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Cotton’s Top 10 Games: #2 Big East Champions

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Friarbasketball.com takes a look back at the top ten games of Bryce Cotton’s senior season.

Game: Big East Championship: March 15 versus Creighton

A look back: Cotton filled the stat sheet, but had struggled from the field (6-24) in Providence’s first two Big East Tournament wins over St. John’s and Seton Hall. He found a way to make an impact by getting to the free throw line 13 times against the Johnnies and then added 18 points and 10 assists in Friday night’s win over Seton Hall.

Yet, for the Friars to overcome Doug McDermott and Creighton, a team that had handled them in Omaha just seven days prior, they needed Cotton to be at his best.

PC took the air out of the ball in the first half, holding the most efficient offensive team in the country to just 17 points at the break, and watched Cotton take off, scoring 16 of his team-high 23 points, in the second half.

The game provided some of Cotton’s most memorable plays of the season:

  • Tyler Harris found Cotton streaking down the court on a fastbreak in which Cotton was fouled and rolled the ball over the rim and through. The three point play pushed Providence’s lead to 33-24 with 16:26 remaining.
  • Creighton countered with a three pointer on their next possession, but Cotton connected on a 3 of his own the ensuing trip down the court.
  • A minute and a half later, the Garden exploded as Cotton crossed over his defender and hit another three pointer, this time drawing a foul and letting out a scream as PC led 40-29 with 14:17 on the clock.

The Friars slipped into a drought after a Carson Desrosiers and-1 gave them a 52-42 advantage with nine minutes to play. Their only field goal over the next eight minutes came off of a Cotton layup (54-47 at the 5:18 mark) and their next point after that didn’t come until Cotton was fouled in Providence’s end of the court with 2:47 left. He made both free throws — 56-50 PC.

Providence withstood a barrage of McDermott three pointers down the stretch thanks in large part to Cotton’s teammates. Kadeem Batts grabbed a rebound in traffic and was fouled with 1:37 to go in a 56-53 game. He made both freebies to push the lead back to five.

After McDermott made yet another 3 to slice the lead to two, LaDontae Henton hit a 17 footer with the shot clock running down on the next possession that all but closed out the Bluejays.

The win sealed an NCAA berth — PC’s first in ten years — and their first Big East title since 1994. Cotton was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Relive it all here:

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