Friar Basketball

Rodney Bullock Lights Up Hinkle

PC at Butler

Just how good was Rodney Bullock in Providence’s 81-73 road victory at #9 Butler?

He was the star of this one, despite Kris Dunn going off for 16 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in the second half alone — a half in which Ben Bentil scored 15 points of his own.

Bullock had never made more than one 3 pointer in a game this season, but he made 6-9 from deep on Thursday afternoon on his way to a 25 point, 10 rebound explosion.

The second half was a thing of beauty for the Friars. Providence trailed by 11 at halftime, thanks in large part to foul trouble. Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil picked up their second fouls with over nine minutes left in the first half. When they went to the bench PC trailed 19-17, and by the half it was 36-25 Butler.

Providence would not have been in position to pull this one out late if not for Bullock’s 12 point, five rebound first half, and seemingly every time Butler made a push Bullock beat them back with a dagger 3.

Bullock picked up his third foul with 18:21 remaining in the second half and the Friars trailing by 11. Ed Cooley stuck with the redshirt sophomore and was rewarded handsomely.

Bullock tied the game with a 3 pointer at the 15:03 mark, broke a tie with another 3 with 9:40 to go, and gave PC a 67-59 advantage with yet another trey.

PC’s eight point lead was short-lived, however, as Dunn picked up his fourth foul with PC up 67-61 and Butler immediately trimmed the lead to one with under five minutes to play.

No sweat. Bullock knocked down his sixth 3 pointer with 3:51 to play to push the Friars ahead by four, silencing a roaring Hinkle Fieldhouse.

How good was Providence in the second half?

The Friars scored 56 points (outscoring a top 10 team in Butler, 56-37), a seemingly impossible number when considering that Butler turned the ball over just once in the second half.

PC scored on 25 of 36 possessions (1.556 points per possession) and shot the lights out from deep (9-12 from 3).

Key to the second half comeback was freshman Drew Edwards. The Maryland native came off of the bench for a key sequence early in the second half.

PC trailed by 11 when he knocked down a 3 to cut it to eight, grabbed a defensive rebound on the other end, and then hit his second straight 3 on the next possession. Suddenly, an 11 point deficit was down to five and the Friars were in business.

A Bentil tip and a vicious Dunn dunk over Tyler Lewis closed out a 10-0 run that came in a span of just 80 seconds to bring Providence to within one (40-39) with 16:12 left.

The Friars were running downhill the rest of the game and there was little Butler could do to slow them.

This is Providence’s second win over a top 15 team this season, and their first win on the road against a top 10 team since 2004.

Providence is now 13-1 on the season with St. John’s coming to town on Saturday.

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

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