Without Cotton, Gritty Friars Lose in Overtime to Penn State, 55-52

Another day, another injury, another second half lead that slipped away in the closing minutes to rob Providence of what would have been a well-deserved victory.

Playing without Bryce Cotton, Ed Cooley’s group consisted of five scholarship players and walk-on Ted Brancroft who played the full 45 minutes after only seeing 27 minutes the entirety of last season.  Providence and  Penn State combined for 30 first half points and needed overtime to determine who would scratch their way out of the gym with a victory.

It was another field goal drought that did Providence in on Friday night, as the Friars went the final 8:15 of regulation without a made shot from the field.  In a game in which both teams were devoid of rhythm Providence was taken even further out of their offensive flow at the 12:43 mark of the second half, as LaDontae Henton joined Kadeem Batts with three fouls.  At that point Providence led 28-20, and pushed it to 30-20 with just over 12:30 remaining, but they managed only two field goals over the final 12 minutes of regulation (a pair of jumpers by freshman Josh Fortune who finished with 15 points on 6-12 shooting) to let Penn State back into the game.

All Big Ten point guard Tim Frazier scored nine points in the final 10 minutes of regulation, as the Friars fell behind 40-37 with just over two minutes left, but Kadeem Batts willed the Friars back into the game — getting to the line on three possessions in the final two minutes of regulation, making all six free throws he attempted, including a game-tying pair with 14 seconds to go.

Batts was the only Friar to score in the final eight minutes of regulation, making nine of ten foul shots on a night in which his floor game wasn’t there (2-12 shooting from the field).

A 7-0 run early in the overtime session gave Penn State a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, and sent the Friars back to their hotel rooms with nothing to show for another fine effort.

Providence now has a day off before closing out their trip to Puerto Rico and will not play again until Friday night upon return — wrapping up a five game, eight day stretch that saw them lose their starting backcourt to injury.

Notes:

• Providence bottled up Frazier for a majority of the night.  He had perhaps the quietest 19 point, nine rebound, seven assist, four steal performance you’ll see.
• Batts continued to show the maturity he talked of gaining in the offseason, getting to the free throw line for 15 attempts (making 13) and grabbing 11 rebounds in a game in which his shot was well off from the floor (2-12).  Batts’ production had been up and down throughout his first two seasons in Providence, but he’s strung together a terrific start to his junior year.
• Josh Fortune has been thrust into big minutes this year, and on Friday night he was thrust into a foreign role — point guard.  Providence has now run through two point guards and lost their combo guard who had spotted them minutes at the one, so they were forced to asked Fortune to set the offense on Friday night.  He did a serviceable job in doing so.  His seven turnovers sound high, but Fortune played 45 minutes out of position four games into his college career.  He finished with 15 points and hit a variety of difficult shots off of the bounce.
• Friday night was a bit of a step back for Lee Goldsbrough and Brice Kofane, specifically the latter who struggled to control weak-side rebounds in the closing moments of overtime.  Goldsbrough managed only two rebounds in 32 minutes of a game in which plenty of boards were there for the taking.  There were over 60 missed shots from the field in this one and 15 misses at the free throw line.
• Timely offensive rebounds have really hurt PC the past two nights.
• LaDontae Henton is now 9-32 from the field and 3-16 from downtown in the first two games of this invitational. Out of all of the regulars, his offense seems to have been most impacted by the loss of Vincent Council.  He’s been much more of a jump shooter than an inside/out scorer as he was last season, and he rushing shots from beyond the arc.

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