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After a 5-1 February, Friars Alive and Well
- Updated: February 24, 2013
Story Highlights Include:
- Breaking down the 19-0 run
- Henton huge in Batts’ absence
- Cotton making plays with passing, shot
Another day, another come from behind road victory for Providence.
The Friars defeated Rutgers 76-72 on a night in which they fell behind 15-5 after making just one of their first nine field goal attempts, and later trailed 27-16 midway through the first half before exploding for a 19-0 run before halftime.
It was the third time in February that PC trailed big on the road and bounced back to win. They started down 10-2 at both Villanova and South Florida earlier this month – a month that may ultimately be the turning point of the Ed Cooley era.
Providence seemed once again set to play out this string in February, but wins in five of six games brings them to 7-8 in conference play with a shot at finishing at, or above, .500 in the Big East for the first time in four years.
A last second three point shot by Bryce Cotton kicked off the February turnaround at Villanova, and it was the three point shot that made the difference on Saturday night against Rutgers.
Coming on late
Fresh off of a humbling loss to Syracuse, a lifeless Friar team stumbled their way through much of the first half against the Scarlet Knights until Cotton went to work.
His game-high 22 points and three 3 point field goals made headlines, but he kick-started PC’s offense with his play-making ability.
Down 29-20 with 5:45 left in the first half, Cotton drew two defenders and found LaDontae Henton open in the corner for a three. 29-23 Knights.
After Rutgers scored four straight to push their lead back to ten, Cotton made a difficult pull-up jumper to bring Providence within eight.
Then came the onslaught.
PC scored the games’ next 17 points by catching fire from deep and ramping up the defense.
Rutgers had made six of their last seven shots to get to 33 points, but they wouldn’t score over the final four minutes against a suddenly active Friar defense.
Cotton again drew and dished, finding Council this time for a corner three to make it 33-28 with 3:25 remaining – a shot that opened the three point floodgates.
Henton drilled a transition three from Council on the ensuing possession to push the run to 8-0. Providence ramped up the defensive intensity even more from that point – coming up with steals on three straight possessions.
A Kris Dunn theft led to a Council layup and the game was tied at 33, then Cotton came up with a steal of his own on the next possession.
PC took their third straight steal when Dunn deflected a pass that found its way to Cotton. Josh Fortune tipped home a missed layup the other way and the Friars had the lead, 35-33, with 1:33 to go.
The run reached 16-0 after Cotton canned a three and was fouled, and when Cotton hit yet another three just before the halftime buzzer PC led 42-33.
The final nine points of the run came with Council and Kadeem Batts on the bench, and Cotton was the catalyst. He was just 1-4 prior to the run, but turned the game around completely in the final four minutes of the half.
The 19-0 run included steals on three straight possessions, four 3 point field goals, two transition layups and a stunned crowd at the RAC.
When Cotton is making threes in bunches this offense becomes very difficult to handle. He was outstanding in the half’s final five minutes.
Rutgers would challenge once again, however. They went on 19-10 run out of the locker room to tie it at 52, but the Friars got big shots from Henton and Council when they needed it most.
Henton steps up
Because of the struggles with his jump shot this season, LaDontae Henton’s contributions have gone somewhat under-appreciated in Friartown. His 18 points and 10 rebounds marked his 10th double double of the season (good for 2nd in the Big East), but more importantly, he stepped up in a critical moment.
Batts went to the bench with his fourth foul in a one possession game (56-53) with 9:16 left, and Henton came through in his absence. After making a difficult layup just prior to Batts’ fourth foul, the sophomore forward hit a three pointer from the top of the key (another drive and dish from Cotton) to give PC a 59-53 lead.
Moments later, Dunn found Henton on a pretty look which he finished and was fouled on. Batts returned around the 6:00 mark with the lead at four, but Henton had stabilized a shallow frontcourt in his absence.
It was Council’s turn to make the big plays in the final two minutes – making a difficult 18 footer when Rutgers was rallying and then getting to the lane for a left-handed layup to give Providence a five point lead with 15 seconds to go that sealed the victory.
The 5-1 February was the most impressive late-season PC run since Ryan Gomes’ junior season of 2003-04. That team ripped off six February wins in a row after losing their first two games in the month- a stretch that vaulted them to a top 15 national ranking with hopes of winning the Big East in March.
This team isn’t a threat to finish atop the Big East, but with three games remaining and a first round Big East Tournament bye in the books, those whispers about the Friars finding their way onto the bubble on Selection Sunday are getting a little louder.
It’s a long shot, but the the Friars can realistically talk about what it would take to get to the Dance with three games remaining in a season that was supposed to be about setting up for a run in 2013-14.
This team was supposed to be done on February 1.
Ed Cooley and his Friars didn’t get the memo, apparently.
Official Basketball Box Score
Providence vs Rutgers
02/23/13 9 p.m. at RAC - Piscataway, N.J.
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VISITORS: Providence 15-12, 7-8
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 Batts, Kadeem....... f 4-11 0-0 6-6 5 3 8 5 14 0 3 0 0 28
23 Henton, LaDontae.... f 7-11 3-4 1-1 1 9 10 2 18 0 0 1 0 36
03 Dunn, Kris.......... g 1-3 0-1 2-2 3 1 4 3 4 5 1 0 4 34
11 Cotton, Bryce....... g 7-18 3-9 5-6 2 2 4 2 22 4 2 0 1 39
32 Council, Vincent.... g 4-13 1-2 3-6 1 2 3 2 12 6 0 1 1 35
04 Fortune, Josh....... 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 11
13 Kofane, Brice....... 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 11
21 Goldsbrough, Lee.... 1-2 1-2 1-2 1 0 1 1 4 0 1 0 1 6
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 25-61 8-20 18-24 15 22 37 17 76 15 7 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-34 38.2% 2nd Half: 12-27 44.4% Game: 41.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-12 50.0% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-11 90.9% 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% Game: 75.0% 1
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 13-13, 4-11
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 JOHNSON, Austin..... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 15
33 JUDGE, Wally........ f 2-7 0-0 3-5 3 5 8 1 7 0 3 1 0 27
01 SEAGEARS, Jerome.... g 2-8 0-1 2-2 1 2 3 4 6 1 2 0 0 19
04 MACK, Myles......... g 3-10 1-3 2-3 1 2 3 1 9 5 1 0 1 34
10 POOLE, Mike......... g 5-12 1-3 0-0 3 1 4 2 11 0 0 0 1 28
02 MILLER, Dane........ 6-9 1-2 4-6 4 4 8 3 17 2 0 0 0 27
13 KONE, Malick........ 0-3 0-0 1-2 2 2 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 12
15 RANDALL, Derrick.... 2-3 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 2 0 9
22 JACK, Kadeem........ 6-11 0-0 3-4 2 8 10 4 15 0 0 1 0 29
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 26-64 3-9 17-24 18 26 44 21 72 9 7 4 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3% 2nd Half: 13-34 38.2% Game: 40.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 12-18 66.7% Game: 70.8% 5
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Officials: John Cahill, Jeffrey Anderson and Gary Prager
Technical fouls: Providence-None. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 5533
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Providence.................... 42 34 - 76
Rutgers....................... 33 39 - 72
Points in the paint-PC 28,RUTGERS 32. Points off turnovers-PC 11,RUTGERS 10.
2nd chance points-PC 18,RUTGERS 20. Fast break points-PC 10,RUTGERS 8.
Bench points-PC 6,RUTGERS 39. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-PC 2nd-00:16, RUTGERS 2nd-00:01.
Largest lead-PC by 9 1st-00:01, RUTGERS by 11 1st-07:26.
Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com
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