Providence Friars 68 (10-4)

Creighton Bluejays 79 (10-4)

Death by threes really is the most reasonable way to describe how this game went.  Following a back-and-forth game for about the first 3/4 of the contest, Creighton displayed their biggest strength by connecting on 7 threes over the next 7 minutes.  At one point, hitting 5 triples in just 7 possessions.

The strange thing with this Creighton team is that they usually struggle from the line, even though they are money from deep.  Despite that fact, they decided to go 6 of 6 from the line down the stretch against the Friars.

Alpha Diallo led the Friars with with a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, but that was not enough for Providence to start of Big East Conference play with a win at home.

Game Notes: 

• Another winnable game that slipped through the fingers of the Friars.  That makes Creighton, UMass, and Wichita State as three wins that could have went the Friars way.  The team really needs to get their foul shooting woes under control if they want to pull off these close games.  PC was just 13-20 from the line.
• Alpha Diallo led the Friars in both points (18) and rebounds (10) en route to his 6th double-double on the season and 11th of his career.  Diallo also had 2 assists, a steal, and a block, because he can’t help but do a little bit of everything.
• Diallo also did a great job of getting to the line, shooting 9-13 from the stripe.
• Quick check in on where Alpha ranks this season statistically.
  • 1st in points
  • 1st in rebounds
  • 1st in assists
  • 1st in steals
• Makai Ashton-Langford continues to play his ass off.
• MAL scored 10 of the 16 bench points that the Friars tallied, going 4-8 from the field with 3 assists (with 0 TOs), a rebound, and a block before fouling out.
• The most surprising part of MAL’s improved play has been his three-point shooting.  Makai went 2-4 from deep for the game and is now 6-9 from distance over his past 4 games after starting the season 0-7 on the season through his first 8 games overall.
• Maliek White has been a revelation since being inserted into the starting lineup, recording his 4th straight start of the season.
• In those 4 starts, here is what Maliek’s numbers look like:
  • 14.0 ppg
  • 4.5 apg
  • 3.0 rpg
  • 1.0 spg
  • 3:1 assist to turnover ratio
• Oh, and he can also do this…

My, Oh My Mr. White! #pcbb #creighton #MaliekWhite #throwdown pic.twitter.com/3Kr1ld9EgQ

— The Morning Hangover (@TheMorningHang) December 31, 2018

• I didn’t think I would say this at the beginning of the season, but I think it might be time to see what a White/MAL starting backcourt can do.
• David Duke has continued to struggle with his shot from the floor, going just 3-12 from the floor.  Your starting PG also needs to record more than 1 assist if he’s playing 31 minutes.
• A Freshman’s season is going to have ebbs and flows, it’s just a matter of knowing when to try and switch up things to give him that extra motivation and jump start things for him.
• I think Duke could be an explosive player off the bench for a couple of games.  Where’s the risk in trying that at least?
• I would love to see Jimmy Nichols Jr. be more aggressive on the offensive end.  He’s playing off of the ball for the most part so some slashing, cutting, and offensive board crashing should be his forte.  You know he has the talent and hops for putback dunks, it would be awesome if teams feared losing him even for a second once a shot goes up.
• Nate Watson picked up some pretty soft fouls from the refs that detoured his time on the floor and offensive flow unfortunately.
• Kalif Young was his usual self, playing solidly with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and assist and a block in just 16 minutes.
• Isaiah Jackson had his first poor game of the season off the bench.  Over 25 minutes, Jackson was only able to score 2 points while shooting just 1-6 from the floor and 0-3 from deep.  Jackson had previously made a three-pointer in 8 straight games, including multiple threes in 5 of those.
• No time for the Friars to hang their heads in this one as Villanova is coming to the Dunk next.  There’s no off-days in Big East play.

Up Next, the Friars take on Villanova on Saturday at 4 PM on Fox.