Friar Basketball

Point Guards Run the Show in Victory

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One of the narratives of this past offseason was Providence’s inability to bolster their backcourt in the spring. The Friars aimed high (see: Devonte Graham, Antoine Mason) and with each ensuing miss it seemed the commitment of Kyron Cartwright went further and further under the radar.

Cartwright pledged to PC in early April after decommitting from Loyola Marymount. His commitment came prior to the pursuit of the likes of Graham and Mason and it felt as though he was the forgotten man in Providence’s top 25 recruiting class.

It’s been hard to ignore Cartwright over the past two games, however. For all of the buzz Paschal Chukwu got for sparking PC’s victory over Rhode Island on Wednesday night, it was Cartwright weaving through the defense and finding him at the rim for easy scores. Cartwright had as big of an impact against URI as one could have while only taking one shot — finishing with seven assists in 23 minutes.

Three days later Cartwright and fellow point guard Kris Dunn were the catalysts once again. In a 79-61 win over Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon Cartwright helped break the game open by making all four of his shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, and handing out 10 assists in just 14 minutes. He added four rebounds and three steals for good measure.

Cartwright was in the starting lineup over the first month of the season and has responded well to coming off of the bench, as he’s had as much of an impact as anyone outside of Dunn in helping PC turn it around after losing three straight.

And Dunn was terrific once again on Saturday.

The third year point guard seems to be rounding into form, and has shaken off a 10 turnover struggle at Kentucky with a string of strong performances. After a 22 point, 9 assist night against URI, Dunn did a little bit of everything versus Stony Brook, finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Beyond the numbers, it was the tone Dunn set in the second half that made the difference. This was a one possession game through 25 minutes, but Dunn upped his aggression. He got to the free throw line for nine attempts in the second half alone, and grabbed six of his seven rebounds in the second.

Dunn has just three turnovers in PC’s last two games (over 66 minutes of play).

Providence continues to struggle in the halfcourt offensively, but for the second straight game they’ve done damage at the free throw line — going 21-28 after making 21-26 versus the Rams.

Carson Desrosiers had a season high six blocks, LaDontae Henton led the team with 19 points, and freshman Ben Bentil provide an edge in the first half when the Friars were flat early. The Friars were +21 with Bentil on the floor.

Providence held Stony Brook to just 29% shooting in the second half, holding star Jameel Warney to 1-9 shooting and two rebounds in the second half after he’d beaten PC up inside in the first (6 points, 10 rebounds).

With the win Providence improves to 8-3 on the season with just two non-conference games remaining. They’ll host Massachusetts next Saturday (1pm start) and then travel to Brooklyn for a critical neutral court matchup with #20 Miami.

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

Twitter: Kevin_Farrahar

 

 

5 Comments

  1. Joseph Gregory

    December 13, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    Luke Arnold

  2. Jim Dahl

    December 13, 2014 at 9:37 pm

    Great win

  3. Brian Shortsleeve

    December 14, 2014 at 1:38 am

    Go get em!

  4. Anthony Thibeault

    December 14, 2014 at 1:49 am

    Awesome

  5. Derec Lamendola

    December 14, 2014 at 2:35 am

    LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO REMIND All Fans All School ON Campuis About Derec Lamendola Birthday Party December 20 TH @ DUNK REMIND Every One Plerys And Plerys And This Year LET’S MAKE IT Fara What You Think MY Biethday IS Deceember 22 ON MONDAY SO We Can Celbrate @ DUNK Next Saturday

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