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Resilient Friars Upset Creighton, 81-68

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Weren’t the Friars supposed to be dead by now?

There weren’t many in Providence who foresaw this just 13 days ago, but if Ed Cooley and this group of Friars have proven anything over the past two seasons it’s an uncanny ability to block out the noise and rebound from adversity when few believe it’s possible.

This is your team now, Friartown — its core built around players who have spent not only a majority of this season, but the better part of their careers, listening to who was supposedly coming to save them, and how those players would get this program to the next level under Cooley.

Yet, the core of six (with a significant boost from Ted Bancroft tonight) won their third game in a row on Saturday night, this time an 81-68 upset over #20 Creighton and quite possibly the nation’s best player in Doug McDermott.

On paper, the Blue Jays were a matchup nightmare, leading the country in three point field goals made, three point field goal percentage, and assists, but as the Big East newcomers learned Saturday, funny things can happen in a packed Dunkin Donuts Center.

HentonCreighton

Creighton’s probably having trouble finding any humor in the fact that they’re now the third straight ranked opponent to come into Providence and fall to Cooley’s Friars (dating back to last February’s wins over Notre Dame and Cincinnati).

PC was able to pull this one out by forcing Creighton to make just 4-19 from three point range (1-10 in the second half), while limiting them to only nine assists — ten below their season average. The Blue Jays had won ten consecutive games, came into this one 5-0 in conference play, and had won by an average of 19.9 points per game during the ten game run.

They trailed by 20 five minutes into the second half.

The Friars were solid in the opening 20 minutes, taking a 37-30 lead into the locker room, thanks in large part to a 19-9 advantage on the glass. Creighton went without an offensive rebound in the first half.

Bryce Cotton and the resurgent Kadeem Batts combined for 20 in the first, with Batts looking particularly strong once again with 10/7 in 17 minutes.

Those that felt uncomfortable with a seven point advantage against the most efficient offensive team in the country had to have felt a surge of confidence after PC opened with a 7-0 run out of the break.

Yet, despite Providence leading 46-33 just over three minutes into the second half, things seemed on the verge of tightening when Batts picked up his third foul with 16:23 on the clock. Tyler Harris soon followed Batts to the bench with foul trouble, and suddenly (or more accurately, seemingly) PC was short on scoring options.

The Friars wouldn’t falter down the stretch, however, as they opened the second half on an 18-5 run, and got a 12 point, five rebound second half out of LaDontae Henton who pushed this game out of reach with a corner three pointer and two makes while getting fouled — the types of physical plays that sent a message to the Blue Jays: this was the Friars’ night and there wasn’t much they could do about it.

Josh Fortune added a pair of threes and a tip in, Cotton scored 13 in the second half to finish with a game-high 23 points (he’s scored 20+ in 10 of the last 11 games), while walk-on turned scholarship forward Ted Bancroft played 14 second half minutes and spent a majority of that giving the All American turned walk-on McDermott (his father is Creighton’s head coach) issues while PC blew the game open.

Five Friars finished in double figures scoring, with Henton going for 19 and Batts finishing his night with 13/9 in just 23 minutes. PC shot a blazing 15-27 in the second half and finished the game over 50%, while holding Creighton to 13 points less than their season’s average.

After three straight wins, Providence is now 3-2 in the Big East and 13-5 overall — with this latest victory an especially important one as it’s the Friars’ first win over a top 25 team this season.

This PC team may not have the depth Friars fans were drooling over in October, and the core may not be made up of kids who had a number next to their ranking out of high school, but for the second straight season the Cotton/Batts/Henton-led Friars have saved a season previously on life support.

“We kind of got punched in the face and never got back up,” McDermott said afterwards.

The Friars took a vicious hit a few weeks ago and they’re still standing.

 

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

Twitter: @KevinFarrahar

 

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