the first conference game for both teams.  Unfortunately for St. John’s, their team health seems to be going in the opposite direction.  Already without Marcus LoVett, the Red Storm also had star guard Shamorie Ponds limited to 10 minutes with an injury he sustained during the game.

That comment from Ponds can’t make the St. John’s faithful feel good about a potential prognosis on his injury.

The Friars may have put together their best all-around team effort of the year in a game that they desperately needed to get back on track going into a tough slate of games to open their Big East Conference schedule.  Kyron Cartwright, Rodney Bullock, Alpha Diallo, and Jalen Lindsey all came up huge for the Friars in the game that should give them some momentum heading into an always raucous crowd in Creighton.

Game Notes:

  • Let’s start with the train conductor Kyron Cartwright because he was absolutely phenomenal.  Kyron Cartwright is the most important player on this Friars team and a healthy Cartwright completely changes how they play and sets their ceiling as a team way above where it otherwise would lay.
  • After missing his first three shots of the game, Kyron exploded offensively, not missing a shot for the rest of the game, hitting 8 in a row to finish 8-11 for a game-high 21 points.
  • The points are all well and good and more than welcome, but what about the assists you say?  Ho, Hum, just a career-high 15 dimes for you.
  • During the game, Cartwright jumped two spots on the all-time assist list and moved into sole possession of 5th place in PC history.  Billy Donovan is next in his sights.

    1. Vincent Council – 725

    2. Ernie DiGregorio – 662

    3. Kris Dunn – 552

    4. Billy Donovan – 546

    5. Kyron Cartwright – 533

    6. Carlton Screen – 532

    7. Ricky Tucker – 520

    8. Bob Misevicius – 490

    T-9. Erik Murdock – 487

    T-9. Vin Ernst – 487

  • Cartwright had his patented spin moves going and was unstoppable in the 2nd half.
  • He also closed out the game on a nasty three pointer.
  • Not to be outdone, Alpha Diallo posted a double-double as well, his second of the season.  Diallo finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
  • I forgot how much the Friars rely on Diallo’s rebounding.
  • The Friars shot a spectacular 54.7% from the field and 53.3% from three, making 16 three-pointers in the game.  Of course, PC still struggled from the free throw line, going just 8-14 (57.1%).
  • Rodney Bullock continued his streak of great offensive games and somehow that went under the radar with Cartwright and Diallo back to full form.  Bullock shot 8-11 from the floor for 20 points and added 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
  • But most important, Rodney started off the game with a superb Bullock War Cry!
  • Jalen Lindsey was straight fire from three point land.  Jalen was 6-10 from three for 18 points.  Lindsey has now made a 3-point basket in 40 straight games, 32 of those with multiple made threes.  Here’s a breakdown of made threes over the impressive streak from Jalen.
    • 1 made three – 9 games
    • 2 made threes – 11 games
    • 3 made threes – 10 games
    • 4 made threes – 9 games
    • 6 made threes – 1 game
  • The four big studs of the Friars went 28-45 from the field.
  • Big Nate Watson was back to being his efficient self going 3-6 from the field for 9 points in 20 minutes of action.
  • We got to see the death lineup of Tommy Planek and Drew Fonts at the end of the game but there wasn’t enough time for them to get any shots up.  We did however, get my favorite video of the season…
  • Isaiah Jackson only saw 8 minutes of playing time with Diallo back but he did he did have this nice finish.
  • Kalif Young played his best game in a while, going 3-6 from the floor and grabbing 6 rebounds.  He did continue to regress at the free throw after his hot start from the line.  After starting the season 12-17 (71%) from the free throw line over the first 5 games of the season, Young has gone just 6-20 (30%) since then.
  • Drew Edwards had a bit of a tough game going scoreless in 13 minutes and 0-3 from the floor but fortunately, the Friars didn’t need his scoring touch against St. John’s.
  • With Kyron dominating all game, Makai Ashton-Langford saw limited minutes of the bench, only playing 7 minutes total.
  • With Kyron smoking dudes, the Friars finished with 24 assists and just 10 turnovers.
  • St. John’s has some of the grosses looking jump shooting mechanics I’ve seen as a team this year.  All of their lefties have rough looking shots.
  • The Johnnies did show their defensive swatting skills off that they’re becoming known for this season, blocking 6 shots in the game.

Next Up, the Friars travel to Creighton to take on the Blue Jays in Omaha.  The game is on Saturday at 2:30 PM and will be televised on FS1.

One thought on “Game Recap: PC Friars Open Up Big East Play with a Trashing of St. John’s”

  1. Pingback: 2017-2018 Men’s Basketball Schedule | The Morning Hangover

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