Providence Friars 74 (8-2)
Brown Bears 54 (3-9)
Following a sizable loss (72-51) in their first true road game against the #19 ranked Oklahoma Sooners, the Friars responded positively against in-state foe Brown, racing to an early first half lead with a strong defensive effort that held the Bears to just 13 points in the first 20 minutes.
Providence shot 51% from the floor while holding Brown to 38.5% for the game and won the rebounding battle with a +10 advantage, something they struggled with in their previous game against at Oklahoma. Devin Carter led the way with 18 points, followed closely by Byrce Hopkins with 17, Josh Oduro with 13, and Corey Floyd Jr. with 10 off the bench.
Game Notes:
- It just feels good to cruise to an easy win back home after a frustrating loss in their biggest opportunity so far on the season. Despite digging themselves an early 12-0 hole against Oklahoma, the Friars clawed back, eventually taking the lead 41-40 at the beginning of the second half before falling apart quite spectacularly. I especially like this Kim English quote during his post-game comments.
“You can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same.”
– Rudyard Kipling – Kim English
- Devin Carter continues to be the catalyst to the this year’s Friars team and is doing so in a variety of different ways. Carter finished with a team-high 18 points on 5/10 from the field and 5/6 from the line. Devin has now scored in double figures in all 10 games on the season, cementing himself as someone who can be counted on to be a consistent offensive contributor, no matter how the flow of the game is progressing. Carter has led the Friars in scoring in 5 of their first 10 games this year.
- Continuing to show off his shooting improvements, Carter went 3/7 from three, upping his season three-point shooting percentage to 36.7% on the season, +6.8% over last year’s mark on two and a half more attempts per game. Carter has now made 3 or more three-pointers in each of the last three games, shooting 10/21 (47.6%) over that span.
- Carter also grabbed 5 rebounds and had an assist over 29 minutes of action, only the second time this season that he has played under 30 minutes (27 vs. Columbia in the season opener). Devin did cough the ball up 5 times and turnovers have been a bit of an issue with him, as well as the entire team, so far under Kim English’s time at the helm. Devin has committed 3 or more TOs in half of the games this season. Some of that is probably due to taking on more of the ball handling responsibilities when Jayden was out of the lineup and with Garwey suspended against Georgia, but I’d still love to see those numbers come down some, especially against the better competition.
- After seemingly turning into the Bryce Hopkins of last year, Bryce had a pretty harsh game at Oklahoma (4/11 with 4 TOs) but seems to quickly found his footing once again with a 17 point performance on 6/10 shooting. Hopkins was dealing when he got around the rim, finishing in a plethora of different ways once he got close to the bucket. Hopkins was 5/6 on 2s and just 1/4 on 3s, although most of his three-point attempts were good looks in the flow of the offense.
- BHop took down 7 rebounds and handed out 3 assists, matching his season high that he notched against Lehigh. The best part about his effort against Brown was that he committed no turnovers. He’s been a bit loosey-goosey with his handle at time through the beginning of the season, so I absolutely love seeing that big goose egg under the TO statistic (yes, that was two ‘goose’ references in the same sentence).
- Hopkins also played a season low 26 minutes as English got a lot of the bench some extra run once they went into the half with a 24-point advantage. Hopkins added 2 swipes for good measure too.
- Josh Oduro put on a clinic in the post whenever he got touches down low making some throwback 90’s NBA moves and looking like Vlade Divac out there.
- Oduro filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and an assist (and probably another half dozen hockey assists).
- Oduro continues to shoot efficiently from all 3 levels. By going 5/7 from the field and 3/3 from the line, he continues hitting at career-high clips across the board with shooting splits of 62.9%/45.5%/85.2%.
- Also, congrats are in order for Oduro eclipsing the 1,500 point mark for his college career.
- Corey Floyd Jr. had his second best game of the season, his first coming in his first career start with a depleted backcourt against Georgia.
- Floyd scored 11 points with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block in just 19 minutes on the floor. Floyd bailed the Friars out on a pair of back-to-back buckets with the shot clock running out in the first half and can hopefully roll the momentum from this game into the next and the upcoming Big East conference slate. The Friars are going to need Floyd’s shooting to get back to the levels that Friartown knows it can be.
- Jayden Pierre still looks like he’s rounding back into form since he came back from his groin injury. Much like Floyd’s shooting, Pierre’s point guard play is going to be essential for the Friars to make any noise this season.
- In the last two games, Pierre is 2/12 from the floor, including 1/7 from three, with 7 turnovers to just 3 assists. He’s averaging more turnovers per game than points per game and looks a little discombobulated out there, allowing some mistakes to snowball into more mistakes. No doubt that he’s going to get things back on track, but it is a testament to how well-balanced this team is that they’ve been able to carry the load without him.
- Ticket Gaines has been pretty quiet offensively since his career-night three-point barrage against Wagner but continues to try and effect the game in different ways regardless.
- Gaines contributed with 6 rebounds and a team-high 4 assists.
- Garwey Dual continues to show flashes of his elite athleticism and wreak havoc on the defensive end of things. Dual ended up with 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.
- Richard Barron does not looked phased to be on the floor as a true Freshman in the slightest. Ever since he saw his first three-pointer go through the net, he has looked completely comfortable out there.
- Eli Laurier got his first run since being out with a bad ankle sprain and got a block for his troubles.
- Rafael Castro made the most of his 11 minutes, recording 3 blocks and making the biggest impression with his only shot and only make of the game.
- Post-Game Press Conference
Next Up, the Friars stay at home and take on Sacred Heart on Saturday at 1:30 PM on FS1.
The Morning Hangover 