Friar Basketball
Home / Game Recaps / Rapid Reaction: PC Pulls Away from the Hoyas

Rapid Reaction: PC Pulls Away from the Hoyas

pcgeorgetown

Rapid Reaction to Providence’s 70-52 victory over Georgetown on Wednesday night.

How the game was won: The Friars held Georgetown to a season-low 52 points on just 39% shooting from the field, and broke the game open behind a three point flurry from Josh Fortune early in the second half. After Fortune knocked down a pair of three pointers in a span of 30 seconds, a three point Providence edge became a 43-34 lead that gave PC control with 13:40 remaining in the second half.

Fortune’s threes kick-started a 14-0 Providence run to make it 51-34 with just over ten minutes left.

While Fortune broke it open, Ed Cooley said afterwards that he thought senior Kadeem Batts “set the tone early.” Batts had perhaps his best game of the season, scoring 21 points on 6-9 shooting, while getting to the free throw line for 12 attempts. Batts scored 11 of PC’s 28 first half points.

Cooley makes a statement: Clearly, Providence’s head man had heard the rumblings of a potential divide between him and the school’s administration following the suspensions of freshmen Rodney Bullock and the now-departed Brandon Austin.

His post game press conference was powerful. “I’m proud to be at Providence College. I never see myself going anywhere. I have the absolute 100% support of our administration, and today it all came together for us.”

Cooley spoke of being proud of his seniors, how the fire at his home this week gave him perspective, and seemed as determined as ever to lead Providence to the top. Here’s the must-watch press conference in its entirety:

Desrosiers sends them away: Carson Desrosiers saw a bump in minutes (26), and rewarded Cooley with four blocked shots. Cooley spoke of how he wants the junior to play with more of an edge on the floor (“a dog” as Cooley so often puts it), but Desrosiers certainly provided a lift, as once again his ability to get blocks early had opponents looking over their shoulder when taking it into the paint.

Resiliency becoming a staple: The execution isn’t always there, but aside from Sunday night’s loss to Villanova, the effort certainly is. Friar fans who had seen teams melt when facing adversity under prior regimes couldn’t be blamed for wondering if this season was on the verge of unraveling after the challenges of recent weeks, but credit Cooley (who credited his seniors) for keeping this group together through difficult losses and distractions.

They twice came back from double digit deficits in the Virgin Islands for victories, and cut Maryland’s 19 point lead to just two with 1:30 remaining in the Paradise Jam championship. They trailed by nine against UMass with just three minutes left before sending that one to overtime, trailed by two possessions in overtime before defeating Boston College, and held off URI at a crazy Ryan Center.

With a lack of guard depth and shot makers the Friars will frustrate going forward, but they’ll keep on coming.

Cotton continues: 20 points, seven assists and just two turnovers for Bryce Cotton who (you guessed it) played the full 40 minutes. Cotton has scored 20 or more points in six straight games, and eight of the last nine.

What does it mean? The Friars can let out a sigh of relief. Their three game losing streak is a thing of the past, as is an eight game losing streak to Georgetown that dated back to 2005. Providence is 11-5 on the season, 1-2 in the Big East, and has eight days off before they head to Queens to take on St. John’s.

 

 

 

You must be logged in to post a comment Login