Providence Friars (11-7) 68

#15 Marquette Golden Eagles (16-3) 79

The Friars traveled to Marquette after finally notching their first win in Conference playa against Seton Hall to take on the #15 ranked Golden Eagles.  Providence led by as many as 9 in the first half but weren’t able to distance themselves enough early on to stop a late game surge from the hometown team.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Markus Howard was able to power through an injury after it being skeptical as to whether or not he would be able to play in this one.  If he were not able to play, I think the Friars would have been able to finish this game off.  Even though Howard was held in check from the floor, shooting a paltry 4-15 from the field, he got basically every call imaginable and went to the free throw line 16 times, connecting on 14 of them.  He’s one of the best free throw shooters in the country so any time he gets a call, it’s basically money in the bank for the Golden Eagles.  Since the Big East refs have been atrocious this year, it was a surprise to no one that he shot 16 free throws.  Just for comparison’s sake, the Friars shot 23 as a team for the game.

The difference in the game came down to free throw shooting.

• Marquette was 23-25 (92%)
• Providence was 12-23 (52%)
• Marquette won by 9.

Another winnable game where the Friars struggled to execute down the stretch, especially from the free throw line.

Game Notes: 

• Nate Watson did whatever he wanted to in the post against the Marquette big men.
• Watson was 8-14 from the field for a career-high 21 points.  Ed Cooley and the Friars made it a point to get the Big Dog the ball whenever they could and he went to work once he got it, putting the Marquette big men in foul trouble along the way.
• Watson has started to get his foul shooting together as well, going 5-6 from the stripe.  He’ll need to continue to be serviceable from the line if he doesn’t want team to send him there every single time he starts making buckets down low.

Let the Big Dog Eat!! #pcbb #NateWatson #FeedMe pic.twitter.com/7yBzfRbyuI

— The Morning Hangover (@TheMorningHang) January 20, 2019

• Alpha Diallo was really solid in the game before fouling out.  Diallo scored 16 points on 7-15 shooting while grabbing 6 rebounds.
• Jimmy Nichols Jr. finally got some extended time after scoring scoreless in the last three games.  However, over the last three games, Nichols was only averaging just over 7 minutes of action per game.  He played a total of 22 minutes in those three game but played 24 minutes in this one.
• Nichols had one of his better overall games of the season.  Shooting 3-4 from the field for 7 points, he tied a team-high by taking down 6 rebounds, had 3 assists, and 2 swats.
• Oh, and he also had one of his signature putback throwdowns.

When are teams going to learn that you need to box out Nichols or this will happen #pcbb #DWadeDay #JimmyNicholsJr #slammajamma pic.twitter.com/PjmL36zvj3

— The Morning Hangover (@TheMorningHang) January 20, 2019

• Maliek White’s offensive struggles continued for another game.  He needs to snap out of this or either Makai should start syphoning some of his minutes or Cooley is going to wait until Reeves gets back to make a decision.
• Let’s just take a quick look at the stark contrast in his last 4 games compared to his previous 5, when the Reeves injury occurred.
• Previous 5 games:
  • 12.8 ppg / 4.4 apg / 2.8 rpg / 1.2 TO
  • (22-44) 50% FG / (9-17) 52.9% 3-PT FG / (7-9) 77.8% FT
• Last 4 Games:
  • 3.8 ppg / 2.3 apg / 2.5 rpg / 1.3 TO
  • (5-29) 17.2% FG / (2-13) 15.4% 3-PT FG / (3-9) 33.3% FT
• It’s not like just one aspect of his game hasn’t been there.  Every single part has seemingly fallen off a cliff for some reason.  He might be able to regain some confidence by coming back off the bench for at least a game to try and shake him out of this offensive fog.
• Makai Ashton-Langford has similarly seen his offense regress the last couple of games.  Makai was 1-7 for 2 points but continued to dish the ball like a fiend, handing out 7 assists and turning the ball over just once.
• Previous 3 games:
  • 11.7 ppg / 1.7 apg / 2.3 rpg / 1.3 TO
  • (12-20) 60.0% FG / (7-9) 77.8% 3-PT FG / (4-6) 80% FT
• Last 3 Games:
  • 2.0 ppg / 6.7 apg / 3.3 rpg / 1.0 TO
  • (3-20) 15.0% FG / (0-6) 0.0% 3-PT FG / (0-1) 0.0% FT
• Both of their shooting has plummeted but at least MAL has made it up in finding other guys good looks.
• The rest of the squad was just OK but I still want Edwards getting more run with his ability to make threes and the Friars inability as a team to basically make any others.
• Sam Hauser was a beast down the stretch, doing something to win the game every single time the Friars needed Marquette to give them the smallest opening.
• Also it was D-Wade Day at Marquette…so what up Gabrielle Union?

Up Next, the Friars head to the Cintas Center to take on Xavier.