Friar Basketball

Bullock’s 36 Leads PC Past UNH

Bullock guarding BC

Rodney Bullock continued what has been a terrific start to his junior season in Wednesday night’s 76-62 victory over New Hampshire.

Bullock scored a career high 36 points by connecting on 5-8 from 3 point range and getting to the free throw line for 11 attempts in his latest scoring outburst this season.

In six of Providence’s seven games in November, he scored at least 18 points (his season low was 16 against the stingiest defense in the country in Virginia) and he’s now made five 3 pointers in a game twice this season (5-9 at Ohio State).

The Friars enjoyed one of their best shooting performances of the season — connecting on 12-21 from deep — and they needed it to hold off a plucky UNH club that knocked off Temple earlier this season and cut a 23 point PC lead to single digits in the closing minutes. Ultimately, the Wildcats never truly put a scare into the Dunkin Donuts Center crowd, as Bullock was simply too much for them to overcome.

The win was the 200th in Ed Cooley’s career, and the Friar coach used this game to tinker with his lineup some.

Sophomore guard Drew Edwards was the first Friar off of the bench and promptly knocked down a corner 3, but like so many of PC’s role players this season, the game was a mixed bag.

Maliek White confidently stepped into an open 3 soon after checking in, and then proceeded to turn the ball over on three occasions in the second half.

Alpha Diallo finished a pretty reverse layup, but was quiet otherwise after a very good weekend in Florida.

Kalif Young was a presence underneath at times, but came up short on a few looks at the rim.

Ryan Fazekas took just two shots off of the bench.

Cooley will continue to search for consistency from the 5-10 spots on this roster, but his top four is solidified.

Bullock is the number one option on offense, Kyron Cartwright will see heavy minutes at the one, Emmitt Holt has been a revelation inside despite struggling on Wednesday, and Jalen Lindsey is their top wing defender.

If Lindsey can shoot like he has the last two games, the Friars will have another dimension to their offense.

Prior to Saturday night’s game against Virginia, Lindsey went two straight games without a point. To his credit, he’s adapted to being a stopper and secondary option on offense, and he took only four shots in victories over St. Francis and Memphis before coming to life against Virginia.

Lindsey scored 18 points against the Cavaliers on 4-6 shooting from 3, and followed that up with an efficient 11 point effort vs. UNH (4-5 from the field, 3-4 from 3).

Lindsey is 7-10 from 3 point range over PC’s last two games and has made multiple 3s in five of their seven games. He’s slowed down his shooting motion this year, and it’s paying big dividends as he’s shooting nearly 50% from 3 this season (13-28).

With the win, Providence improves to 5-2 on the season as they await in-state rival URI on Saturday night in what should be an electric atmosphere at the Dunk.

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

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