Friar Basketball

Friars Top Colgate on an Emotional Night in Providence

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It was a night many in Providence had marked on their calendar for quite some time.  Kris Dunn, Providence’s own All American guard, was set to make his long-awaited debut for the Friars on Tuesday night after missing the season’s first two months recovering from shoulder surgery.

The night’s intrigue was also supposed to be heightened by another Friar debut – that of former top 100 big man Sidiki Johnson, who transferred in from Arizona last year promising to give Ed Cooley a badly-needed big body for the Big East’s interior battles.

With a core group that fought their way to a 7-2 mark, led by vast improvements by Bryce Cotton and Kadeem Batts, Providence’s first game back was supposed to be part anticipation, part celebration, part peek ahead at the future of Providence College basketball.

Instead, we got a reminder of what makes Providence College special.

In 20 years Friar fans may remember that Dunn tied a PC freshman mark for assists in a game in his debut, but the game’s other details will fade.  What few will forget was the feeling of seeing the Friars peel off their warmups and show the green uniforms they wore to pay tribute to those who have suffered loss, and will continue grieving forever following the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.

After the game Cooley said that in watching coverage of the horror in Newtown that he wanted to do something to pay tribute to the 26 victims, and with a call and fast work by Nike, green and white uniforms – the colors of Newtown – were ready by Tuesday night.

Prior to the game a video recording of Cooley and PC Athletic Director Bob Driscoll sending their condolences was featured on the scoreboard, while a moment of silence followed.

The uniforms will be sent to the families of those who lost loved ones last week.

Cooley spoke afterwards of the tribute, “It made me feel really, really special that that was able to happen. It hits home more than people who don’t have kids probably realize. I bring my kids to the bus stop every day. You tell them you love them, you give them a kiss, and you take for granted that they are going to come home. All of us were moved.

I grip my kids even harder now. It is a very touching story and I am very sad about it. I am glad Providence College was able to add something in their memory.”

* * *

Between the lines, the Friars were oh so impressive in dispatching Colgate.  The buzz grew in the Dunkin Donuts Center as Dunn checked into the game, and he stepped in seamlessly, dishing out the 13 assists (a PC debut record), while aggressively pushing the pace and playing the passing lanes. Craig caught up with Dunn after the game:

Cotton was hot from deep

Eight of his 13 assists were after halftime, with perhaps the Friars’ most impressive run coming early in the second half with Dunn leading the way.  Up by 11 at the beginning of the second, Dunn assisted on a pair of Bryce Cotton three pointers and made one of his own in a 60 second span.  Suddenly, it was a 20 point game two minutes into the half and the Friars cruised from there.

It was startling to see the speed and athleticism that the Friars featured with this new-look lineup.  They seemed to have trouble adjusting to playing at that speed in the first half, specifically Dunn who dribbled into traffic at times and couldn’t locate his shot early.

The early going also saw defensive lapses, as Colgate managed to connected on four 3 point field goals early to stay close, and get occasional easy looks inside.

Providence ramped up the defensive energy in the second half, holding Colgate without a field goal for over 12 minutes, as a 50-32 lead with 16:45 left turned into a 68-33 pounding prior to Colgate making another shot from the field with 4:33 to go.

The Friars had held them to a mere five points over the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Rapid Reaction:

1. What a difference having additional ball handlers made for PC’s shooters.  Bryce Cotton got a number of open looks from beyond the arc, hitting 4-7 from deep in the second half on his way to a team-high 21 points.

Josh Fortune carried the offense early, nailing a trio of three pointers and a deep two, as he scored 11 in the first half and 17 on the night.  Fortune finished an efficient 7-10 from the field after going 7-31 in his previous three games.  He looked like a different player on Tuesday night.

2. Johnson bulled and battered his way to eight rebounds and three blocked shots in just 16 minutes of action.  Friar fans saw the upside of the New York native when he snatched rebounds in crowds and powered through contact on his way to the rim, but there were also more moments than Cooley would have liked in which he looked out of sorts on offense, forcing the issue a bit.

“I thought Sidiki was great.  We have got to teach him a couple of more things. I don’t know how many assists he had today. He is a physical presence in there. I love him. He is a big teddy bear,” Cooley said afterwards.

3. Both Kadeem Batts and LaDontae Henton were efficient, with Henton shooting 6-12 form the field (5-7 on two point shots), while grabbing 10 rebounds and taking four steals, and Batts very quietly dished out a career-high seven assists to go along with seven rebounds and 10 points.

For the first time in quite a long time a Providence coach said this afterwards, “I thought our size bothered them a little bit on the interior between Sidiki, Kofane, Batts, and Ladontae.”

Where Providence’s size and athleticism was noticeably improved was on the offensive glass, where they grabbed 19 offensive boards, including four by Lee Goldsbrough.

4.  The Friars played with a different level of energy and that was reflected in the crowd tonight.  While just over 6,000 attended once again, it was one of the more lively, engaged crowds since last season.  One got the sense in being there tonight that Friartown is going to take to this group.  The buzz just seemed to build as the night wore on.

5. Cooley has emphasized not letting the other team’s star beat you, and tonight Murphy Burnatowski was limited to 4-15 shooting from the field.

6. Early in his debut Dunn threw a backdoor lob to Henton and Cooley was seen mouthing “that was a nice pass” to his coaching staff.  This came moments after he slipped a look between two defenders for a Goldsbrough slam.

7. For as well as Providence played defensively in the second half – they were stifling – they sprung leaks on the interior in the first, and left Colgate shooters open too often.  Cooley afterwards, “I think we are going to be a good scoring team I am just more concerned with how we are going to guard people as the competition continues to increase.”

8. Cooley on Dunn, “His shooting was somewhat gross. But I liked how he ran the team and he was able to get other guys’ shots.  He was able to create offense with his speed and athleticism.”

9. Asked to grade his performance in the post game press conference, Dunn gave himself a “D”, citing his poor shooting night (3-13).

10. Friar recruit Rodney Bullock had 39 points tonight, while Aaron Falzon (St. Mark’s) and Jalen Adams (Cushing) were both visiting tonight.  Craig Leighton covered both Falzon and Adams this past weekend.

 

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

3 Comments

  1. Dean Harrington

    December 19, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    Nice stuff, Kev.

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