Providence Friars 73 (11-5)
St. John’s Red Storm 75 (12-4)
In what is seemingly becoming an unfortunate habit, the Friars found themselves in an early hole and fought back to get the lead before eventually coming up just short by the end of the game. Providence is now on a three-game losing streak and the effect of losing Bryce Hopkins is front-and-center. At least the last three losses have come against what looks like a very good Seton Hall team, and on the road against Creighton and St. John’s. They have had chances to win each one of those games and have Devin Carter playing at an All-American level in doing so.
Carter has stepped his game up in the absence of Hopkins and has fully asserted himself as one of the best two-way guards in the country. Even before Hopkins tore his ACL, Carter had been the best player on the team to start the season, improving his outside shooting to accompany his fierce driving ability. The Friars are going to need Carter to continue playing at that elite level if they are going to make the NCAA Tournament in Kim English’s first season at the helm…and I think they can do it if some other players step up and take advantage of their opportunities.
Game Notes:
- Devin Fucking Carter.
- My, Oh My, was Devin Carter just unbelievable in this game.
- Despite playing through some pain that occurred when he got blindsided by a pick while picking up from full court defensively, he put together an outstanding all-around performance. Carter set new career highs in both points (31) and rebounds (13), making every big play possible. Of course, since he is Devin Carter after all, he added 4 steals on the other end of the floor.
- Carter also handed out a pair of assists en route to the best performance of his collegiate career. Devin recorded his 6th double-double of the season and now has a three game double-double streak going. Over his last three games, he is averaging 22.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.7 apg, & 2.7 spg. He is special.
- Jayden Pierre finally took on the role of Robin to Carter’s Batman, setting his own career-high in points with 17. He also led the team with 5 assists and committed just 1 turnover. This is the Jayden Pierre that the Friars are going to need to show up on a game-to-game basis now that Bryce Hopkins is out for the year.
- Pierre looked unafraid to pull the trigger when the opportunity presented itself and hit on 3/6 three-pointers. Over his last 4 games, Pierre is 8/16 from three with 5+ assists in 3 of the 4 games.
- It really wasn’t plausible to expect Pierre to repeat his three-point shooting percentage from his Freshman year when he hit at a 54.5% clip but with his large leap in volume (0.7 attempts per game to 3.5), he is still hitting at a very high level (43.5%).
- Ticket Gaines continues to assert himself more within the three-point line with the overall lack of size that the Friars are being forced to play with, at one points even getting some time at the 5 with a small-ball lineup.
- Gaines finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and the lone block for the Friars while being the only player on Providence to play all 40 minutes.
- That box out. That’s all I’m gonna say.
- After starting the season cold from deep, Gaines has raised his season average to 34.6%, already eclipsing his shooting mark from last season at George Mason (34.3%). Ticket has now made multiple three-point shots in 6 of the last 10 games. Over that span, he has connected on 25/61 from distance, good for 41.0%.
- Garwey Dual was 4th on the team in scoring with 7 points on 2/4 shooting, 1/2 from three, and 2/2 from the line. He once again put up great assist to turnover numbers with 4 assists to 1 turnover, and on the season holds a stellar 2.6:1 assists to turnover ratio (41 to 16). I would love to see him become more aggressive offensively as he has the ability to get to the rim and even if it ends up with him at the line, it’s a plus to get a foul tacked on the opposing team. Hopefully he’ll start hitting at a higher percentage (62.5%) but either way, it’s an overall positive.
- Josh Oduro has had a rough little stretch of games with more pressure being put on his shoulders offensively. He was dealing with foul trouble in this one and played well defensively against Joel Soriano, one of the better big men in the Big East. Oduro finished with just 5 points on 2/8 shooting but added 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists.
- But who knew Josh had this in him…
- I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Corey Floyd was not good. In 10 minutes, he was a minus on both ends of the floor, finishing the gam with 0 points (0/2 FGs) and 3 turnovers. Garwey ended up taking most of the backcourt minutes as it appears that Floyd may be putting too much pressure on himself knowing that he needs to step his play up. Prior to Hopkins going down, Floyd was playing with energy and just trying to make positive plays through high effort. I’m hoping that he settles back into that role rather than trying to do more than the game is giving him.
- Castro played pretty well in relief, although in limited minutes. In just 8 minutes, he added 2 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist.
- With Floyd’s recent struggles, I’m guessing that Richard Barron might get some more opportunities in the near future but only saw 5 minutes in this one.
- I’m so ready for Joel Soriano to be out of college.
- Oh man, I’m am more then ready to hate Brady Dunlap for the next couple of years. I’m not sure there is another person who looks more like a Brady then he does.
- Love this quote from Rick Pitino on Kim English.
- Post Game Press Conference…
The Morning Hangover 