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3 Up vs. Butler

Cartwright Brown

Providence pulled off a 71-65 upset against #22 Butler on Saturday night. Here are three key players in the victory.

1. Isaiah Jackson: Jackson was all out of sorts earlier this week when the Friars fell in overtime against Seton Hall — most notably missing a pair of layups — but he bounced back with one of his most complete performances of the season against Butler.

With the Friars struggling to string together any type of offense early (23 1st half points), Jackson knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to close out the half.

He then made four critical plays in the final ten minutes — two on offense and two on the defensive end. Jackson drew multiple defenders and found Kyron Cartwright for an open 3 with 7:26 to go, and he finished a left handed layup off of a drive from the top of the key a minute later. Cartwright’s 3 put PC up by a point, and Jackson’s layup pushed the Friars’ advantage to 55-51.

Perhaps most significantly, Jackson made a pair of critical defensive plays in the final four minutes. With Providence leading by three with just over three minutes left, Jackson picked the pocket of Nate Fowler — a play Ed Cooley called one of the game’s biggest in his post game press conference.

The Friars didn’t have any answers from Andrew Chrabascz in the post late in the game, and Butler went back to him with under two minutes left in a three point game. This time Jackson was given the task of stopping the Butler senior and denied him the looks he’d gotten earlier against Jalen Lindsey and Diallo. Jackson has more size than either Lindsey or Diallo and it was a factor in slowing Chrabascz late. Butler tried going to him twice on that possession and he couldn’t get a clean look and passed back out.

2. Alpha Diallo: It’s starting to click for the freshman. After being held scoreless in the first half, Diallo bounced back in a big way, scoring 15 in the second half. No basket was prettier than his post-up move with just over two minutes left to give Providence a three point lead.

Diallo helped kick-start a game-turning run with just over nine minutes to go when he drew a double team in the post and found Cartwright for a 3-pointer. He also had a critical offensive rebound and dunk with a little over four minutes to play, then scored on a backdoor cut and pretty pass from Rodney Bullock on the next possession.

His one-handed rebound at around the eight minute mark was freakish.

In his last three home games Diallo has scored 18, 18, and 15 points. He was an efficient 5-7 from the floor today.

3. Kyron Cartwright: Ignore the 4-13 field goal shooting. Cartwright played 37 minutes, turned the ball over just once against a team that gets after it on the perimeter, and finished with 14 points and seven assists.

He was at his best when PC needed a spark. Providence trailed 47-41 with under 10 minutes remaining and seemed to be teetering on falling behind by double figures.

Cartwright’s deep ball at the 9:13 mark brought PC back to within three, and then he got the free throw line on Providence’s next two possessions. He then capped a spurt in which he scored nine straight Friar points with another 3-pointer with 7:26 left to give the Friars a one point advantage.

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

3 Comments

  1. Grayson Buza

    February 12, 2017 at 3:07 am

    The future is bright

  2. Pingback: Friar Starting Five: Sunday Edition - Friar Basketball

  3. Derec

    February 13, 2017 at 3:17 am

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