Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI

When: 7:30PM

How: Fox Sports 1 (Aaron Goldsmith & Tarik Turner)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/Westwood One (Scott Graham & Steve Lappas)/FriarTV

Game Notes

• This will mark the 14th meeting all-time between Providence and Creighton. The series is led by the Friars, 8-5. Providence is 5-1 against the Bluejays all-time in Providence. The Friars went 2-1 against Creighton last season in the Bluejays’ inaugural season in the Big East. Each team won on their home floor but Providence won at Madison Square Garden on March 15, 2014 to take the Big East Tournament Championship.
• Creighton comes to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center following a loss, 62-58, to North Texas on December 21st.  The Bluejays are led in scoring by senior guard Aaron Chapman, who averages 13.9 points/game. Leading on the glass is senior guard Devin Brooks, who averages 5.2 rebounds/game.
• Providence finished 10-3 in non-conference play for the second straight season. The Friars are 43-15 in non-conference play under Ed Cooley.
• Senior LaDontae Henton has 901 career rebounds which is good for 9th on the all-time career rebounding list at Providence College. Henton is only 1 behind Dickey Simpkins who had 902 career rebounds in 113 career games between 1990-1994.
• The line opened with Providence as a 6.5 point favorite. The total is 134.5.

Kenpom InstaGamePrep™

Note: Stats include games through December 30th vs D-1 teams only

Game Preview

With a second straight season of 10-3 basketball in the non-conference under their belts Ed Cooley’s Providence Friars begin Big East play on New Year’s Eve at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center against Creighton in a rematch of the 2014 Big East Tournament Championship game. Creighton got off to a good start to their non-conference schedule with 5 straight wins including an impressive home win against Oklahoma on November 19th. Subsequently the Bluejays cracked the top 25 of the AP poll in the 23rd spot when the next poll was released on November 24th.

Their ranking would be short-lived though as they lost their first game of the season that Friday in a neutral site game against Mississippi. Following a neutral site win against Middle Tennessee to improve to 6-1 the Bluejays fell on the road at Tulsa but then won their next game at Nebraska. They had to go to double overtime at home to beat a 3-6 South Dakota team before falling again for their 3rd loss of the season in a thrilling overtime game at home against St. Mary’s. They rebounded at home against Texas Pan American but finished off non-conference play with a disappointing loss at home to North Texas to finish at 9-4.

When looking at the numbers ahead of writing this preview it became clear that this Creighton team resembles Providence’s last opponent, Miami (FL), on the offensive end. Both teams rely heavily on the 3-point shot to score their points, have similar adjusted tempo numbers and have fairly low turnover %’s. There are some differences on the defensive end. For example, Creighton is one of the worst in the country at Block % (6.3%; 302nd, per Kenpom.com) while Miami is right on the national average of 9.9%.

Creighton will look to move the ball around and take a ton of 3-pointers. The Bluejays are averaging 25 3-point attempts per game with nearly 9 makes per game. Providence should be able to play more man to man defense against Creighton to force them off the 3-point line but foul trouble could force the Friars to play some zone. Creighton has some size but they are more finesse big men and their guards are slightly undersized, especially compared to Providence’s large guards in Kris Dunn and Jalen Lindsey.

My sense for this game is that Providence will implement  a very similar game plan to the one they used against Miami at the Barclays Center where they allowed Miami to shoot 27 3-pointers but the Hurricanes only made 5. Having the Christmas break has allowed both teams to get in some extended practice time so I don’t expect the rust factor to play a role in this one but Creighton seems to be a different team on the road. Providence wins by 10 and heads to Marquette on Saturday to try to exorcise some demons in Milwaukee while trying to extend their current winning streak to 6.

Prediction: Providence 75  Creighton 65

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