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Rapid Reaction: Friars Survive Yale

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Rapid reaction to Providence’s 76-74 victory over Yale.

How the game was won: Rust can’t be blamed for this one. The Friars made their first five 3 point field goal attempts and seemed to be on their way to a comfortable win early before Yale ran off a 14-0 run late in the first half. The Bulldogs eventually tied it before halftime and PC was unable to find separation over the game’s final 20 minutes.

Yale eventually cut the lead to one with under a minute remaining in the second half, but LaDontae Henton scored on a drive to give PC a three point advantage with 22 seconds on the clock. Kadeem Batts came up with a steal on the ensuing possession, and hit a free throw to ice it for Providence, as PC improved to 9-2 on the season.

Layup line: While Providence squared away some of the shooting woes from the field that has plagued them in the first semester (they were shooting less than 40% as a team coming in, but made 50% on the day and 8-17 from three), their defensive effort won’t fly beginning in another week.

Yale sophomore Justin Sears exposed Providence inside, as the 6’8 forward made 13-16 shots on his way to a career high 31 points.

How’s this for a stat? Yale made 11 layups in the first half alone, and nine more in the second half. Troubling. When they weren’t scoring at the rim, they were getting wide open looks at the three point line (making 6-14).

Cotton comes through again: While he struggled late against Yale’s fullcourt pressure, Bryce Cotton was the steadying force on a night in which PC badly needed one. He scored 21 points on an efficient 8-14 from the field and handed out eight assists. The only downside to his night were the turnovers — he committed four and had two in the final two minutes of the game.

Rebounding tale of two halves: Yale had 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, but none in the second. Then again, opportunities weren’t as frequent as they scored more easily over the game’s closing 20.

Harris assertive, Henton effective: Tyler Harris wasn’t bashful coming out of the semester break. The sophomore forward made 7-18 shots, including 3-7 from deep for his 19 points. Harris got off to a terrific start, making all three of his 3 pointers in the game’s first five and a half minutes.

Providence continues to struggle to get Henton shots, however. He finished 4-7, but all three of his second half baskets were key. After Yale took a 46-45 lead roughly five minutes into the second half he connected on a three pointer, he snapped a tie two minutes later with a layup, and then made the biggest shot of the night with his drive and score with just over 20 seconds remaining.

Free throw shooting continues: Providence may be able to win a lot of games at the free throw line this season. All year they’ve flirted with the highest percentage in the country, and they didn’t hurt their cause Tuesday, finishing 12-13 (92%) versus Yale. Yale missed six of their 14 freebies and lost by a bucket.

What does it mean? Survival. There will be some hand wringing after this one, and there were troubling signs throughout, but the name of the game at this point of the season is avoiding bad losses and putting yourself in a position to capitalize on a good conference record. The Friars have narrowly avoided defeat against a pair of Ivy League schools in Brown and Yale, and those who long for the suspended freshmen, or enjoy the “what if?” game will rue the fact that Providence came out on top against the Ivy League’s best, Harvard, in an exhibition game when playing with a full complement of guards.

That isn’t reality for this team now, and the better part of the next three days will be spent alternating between focusing on the troubles against Yale and speculation about whether Brandon Austin and Rodney Bullock will be available when PC plays Maine on Saturday.

 

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