#10 Providence Friars 69 (21-14)

#7 Texas A&M Aggies 73 (21-12)

The Providence Friars had their season end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the hands of the Aggies of Texas A&M.  The two teams met on Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina and played evenly for the majority of the game, as you would expect from a 7/10 match-up.

The Friars had a big task…literally…taking on a large Aggie frontcourt.  Providence was never able to keep the A&M big men off the boards as they were outrebounded by a landslide, 44 to 26.  In fact, Tyler Davis and Robert Williams were able to grab more boards (29) than the entire PC team.

The Aggies were ranked as high as 5th in the AP poll early in the season and you could see their natural talent ceiling with some of their players.  The Friars, making their 5th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, fell to just 1-5 in those 5 Tournament appearances.  That’ll happen when you let a team shoot 68% in the second half of a game.  The Friars couldn’t get stops or rebounds and in the end, that was the difference in the game.

Game Notes:

• Rodney Bullock led all scorers in the game with 22 points on 8-15 shooting.  Bullock has one of his better all-around games of the season, hitting 3 of 7 three pointers, going a perfect 3 for 3 from the line, and chipping in 5 rebounds, an assist (no turnovers), and a steal.
• Kyron Cartwright played all 40 minutes and scored 11 points with 9 assists.
• Cartwright finishes his career with 646 career assists, good for 3rd All-Time in Providence College history.  Cartwright fell just 16 assists shy of Ernie D’s 2nd place assist total of 662.
• Alpha Diallo continued to show that he his a big-game player who’s game rises to the size of the occasion.  Diallo scored 21 points on 8 of 19 shooting and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds.  To go along with those numbers, he also dished 4 assists without committing a turnover.
• Nate Watson looked a little bit like a Freshman in the early goings but settled down a bit as the game progressed.  He played just 17 minutes despite the Friars lacking height against the Aggies, scoring 5 points but only taking down 1 rebound.
• Kalif Young played 18 minutes in relief duty and was slightly more effective than Nate on the boards but still only grabbed 3 rebounds.  Together, our Centers played 35 minutes and had only 4 combined rebounds.
• Jalen Lindsey hit a pair of threes but was much of a factor on the offensive side of things.
• Isaiah Jackson, along with the rest of the bench, was unable to provide a spark off the pine.  Jackson was unable to record a point in 13 minutes of action, struggling with foul trouble whenever he checked in.
• The rest of the bench had 4 combined points between Young, White, & Planek, Edwards.
• Robert Williams of A&M capped off their first round win with one of these…

Special Thanks to the 4 Seniors (Bullock, Cartwright, Lindsey, & Planek) on being the most successful class in PC Friars history and setting the bar for the next group of young guys coming to Friartown.