Friars strong finish has them poised for a Big East Title Run

With the college basketball regular season coming to a close, the Providence College Friars have found themselves playing their best basketball of the season.

                  After a frustrating stretch in the middle of the season from December to February in which the Friars went 4-9, falling to then #17 Xavier, #13 Butler, #10 Creighton as well as unranked Boston College, DePaul and Seton Hall the Friars appear to have found their stride. Winners of their last 6, all over Big East opponents including #22 Butler and their first round opponent #23 Creighton, the Friars are one of the hottest teams coming into the tournament and with their 86-75 win over St. John’s on Saturday, have matched their Big East season win total from a year ago. A feat many analysts thought would be virtually impossible for this Providence squad after losing superstars Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil to the NBA.

                   Since the heartbreaking overtime loss at Seton Hall which dropped PC to 4-8 in the Big East, the Friars have done a complete 180 and earned themselves a 3 seed in the Big East tournament and may find a way to sneak into the NCAA tournament if they are able to keep up their strong play. What has been the “X Factor” in the Friars sudden surge into the postseason? The answer has been the contributions from the young guys who seemed lost at the beginning of the year. Coach Ed Cooley claims in an ESPN Radio interview “5 of the 8 guys in the rotation are first-year guys. So I think earlier in the season we were trying to find their identity trying to get comfortable with synergy, timing, execution.” Talking about the slow start to the season but how everything has seemed to come together in the month of February. Cooley goes on to say “The other thing is, once you win one or two games here or there, the power of belief kind goes beyond the talent. Those guys have bought in.” The change in this Providence team coming down the stretch has been the team first mentality and how everyone has found their identity and what their role on the team is. There is no question that the Providence teams in the past two years have been much more talented than this team we see today. But the way this team has overcome adversity and the lack of talent this year has really been special to watch. Contributions from guys like Isaiah Jackson, (18 points vs. St John’s) Alpha Diallo and Jalen Lindsey (both had 17 vs. St John’s) have played huge roles in the Friars success of late.

                  The difference between is Friars team and the teams of the past two years is that they have not relied on one or two players to carry them. Past teams with Kris Dunn (16.4 ppg), a lottery draft pick, and Ben Bentil (21.1 ppg) the leading scorer carried much of the workload for the Friars all season. Both of them put up more than 500 shots a year ago. This season the Friars have not had the explosive scoring offered by Bentil or the overall consistency of Dunn, but what they have had is the overall team first mentality. These players know they don’t have the same amount of talent to rely on as in the past so they have bought into a system provided by Coach Ed Cooley. Although the Friars are a young team loaded with freshman and sophomores, they have been able to rely on strong veteran leadership from juniors Kyron Cartwright and Rodney Bullock, who were just named to the second team all big east. Cartwright who leads the league in assists, averaging 6.8 per game, also averages 11.3 ppg and 3.5 rebounds, was recently named the Big East’s most improved player. Bullock leads the team in scoring averaging 16.1 ppg as well as 6.4 rebounds. Bullock has also recorded a team-high five double-doubles this season and has put 20 or more points nine times this season with his career-high 36 points coming against UNH on November 30^th.

                  Although it took the Friars a while to get kick-started, they have found their stride and are going into New York white hot. The Friars may not have the talent to match up with the defending national champion Villanova, but their will to win of late has been virtually unmatched by anyone not named Kansas or UCLA. Despite the slow start the Friars have found a way to win and are poised to make a run at their second Big East title since 2014.