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PC Opens Versus New Look Jays

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A lot can change in a month. On Thanksgiving Providence stood at 5-0 following their ACC sweep of Notre Dame and Florida State at Mohegan Sun, while Creighton was perhaps the surprise of the Big East. The Bluejays were expected to struggle this season after losing four starters, including National Player of the Year Doug McDermott, but last year’s Big East Tournament runner up started 5-0 and found themselves ranked 23rd in the country three weeks into the season.

Providence dropped their next three, yet has seemingly righted the ship with wins over postseason hopefuls Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Miami, while Creighton has become an enigma.

Greg McDermott’s group is 4-4 over their last eight games, with losses to Tulsa, St. Mary’s, and Ole Miss now overshadowing both their fast start and a big win at rival Nebraska. Perhaps most troubling for Jays’ fans was a loss at North Texas in which they trailed by nearly 30 points before staging a furious comeback that fell just short.

PC welcomes Creighton on New Year’s Eve as part of the Big East’s kickoff marathon on Fox Sports 1. A year ago Creighton, new to the league, sent a message by pasting Marquette 67-49 in their Big East opener, but without McDermott, who swept 14 national player of the year awards, this is a different team.

In their 13 games Creighton has had six different leading scorers already. The key to slowing them will be to contain senior guard Austin Chatman who is averaging a thick stat line of 13.4 points (8th in BE), 4.6 assists (3rd in BE) and 4.3 rebounds per game. He’s scored 19+ in three of Creighton’s last four games. He’s also making 86% from the free throw line.

Isaiah Zierden is a tremendous shooter (91% FT, 44% 3pt), while 6’11 senior Will Artino is efficient scoring around the basket, but has seen his production dip after a strong start to the season.

This is a game Providence should win. The trip from Omaha isn’t an easy one, and if the Friars are to defeat Creighton for the third time in four meetings over the past 12 months they’ll have to follow a formula similar to what they used a year ago — out-working and out-muscling the Jays. The Friars were able to bully Creighton in their two victories a season ago and figure to rely heavily on their length throughout the Big East schedule.

The homecourt advantage figures to be critical in this series going forward, but it’s worth noting that PC has lost their last five Big East home openers.

The two most encouraging developments for Providence fans are the emergence of Kris Dunn and a strong RPI rating for both the league and the Friars through the non-conference portion of the schedule.

Dunn has been a force in December, most recently torching Miami for 15 points, 13 assists, five rebounds and three steals. He leads the Big East in assists by a healthy margin, averaging seven per game while no one else averages over 5.5. Dunn is also the Big East’s leader in steals and 10th in points per game.

PC’s RPI is up to #22 nationally per RPIforecast.com, and after struggling a season ago the Big East is ranked second in conference RPI, meaning a good showing in conference play should mean a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the Friars. That hasn’t happened in nearly 25 years.

There’s a lot of work to be done before the tournament talk begins and it starts Wednesday night in a rematch of last season’s Big East championship.

Twitter: Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

3 Comments

  1. Mario Teixeira

    December 30, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    No more McShitter to carry them ahaaaaaa!

  2. Derec Lamendola

    December 30, 2014 at 3:46 pm

    LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DO WON’T TO SMACK TO THE FOUHTER Mr.MERMDEMIIT And Procidence Colllege Friars HAS GOT PLAY HARD HARD HATD BIG EAST REMBER LAST YEAR LETD Win DO THIS FOR ME I GOY MY PC PLERS IF Providence Colllege Friars Wins I WiILL DO MY ROOOM OVER I Love MERZADE

  3. Jeff Hoyle

    December 31, 2014 at 12:16 am

    We’ll be starting the New Year with the Friars!

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