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Butler Upends Providence, 68-64

Carson vs Butler

Butler made all 20 of their free throw attempts and out-rebounded Providence 39-27 to pull out a 68-64 victory on PC’s Senior Day. With the loss Providence finishes the regular season 21-10 and 11-7 in the Big East. The Friars will play St. John’s in the 4-5 game of the Big East Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The last time Providence and Butler met the Friars trailed by eight points with roughly 16 minutes to play, but PC rallied to grind out a victory in the closing seconds. Today, Butler led 40-24 with just over 16 minutes left, and it looked as though history might repeat itself when Providence closed to within one at 50-49 with under eight minutes on the clock.

On the next possession Carson Desrosiers was whistled for a foul at the rim. Freshman Kelan Martin converted the two foul shots and then Martin and Kellen Dunham connected on back to back 3-pointers to push the lead back to nine.

That was the story of the day for Butler. They made all of the plays when they had to — most notably grabbing three offensive rebounds in one possession which resulted in a Roosevelt Jones layup with 2:32 to play that gave them an eight point advantage. The Friars tried desperately to get back into it over the final two minutes, but Butler made all six of their free throws in the final minute to close out the victory.

Kris Dunn was electric in the second half for Providence, scoring 21 of his team-high 23 points. Tyler Harris played perhaps his best game of the season in what will most likely be his last at the Dunkin Donuts Center, making 7-12 from the field for 17 points.

LaDontae Henton struggled for one of the few times this season, finishing with eight points and seven rebounds in the final home game of a sterling career.

Providence’s RPI is now at 23 and they’ll use this year’s Big East Tournament to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding.

It won’t be easy, however. They play one of the hottest teams in the nation on Thursday in St. John’s — a team that has defeated the Friars twice this season — and a win there means a semifinal contest against 28-2 Villanova.

 

 

46 Comments

  1. Rui Alves

    March 7, 2015 at 8:08 pm

    From 2nd place to possible 5th. Thanks for nothing Friars.

  2. Patrick D. Murray

    March 7, 2015 at 8:10 pm

    Oh god! Real faithful fan. Can’t win them all. They beat them once already. Be glad they r playing in the tourny. Go Friars!

  3. Scott Geer

    March 7, 2015 at 8:16 pm

    Grab a win or two at the Garden! Go Friars!

  4. Jeremy Nunes

    March 7, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    Real fans stick together during tough times bro, we’ll be ok. It’s been a great year.

  5. Mark Iorfida

    March 7, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    Way to be positive Rui. Way to support a bunch of college kids. These are note professional athletes you know

  6. Jeremy Nunes

    March 7, 2015 at 8:20 pm

    Congratulations to coach Cooley and the Friars!! Tough loss today but it’s been a great season…We’re going to back to back NCAA tournament appearances for the 1st time in 20 years!!! The future is bright in Friar Town!

  7. Neil Primeau

    March 7, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    FRIARS ARE GOING TO THE…DANCE…2 YRS. IN A ROW….SIGN ED TO A 10 YR….DEAL….KEEP HIM AT….PC…..GET IT DONE….

  8. Scott Geer

    March 7, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    Tough matchup against St. John’s coming up. Of all the teams they play, they just seem to present defensive matchup issues. Slashers and gritty offense make it tough on anyone beyond Dunn and Henton to defend. Looking forward to how Cooley prepares for the rematch at MSG.

  9. Rui Alves

    March 7, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    I am glad they are in the tourney but just disappointed that they lost at home on senior day. I had to travel and sit in an hour of traffic so it would have been nice to see a W. I’m definitely a fan….i want them to be successful l. No tourney wins since the 90s makes you impatient.

  10. Scott Geer

    March 7, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    Traffic. Not the game, not the game. We’re talking ’bout traffic?!?

  11. Rui Alves

    March 7, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    ^^NCAA tourney, not the Big East. I’ve been to MSG before for that and it’s been fun. But the nation watches the Big Dance so that’s where I want to see us do well.

  12. David Levesque

    March 7, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    Coach sits in a 2/3 zone for first 10 minutes of 2nd half and gets torched with 3 pointers! Also why did Bentil not get more run after a monster last game. Get in the game big Ed!

  13. Kim Ira Higgins

    March 7, 2015 at 8:39 pm

    No tourney wins since the 90s? They won the whole big East tourney last year. Their game against UNC Last year at the big dance was respectable. Way to crap on a team that has accomplished so much. I think most friar faithful are pretty proud of this team this year. Thanks for nothing? Seriously? Maybe you should become a Duke fan.

  14. Scott Geer

    March 7, 2015 at 8:39 pm

    Rui, if they can remain a 7 seed or better, this has gotta be the year. Can’t agree with you more on that about wanting a tourney win. But the “thanks for nothing” comment?

  15. Chris Primini

    March 7, 2015 at 8:42 pm

    It was a bad loss. Lots at stake today. Cut Rui some slack. Fans are allowed to gripe

  16. Jeff Lemos

    March 7, 2015 at 8:46 pm

    Tough loss. We are now on the toughest side of the bracket in BE Tourney (St. Johns/Villanova)

  17. Scott Geer

    March 7, 2015 at 8:55 pm

    Typical NE sports mentality bro!

  18. Paul D Santilli

    March 7, 2015 at 8:55 pm

    Tough loss ….. not a bad year …… on to the Big East and the post season back to back a good sign that PC made the right choice in Coach Cooley. Next year looks bright they have secured some good talent. Just sayinnn ……

  19. David Avedisian

    March 7, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    Bad loss.

  20. Brian Fracassa

    March 7, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    URI #1

  21. Lauren LeClair

    March 7, 2015 at 9:12 pm

    Did someone comment on this uri #1……now that’s funny!!!!!

  22. Thomas Walters Jr

    March 7, 2015 at 9:34 pm

    Some teams still Have something to prove that why you keep your mind out of the NEWS PAPERS do listen to on but your team not your girlfriend your brother Nobody but US

  23. Mark Lachapelle

    March 7, 2015 at 9:41 pm

    Everytime the friars get ranked they’re knocked off the very next game.

  24. Patrick D. Murray

    March 7, 2015 at 9:51 pm

    In the NIT?!

  25. Ray Miller

    March 7, 2015 at 10:08 pm

    Bad matchup in Garden for us.

  26. Mario Teixeira

    March 7, 2015 at 10:25 pm

    Clowns like you shouldn’t go to the dunk!

  27. Mario Teixeira

    March 7, 2015 at 10:26 pm

    Went to man and cut a 14 or butler lead to 1 then went to zone and back down 9!

  28. David Levesque

    March 7, 2015 at 10:27 pm

    Puzzling!

  29. Mario Teixeira

    March 7, 2015 at 10:27 pm

    All you fake fans better not talk about how great we are when we repeat!

  30. Joe Benevides

    March 7, 2015 at 10:37 pm

    Clown

  31. Eric Gibree

    March 7, 2015 at 10:44 pm

    Lots of traffic in NYC

  32. Ron Santoro

    March 7, 2015 at 11:16 pm

    The friars will be ready for The Johnnie…tough to beat a good team 3 times in the same season

  33. Joshua Michael Corrente

    March 8, 2015 at 12:04 am

    Disappointing loss shows that this program is no where where it wants to be, but this regular season shows how enormously far this program has come in four years-

  34. Anne Carroll

    March 8, 2015 at 12:25 am

    FRIARS !!

  35. Rui Alves

    March 8, 2015 at 12:30 am

    I agree that comment was a bit harsh but you say things like that when you are fired up after a loss.

    I’ve been a fan for 15+ years so I’ve been there for some lean years but I’ll always stick with them.

  36. Paula Milano

    March 8, 2015 at 12:31 am

    Love the Friars and Coach Cooley – win or lose.

  37. Rui Alves

    March 8, 2015 at 12:34 am

    Please read my other comment about tourney wins. I clearly was referring to the NCAA tournament.

    I know they have done pretty well this season but they have the talent to have finished second in the BE. There is nothing wrong with a fan wanting their team to be more successful. And screw Duke lol

  38. Diane Findley

    March 8, 2015 at 1:24 am

    Amen! I’ve been a fan for 40 years ….this is exciting. We’ve only just begun.

  39. Diane Findley

    March 8, 2015 at 1:24 am

    Amen! I’ve been a fan for 40 years ….this is exciting. We’ve only just begun.

  40. Diane Findley

    March 8, 2015 at 1:24 am

    Amen! I’ve been a fan for 40 years ….this is exciting. We’ve only just begun.

  41. Christopher O'Rourke

    March 8, 2015 at 1:54 am

    A great season so far! Keep it up! Go PC!

  42. Brian Shortsleeve

    March 8, 2015 at 5:35 am

    Go get em!!

  43. Brian Shortsleeve

    March 8, 2015 at 5:58 am

    Go get em!

  44. Jennifer Palombo

    March 8, 2015 at 12:20 pm

    🙁

  45. John Cappuccilli

    March 8, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    We were very disappointed with the first half focus. Hard not to blame that on coach. All the stars were aligned for that game to be a catalyst for the Big east & NCAA tourney. I still have faith but I thought this team and coach would have been better prepared to come with their A game. Butler was tough as nails.

  46. Stephen O'Neil

    March 8, 2015 at 7:21 pm

    Spider man enjoyed the game

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