How Will Providence Respond Against Syracuse? Looking Back on Recent History

Riding a four game losing streak and welcoming one of the most talented teams in the country, many in Friartown are questioning how the Friars will respond when Syracuse makes their final visit to Providence as a Big East team on Wednesday night.

Even Providence head coach Ed Cooley seemed to be at a loss after Saturday’s loss to DePaul, but if recent history is any indicator, Providence could put up more of a fight than many would think.

Of course, this is a different season, with a different roster, but Providence has faced similar circumstances the past two seasons and gave top ten teams all they could handle at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

Here’s a look back.

January 4, 2011 vs. #5 Pittsburgh: All but forgotten two years later, in Keno Davis’s final year in Providence the Friars started 11-2, with

convincing wins over Rhode Island and Alabama highlighting the out of conference schedule.

Providence dropped their first two conference games, however.  They hung around long enough in the Carrier Dome to make it a game against #5 Syracuse before falling by seven, and rallied to take a lead against St. John’s before falling in the closing seconds.

The following week top five Pittsburgh came to the Dunk at 14-1 on the season in a game of two teams trending in opposite directions.  Yet, Providence rallied from a seven point halftime deficit and took their first lead of the second stanza with just over two minutes to play – a lead they eventually pushed to four with 1:30 remaining after a Marshon Brooks (28 points) 3 pointer.  They were out-scored 11-4 over the final 70 seconds and fell 83-79

Details from my article following the game:

Down seven at halftime, Providence continued to push Pittsburgh throughout the first ten minutes of the second half.  They pulled to within two with 17:51 left, to one with 14:36 to go, and trailed 52-50 before Pitt went to a zone, slowing the PC offense and resulting in a 9-0 Panther run to push the lead to 11.

The Friars continued to fight, scratching their way back to within four, 65-61, after a Duke Mondy three pointer with under six minutes to play, to which Pittsburgh countered with a basket and a foul.  Back down seven, PC freshman Gerard Coleman connected from deep on the next possession to make it a four point game once again.  They weren’t going away quietly on this night.

The second half was a series of Pittsburgh mini-runs followed by Providence clawing their way back into the game with an aggressive full court press and timely shots from deep.

The final seven minutes were the best Providence has played all season, and perhaps the most mentally strong performance under Davis.  Those final seven minutes consisted of:

• The Providence defense drawing four offensive fouls
• A 15-5 run in the final three minutes
• Seven Pittsburgh turnovers
• Six three point field goals

The key sequence looked to be when Providence drew an offensive foul on Pitt’s senior point guard Brad Wanamaker, which Marshon Brooks followed up by drilling a contested three with 1:31 to go.  Wanamaker had fouled out and PC had a four point lead in a rocking Dunkin Donuts Center.

 

Technicals: None

Officials: Ray Perone, Gene Steratore, Tony Greene
Attendance: 9,181

 

January 4, 2012 vs. #1 Syracuse:  What’s impressive about falling by 14 points at home?  Maybe not much unless you factor in where Providence stood heading in, who they were playing and how close this game was for 35 minutes.

Where did Providence stand?  After running through a soft out of conference schedule at 11-2, the wheels fell off in their

first two Big East games.  They were run off the court, 91-67, against a St. John’s team made up of freshmen playing their conference opener, and they managed only 40 points against Georgetown and had the worst shooting night in the school’s Big East history in their second game.

Providence’s conference losing streak stood at 17 straight, and they were welcoming perhaps the best team in the country in #1 Syracuse.  How talented was Syracuse a year ago?  The 4th pick in the NBA Draft came off of the bench and Michael Carter-Williams, perhaps the conference’s best player this season, was a bit player for them.

Playing inspired basketball, the Friars trailed at the break 36-34.  When it looked as though Syracuse’s talent would allow them to pull away for good (they led 55-41 with 15 minutes to play) the Friars fought back.

A LaDontae Henton three pointer with just under 10 minutes to play pulled PC to within seven, and on the next possession Henton grabbed an offensive rebound and missed, grabbed another offensive rebound and rimmed out a layup that he was fouled on and headed to the free throw line with a chance to pull the Friars to within five.  Henton missed both and SU quickly countered with a 5-0 run to push the advantage back to 12.

Still, Providence had one more run in them.  A Bryce Cotton three and a pair of layups by Vincent Council and Gerard Coleman brought them to with six with 5:33 remaining.

Over the final five minutes Syracuse’s depth and talent won out, but like in the Pittsburgh loss a year prior the Friars were competitive on a night when most expected them to flounder.

“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,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said afterwards. “We’ve stopped everybody, pretty much, this year. We couldn’t stop them. We just outscored them.”

From my article after the loss:

Yes, Providence eventually fell by 14 to the top team in the country, but with every occasion in which it looked as though Syracuse would pull away, Providence showed the grit that their coach vowed to bring with him when he took the job.

Providence lost to a more talented and deeper Syracuse team on Wednesday night, but they were far from the emotionally fragile group they had been the past two seasons – not with the powerful Cooley willing his team and his crowd back into the game at times when both might have checked out in the past.

Providence came out of the locker room with an edge, which was apparent when they played the Orange to a virtual standstill in the opening half (36-34 heading to the locker room).

After a back and forth first half, it looked as though Syracuse might pull away in the final five minutes.  The Orange grabbed the momentum and led 33-28 with just over three minutes to play, but the Friars dug in and held Syracuse to a single field goal in the final three minutes – a three point make by Brandon Triche with 1:30 to play that gave Syracuse a 36-34 lead.

Syracuse took their next swing early in the second half, as a 12-1 run pushed a 40-38 lead to 52-39 advantage with 15 minutes to go.  When Triche hit his third three pointer of the second half just five minutes in, he gave Syracuse a seemingly insurmountable 55-41 edge against a PC team that managed a mere 40 points against Georgetown on Saturday.

Providence dragged themselves off of the canvas once more, staying within shouting distance over the next five minutes until a LaDontae Henton three pointer capped a spurt that pulled PC to within seven with 9:37 remaining.

After Henton followed by missing a pair of free throws that would have brought the Friars to within five with nine minutes to play, Syracuse responded as great teams do, by converting a layup off of the miss, getting a stop, and then working the shot clock until James Southerland hit his only field goal of the game (unless you count the ridiculous windmill he threw down in the final seconds with a full shot clock), a top of the key three pointer to quickly push the lead back to 12 with eight minutes left.

Each time the energy level in the arena began to rise, Syracuse responded.  The run was just another blow to the Friars, and another opportunity for Providence to get back up.

Which they did.

Over the next minute and a half PC ripped off a 7-2 run highlighted by a Bryce Cotton three, and when Gerard Coleman converted a layup two possessions later it was suddenly a 70-64 game with five minutes to play.

The quick striking Orange did what they do best on the next two possessions when sophomore Dion Waiters hit a difficult shot in the lane and canned a corner three and just as quickly it was an 11 point game again.

So many different players made so many big plays for the Orange.

 

 

Technicals: None
Officials: Mike Roberts, Bob Donato, Ray Natili
Attendance: 12,252

 

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

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