A Look Back: Providence vs. Syracuse (1/4/12)

After a blowout loss at St. John’s and a meager 40 point effort five days prior at Georgetown, it looked as though Providence was in for a long night when #1 Syracuse came to the Dunkin Donuts Center in early January.

So, few in Providence would have expected to hear Syracuse head man Jim Boeheim say afterwards, “It was the best shooting night we’ve had all year. If it hadn’t happened that way, the game could have easily gone the other way. We’ve stopped everybody, pretty much, this year. We couldn’t stop them. We just outscored them.”

And Syracuse shot the lights out, making 10 of 17 three point field goals and 61% from the field on their way to an 87-73 victory.

The final score didn’t do justice for the Friars, who played Syracuse to a standstill in the first half and continually battled back throughout the second every time it looked as though the Orange were about to pull away.

The Friars, led by 17 points from both Vincent Council and Gerard Coleman, shot 28 free throws on the night, went nearly 50% from the field (48.6) and made nearly half of their three point attempts (6-13).  It was a big bounce back effort from Coleman, who struggled mightily on the road at Georgetown (1-10 from the field, 1-8 free throws), as he made all seven of his free throw attempts and grabbed six rebounds.

PC out-rebounded Syracuse 26-22, with half of those coming from then-emerging freshman LaDontae Henton, who finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Only one member of the PC bench saw the court, with Brice Kofane showing up with a pair of monster blocks (both featured in the video below).

Providence fell to 0-3 on the Big East season, but showed the fire and scoring ability lacking in their first two conference games.

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