Providence Friars 78 (9-2)
Sacred Heart Pioneers 64 (4-8)
After a sluggish first half that saw Providence holding on to a slim one-point lead at the break, the Friars were able to get back on track and eventually pull off a comfortable win in their last non-conference game before Big East play against the visiting Pioneers of Sacred Heart.
The Friars were without guards Devin Carter and Corey Floyd Jr., both of whom sustained injuries during practices prior to Saturday’s game. With a depleted backcourt, Richard Barron stepped up to the plate with his given opportunity for more playing time, going for a career-high 14 points, completely unafraid of the big lights. Bryce Hopkins carried the load with a massively needed double-double, leading the way with a team-high 26 points and 12 rebounds.
Game Notes:
- We’ll get to vintage Bryce Hopkins, but we have to start with Freshman Richard Barron.
- Barron set a number of career-highs, including points (14), made field goals (5), made three-pointers (4), and tied his assist-high with 1.
- Barron was on fire from three-point land, going 4/6, and hopefully earned himself some deserved additional playing time in the near future with how he’s been playing lately. Barron has now made a three-point field goal in 6 of the last 7 games and is 10/23 (43.5%) from deep on the season, good for the second highest percentage on the team behind Jayden Pierre (44.4%).
- Barron has been in shooting position, ready to pull the trigger, any time he sees the floor. As a true Freshman, his confidence is definitely not lacking. While some of the other Friar players have appeared somewhat hesitant to let it fly from three, Barron has approached Kim English’s offensive philosophy the exact opposite, embracing the green light he has whenever he’s open. Since he’s been knocking down triples, some drives to the hoop have opened up as of late as well, which Barron has taken advantage of.
- Barron got the nod for the post-game press conference as well, do you think he was happy about how he played?
- Ear-to-Ear baby!
- The Friars needed Bryce Hopkins to have a Bryce Hopkins-type game, and he came through with flying colors. Hopkins shot 10/16 from the field, 2/4 from three, and 4/5 from the line, taking over the game during the second half and giving the Friars space to breathe en route to their victory.
- Hopkins finished with a season-high 26 points and 12 rebounds (6 offensive), his 4th double-double of the season and 14th of his career.
- Hopkins added 2 assists and a steal but with the uptick in minutes (39) and expected heavier scoring load, Bryce finished the game with 5 turnovers as well, the fourth time this year that he’s coughed up the ball 5 times.
- Despite a bit of foul trouble and eventually fouling out, Josh Oduro was his usual stellar stat-filling play with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocks. Oduro’s 3 blocks matched his season-high that he swatted against Wagner.
- Amazingly, Oduro shooting 6/10 from the field in the game actually lowered his season field goal percentage to 62.6%.
- His career-best shooting numbers are still amazing one-third of the way through the season: 62.6%/41.7%/86.2%.
- Jayden Pierre had a rough first half, going 0/5 from the field before reverting to his early season form going 4/4 from the field and 3/3 from three, on his way to 11 points. The Friars are going to consistently need that second half type of output from the point guard position if they are going to make an impact in the Big East this season.
- Garwey Dual got the start with Carter and Floyd Jr. sidelined for the game and took his opportunity to display his distributing ability, dishing a career-high 7 assists, which was good because he only added 1 points and no rebounds over his 33 minutes on the floor.
- As Dual’s offensive game continues to lag behind some, his defensive game continues to show his elite level on that end of the floor. Dual had 3 steals and a block and has now recorded 3 steals in 3 of the 10 games that he’s played in. Dual is averaging 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game on the season but is shooting only 28.8% from the field and 31.8% from three (after starting the season 5/7 from deep).
- Ticket Gaines was the 5th Friars to finish the game in double figures, shooting 5/10 from the field for 11 points.
- Gaines shot 4/4 on two-pointers and just 1/6 from three. Besides the game against Wagner, where Gaines went 7/10 from distance, Ticket has severely struggled to connect on three-pointers this season. Ticket has dipped below the 30% threshold (29.8%) for the season and has shot a sparse 7/37 (18.9%) outside of his target practice vs. Wagner.
- The rest of the bench, outside of Barron, was shortened by the injuries for the this one and the combination of Donovan Santoro, Eli DeLaurier, & Rafael Castro accounted for 1 point and 1 rebound (both by Castro) across 12 minutes.
- The Friars (and Kim English) improved to 8-0 at home for the 2023-2024 season.
- I’m liking this stat as well…
- Post-Game Press Conference…
- Now let’s get ready for Big East play, ya mutts!
Next Up, the Friars face the #6 ranked Marquette Golden Eagles at The Amp on Tuesday at 8:30 PM on FS1.
The Morning Hangover 