Providence’s locker room at halftime of last night’s game against Boston College was described by Ed Cooley afterwards as a “triage center.” Kris Dunn left the bench with a few minutes left in the first half with an apparent virus and then Ben Bentil rolls his ankle and makes his way to the locker room with a couple minutes left in the half. By the time Cooley and the rest of the Friars got to the locker room for halftime things were not looking up. Dunn left the arena with the virus but Bentil did return to the bench for the final 7 or so minutes of the game to watch with his teammates. All of Friartown was holding its collective breaths awaiting results of an X-ray of Bentil’s left ankle.
Ben Bentil got off to another terrific start for Providence and was outscoring the entire Boston College team for much of the first 10 minutes of the first half. Bentil appeared on his way to another 20+ point night and a double-double, but the improved Friar big man landed on Dennis Clifford’s foot coming down after a shot and rolled his left ankle with 1:58 left in the first half. Bentil went to the locker room and would only return to the bench at the under 8 media timeout on crutches. Bentil finished the game with 16 points and 8 rebounds despite not playing a minute of the second half.
Kris Dunn did not appear to be himself during 15 first half minutes. Dunn came out of the game with about 4 minutes remaining in the first stanza and went to the locker room with what we would find out later was an illness. Dunn went 2/8 from the field in the first half and didn’t return to the game because of that illness.
Rodney Bullock was the story in the second half for Providence. The Friars were putrid on the offensive end, beginning the half with 9 turnovers and 4 points through the under 12 media timeout. Bullock scored Providence’s first 11 points of the second half and was the sole reason Providence didn’t fall behind the Eagles in this one. Bullock finished with 17 points on 9/14 shooting, with 15 of those points coming in the second half.
Ryan Fazekas was not at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for this game as he came down with the flu and remained on campus. Jalen Lindsey got his first start of the season and didn’t do much to makeup for Fazekas’s lost offense. Lindsey finished the game with 8 points after starting 0/5 from the field. He did make a big 3-pointer with 2:51 to extend Providence’s lead to 12 and led the team with 9 rebounds. Jim Peters, a local reporter who covered Fazekas in high school, reported on Twitter that Ryan has mononucleosis and will miss several weeks. We’ll see what is heard leading up to Saturday’s game against Bryant.
Kyron Cartwright had to run the show for the entire second half and played all 20 minutes during the second session. Cartwright lit up the turnover stat with 4 for the game, but he also made some nice plays cutting into the lane and feeding teammates.
Drew Edwards was forced into his first extended action and the young man was impressive with his energy, especially on the defensive end. He didn’t have a ton of points or rebounds but he had tough defense and deflections.
This is an all-grit game for Providence. Down 3 starters, 2 for the entire second half and 1 for the entire game, and they managed to gut out a win with a lot of young and inexperienced played having to play big time minutes.
The Friars return to action Saturday and will complete the Quahog trifecta by playing Bryant at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. That game tips at 12pm EST and is on FS1.
With nearly a month of college basketball games played to date, Joe Lunardi has released an updated bracketology post on ESPN.com. Joey Brackets had the most Big East teams in the field — 6 — of the preseason bracketology that I profiled just before the season started last month. He also had the Friars as an 11 seed, topped only by Jerry Palm at CBSSports.com who had Providence as a 9 seed. Here is where Lunardi sees Providence and the rest of the Big East as of December 8, 2015.
Week 5 of the college basketball polls have been released and Providence is moving on up after a 2-0 week that included a thrilling win on the road at in-state rival Rhode Island. The Friars also defeated Hartford handily at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center to start the week after making their debut in both polls for the first time since March 2015. Providence debuted in the AP Poll at 23rd and 24th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll last week. They are now 15th in the AP Poll and 18th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll this week.
Wow. That’s a rivalry game and the finish couldn’t have been more exciting. Ben Bentil saved the day with the game-winning tip-in at the buzzer off a Kris Dunn miss. Bentil led all scorers with 23 in the game, which makes this 5 straight 20+ scoring games for the Friar sophomore. He also led the Friars on the glass with 8 boards.
Kris Dunn had a season-high 6 turnovers but had some big-time baskets down the stretch. Dunn finished with 15 points, 5 rebound and 3 steals.
Junior Lomomba has a nice night for the Friars, finishing with 10 points on 4/6 shooting.
The Friars return to action Wednesday against ACC foe Boston College at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. That game tips at 7pm EST and is on FS1.
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