Providence Friars (13-9) 55

DePaul Blue Demons (12-9) 67

The Friars traveled to Chicago to take on the DePaul Blue Demons for the second time this season and second time in the past three games.  As has gotten way too familiar for the Friars when playing DePaul, the split the season series with the perennial cellar dweller of the Big East.

I’ll be the first to note that DePaul is definitely a better team this season than in recent seasons, but the trend of Providence losing to the Blue Demons is one that seems to pop up every season.

The Friars shot extremely poorly from the field for the game (28.6%) and still somehow managed to claw their way back to within 2 points with 3:15 remaining in the ball game which made it all the more painful when they lost in the end anyway.

Game Notes:

• David Duke Jr. may have played his best all-around game of the season and yet it was wasted on this particular game.
• Duke scored 17 points on 5-11 shooting, including 3-6 from deep, and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.  He also added on 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal.  I would have loved to see his assist to turnover ratio 1:3 be much better, but his offensive aggressiveness was great to see on the floor.

Blink and you’ll miss these Friars on the break. #pcbb #DavidDukeJr #IsaiahJackson #needlethreading pic.twitter.com/49FtU7fuf5

— The Morning Hangover (@TheMorningHang) February 2, 2019 

• The 17 points were his 3rd highest total of the season, coming after a 20-point performance against South Carolina and 18 points against Seton Hall.
• Nate Watson eventually fouled out of the game and was hindered with foul trouble the entire time he was on the floor, only getting to see 20 minutes of action.  The foul trouble limited him offensively but he was able to tally 7 points on 2-4 shooting in the game.
• Speaking of foul trouble, Alpha Diallo also ended up fouling out of the game but was able to be much more effective than Watson as he doesn’t need to rely so heavily on bodied up game down low and thus could find his spots elsewhere.  Diallo scored 15 points on 4-10 shooting, grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds, and added a team-high 4 assists.
• The sour note that may have been left in everyone’s mouth was his crucial turnovers down the stretch as the Friars were closing the gap against DePaul.  Diallo turned the ball over 6 times total in the game.
• Maliek White played very well defensively, swiping 3 steals and a recording a block but was a no-show on offense, going scoreless over 22 minutes.
• Makai Ashton-Langford played pretty well when he was on the floor but was also limited to just 15 minutes of playing time because, you guessed it, he was in foul trouble as well.
• The bench for Providence was basically no existent.
• The combination of Nichols, Young, Monroe, Jackson, Edwards, and Reeves went 3-22 from the floor and 1-15 from three.  Just terrible.
• Even so, it was nice to see A.J. back.

AJ’s ankle is looking just fine to me! #pcbb #AJReeves #Oop #MaliekWhite #WhatInjury pic.twitter.com/2KIruFt4B5

— The Morning Hangover (@TheMorningHang) February 2, 2019 

• Jackson filled up his stat line with threes, recording 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 points.  That’s kind of cool until you see that he was 1-9 from the floor over 28 minutes.
• Paul Reed is an underrated stud for DePaul.  The Sophomore scored a game-high 18 points on 5-10 shooting and took down a career-high 15 rebounds.  And if you think he’s only an athletic big that can score around the hoop, he also went 7-7 from the line.  If he’s at DePaul next year, he’s going to be a good one.
• The Friars held both Max Strus (4-12) and Eli Cain (2-9) in check but it was Reed who showed out for the Blue Demons when called upon.
• Also, I can’t stand this freaking walk-on guy.

• Moral of the story, you can’t shoot under 29% from the floor for the game and expect to win on the road.
• Sidenote, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of these before the game at the end of warm ups.

Game on!#GoFriars pic.twitter.com/Ik0ajFDbrd

— PC Men’s Basketball (@PCFriarsmbb) February 2, 2019 

Next Up, the Friars return home to try and avenge a game the gave away to Georgetown in double-overtime earlier in the year.