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A Look Back at Ben Bentil’s Career at PC

Ben Bentil Goodbye

Ben Bentil became a star as a sophomore at Providence, and now he is headed to the NBA. As expected, the 6’8 sophomore is parlaying a season in which he led the Big East in scoring at 21.1 points per game into a professional career.

Bentil came to Providence as a borderline top 100 prospect out of Wilmington, DE, despite having to sit out for a large portion of his senior season at St. Andrew’s. It did not take long for the Friar staff to fully realize what they had, as there was talk during the fall of Bentil’s freshman year at PC that he was so talented he might not last all four years at Smith Hill.

It turns out he lasted just two.

Bentil’s rise to stardom began in February of his freshman season. He led a Friar road victory with 16 points and 11 rebounds against Georgetown — and kick-started one of the great PC careers in the process.

He recorded five double doubles in the final month of his freshman season, including two in the Big East Tournament, paving the way for his outstanding sophomore season.

Bentil proved early that the 2015-’16 Friars weren’t Kris Dunn and a bunch of role players. He had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the second game of the season against Illinois before ripping off a stretch of five 20+ point games in late November. That run included 21 in a win over Arizona, 20 against then-#1 Michigan State, and 23 against URI — a game in which he tipped in the game-winning shot at the buzzer.

An ankle injury prior to Christmas only momentarily slowed his momentum. He scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Massachusetts to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule, and proceeded to make the Big East’s big men look overmatched for the following three months.

He scored 39 points in PC’s first two conferences games, then had 28 against Marquette the next time out. Ten days later Bentil ripped off a five-game stretch in which he scored 21, 20, 31, 25, and 26 points against tremendous opposition (Seton Hall, Butler, Villanova, Xavier, and Georgetown, respectively).

The highlight during that stretch was his 31 point, 12 rebound effort in an overtime victory against eventual National Champion Villanova.

Just when it seemed as he had to have peaked, Bentil took his game to another level. There was the night in Milwaukee in which he scored 42 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. In that game he showed his versatility by making six 3 pointers, while taking 17 free throws.

He put up 59 points in three days two weeks later (31 at Seton Hall before being ejected and 28 at home versus DePaul).

Bentil’s next three games after that? 27 on Creighton, 23 against St. John’s and perhaps the best performance of his career — 38 points on 16-24 shooting against Butler in the Big East Tournament. The 38 points tied a Providence Big East Tournament record, and he managed to do so while taking just one foul shot that afternoon.

His Providence career ended in Raleigh, NC, in the NCAA Tournament, but not before he helped lead the Friars to their first NCAA win since 1997 with 19 points and nine rebounds against USC. His career ended at the hands of North Carolina when he scored 21 points, but fouled out on a pair of questionable calls with over eight minutes remaining in the game.

Bentil scored more points than any sophomore in the storied history of Providence College and will bring a tremendous work ethic and maturity to whichever team drafts him next month.

Here is a look back at some of his biggest moments from this past season.

All 38 Points vs. Butler in the Big East Tournament:

2015-2016 Season Highlights:

All 42 Points Against Marquette:

Bentil Scores 59 Points in Three Days:

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

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