Friar Basketball
Home / Game Recaps / Rapid Reaction: Villanova Smothers Friars

Rapid Reaction: Villanova Smothers Friars

Novalos

Rapid reaction to Providence’s 93-63 loss to #11 Villanova.

How the game was won: Villanova started on a 9-0 run, then extended that to 17-3 within the game’s first five minutes and it was all but over from there. This was a terrible matchup for Providence coming in, compounded by blazing hot shooting from beyond the arc for Nova, who made 14-25 from deep. Villanova shot nearly 60% from the field and led by 30 for much of the second half against a dispirited Friar bunch.

Bryce Cotton was once again the leader for PC, scoring 25 points and making all three of his shots from three point range.

These are two teams on different levels right now, as evidence by Villanova’s bench and backcourt production. The Wildcats got eight 3 pointers from their reserves, including 4-5 from Rice transfer Dylan Ennis.

Harris struggles, Fortune to the bench: Ed Cooley sat sophomore guard Josh Fortune for the second half, but Fortune wasn’t the only Friar to struggle with the Cats. Tyler Harris seemed out of sorts throughout, turning the ball over six times and making just 1-9 from the field, snapping a string of strong games for the NC State transfer.

Fortune played just seven minutes, and the Friars shot only 35% from the field.

A tale of two benches: Providence got just four points from their bench, while Villanova’s reserves scored 38.

What it means: Clearly, the Friars are reeling. The roster is short-handed, there have been major distractions hanging over the team for weeks, and a blowout loss following a pair of crushing overtimes defeats has the team at a breaking point. It seems almost unfathomable that just eight days ago this team was 10-2 with a big opportunity in front of them at Massachusetts.

For the second year in a row it will be up to Cooley to rediscover his team’s confidence, ignore the growing noise and find ways to get creative to win with a thin roster. A year ago today Providence lost a home game to DePaul in which they were getting blown out — a loss that followed three straight to struggling Boston College, Brown and then a blowout at Louisville.

The challenge this season is the calvary isn’t coming. Kris Dunn and Vincent Council were still getting their legs under them last January, whereas this team’s backcourt is solely reliant on Cotton and another guard who may have fallen out of favor with the coach. Things unraveled quickly, but the climb back up will be a long one.

Providence (now 10-5) gets their first chance to begin that climb Wednesday night at home against Georgetown.

 

You must be logged in to post a comment Login