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Highlights from Ed Cooley’s First Big East Win

battsdunkyell

Time flies, apparently.

Ed Cooley’s first win as Providence’s head coach came over eight years ago, a 90-59 drubbing of Rick Pitino and #15 Louisville. The Cards would recover that year, winning the Big East Tournament and reaching the Final Four before falling to eventual national champion Anthony Davis and Kentucky.

Cooley’s first Friar club did not have a senior scholarship player. They entered the Louisville game 11-6 overall, but 0-4 in league play with losses to St. John’s (91-67), Georgetown (49-40), #1 Syracuse (87-73), and Seton Hall (66-57).

Wins weren’t easy to come by in that era of the Big East. Nine teams from conference reached the NCAA Tournament that year, including a great Syracuse club (34-3 overall, 17-1 in the Big East), and five other teams that spent a portion of the season ranked in the top ten nationally (Georgetown, Pitt, UConn, Louisville, and Marquette).

Nothing went wrong for Providence on this night. Bryce Cotton (5-5 from 3) and Kadeem Batts went for 27 points each, with Batts throwing down a vicious dunk, while junior guard Vincent Council controlled the tempo (15 points, 14 assists, 8 rebounds).

Cotton scored 27 points on just seven field goal attempts (6-7 from the field, 10-12 free throws), Batts shot 9-13, and freshman LaDontae Henton scored the team’s first nine points.

To watch this full game, check out FriarTV’s archives: http://friartv.blogspot.com/p/master-sheet.html

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