Creighton 88 Providence 73

By Craig Leighton
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Updated: March 9, 2014

The Providence College Friars were routed last night by the Creighton Blue Jays 88-73 before a sellout crowd in Omaha, Nebraska. Doug McDermott led all scorers with a career high 45 points. Bryce Cotton led PC in scoring with 23 points and LaDonte Henton added 21 for the Friars. PC’s record falls to 20-11 and they drop into a 3rd place tie in the Big East Conference finishing with a 10-8 regular season record.

What Happened

The Friars ran into a buzz saw named Doug McDermott last night. PC could not stop him as he finished with a career high 45 points on 17-25 shooting. When an All American is on that kind of a roll and is scoring that easily it is going to be a long night no matter what you are trying to do defensively.

One thing that the Friars did have to do last night was prevent Creighton from going on any sort of extended scoring run. PC needed to keep this game close in order to have a legitimate shot. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays went on a 32-9 scoring run in the first half and essentially the game was over.

Cotton did not score in the first half and took only three shots. I know Cotton is an unselfish player but he needed to step up and create some scoring opportunities when the game is starting to get out of reach. He did have 23 points in the second half but it was too little too late.

Providence shot an okay 43 percent from the field but when you are facing a team with Creighton’s scoring ability you need to be able to shoot better from the floor.

What’s It Means

If Providence had won this game it may have been enough to get them into the NCAA tournament without having to win a game at Madison Square Garden in the Big East Tournament. Now the Friars will need to win one game in New York to stay on the bubble and win two games to be safely in the NCAA tournament field.

What’s Next

Providence will be playing St. John’s this Thursday at 2:30 in the first round of the Big East Tournament. This is a must win in order for the Friars to still have a chance for an at large bid to the NCAA tournament. If they win they will most likely face Villanova in the semi-finals. A win against the Wildcats would seal a bid into the NCAA field.

It’s Not Panic Time

There is no need for Friar fans to head for the Newport bridge. Winning at Creighton on senior night was going to be a very tall order, very few teams would have won that game last night in that situation. The big game is the one coming up against St. John’s. As Ed Cooley always says one game at a time.

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