Kris Dunn got off to a fast start dishing the ball with 11 assists at the break. He notched a double-double after his first made basket of the second half and was on #TripleDoubleWatch for much of his time on the court in the second half. Dunn grabbed his 10th rebound with 6:29 remaining to notch his second career triple-double. Dunn’s other triple-double came on January 29, 2015 against DePaul. Dunn tied his career high with 14 assists in the game and had 16 points on 8/12 shooting. The only other Friars to have two career triple-doubles are Marvin Barnes and Bob Misevicius.
Ben Bentil was impressive on the offensive end of the floor again and finished with 21 points on 9/12 shooting. That marks the fourth straight game with 20+ points for Bentil. Bentil’s streak of 20-point performances is the most consecutive 20-point games since LaDontae Henton accomplished the feat 4 separate times last season. Bryce Cotton had a stretch of 7-straight 20-point games during the 2013-14 season.
Jalen Lindsey made back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers in a 1 minute span beginning at the 5:07 mark of the first half and would finish the game 4/6 from beyond the arc. Lindsey scored 15 points in the game and maybe this is something that will get him going on the offensive end. He also grabbed 8 rebounds.
Ryan Fazekas appeared to injure himself when he took a knee to the thigh at the end of the first half. He didn’t start the second half and was seen riding the exercise bike in the tunnel. He did eventually get some action in the second half but returned to the bike when subbed out. It’s probably nothing but something to keep an eye on with Providence playing their next game in a few days.
The rest of the freshmen got some run in this game and all had some freshmen moments with sloppy play and fouls but it was good for them to get on the floor against some non-teammate competition. Drew Edwards got minutes in the first half before the result was lopsided so he definitely appears to be the closest to cracking the rotation. Tyree Chambers also got some minutes, along with the two walk-on’s Casey Woodring and Tom Planek.
The Friars return to action Saturday against in-state rival Rhode Island at the Ryan Center in Kingston. That game tips at 7pm EST and is on ESPNU.
Providence is playing in the Emerald Coast Classic in 2016. That news broke back in July. The news out Tuesday is the who Providence may face while in the tournament next season. The headlining acts for the tournament that is run by Global Sports are Iowa, Memphis, Providence and Virginia. The other teams announced in the 2016 field are the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Savannah State and St. Francis (Brooklyn). There is one more team that has yet to be finalized.
The Big East had a very successful week as a league during “Feast Week”. There were 4 Big East teams that won their respective holiday tournaments (Creighton, Marquette, Villanova and Xavier) and Providence finished 2nd in the Wooden Legacy Tournament. Through the first few weeks of the season the Big East is 45-14 (.763) against non-league opponents. On Monday, the Big East released their weekly awards and for the second time in three weeks the Big East Player of the Week is Kris Dunn.
This is officially Week 4 of the college basketball polls and it also happens to be the week Providence makes their 2015-16 debut in both the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Friars had a 3-1 week that included an impressive showing in the Wooden Legacy Tournament. They defeated NJIT on Monday night before heading out West to take on Evansville in the tournament opener.
This Thoughts from the Road: Couch and Bed Edition is brought to you by leftover Thanksgiving food and lots of coffee thanks to the late tipoffs in California.
Despite losing for the first time this season on Sunday night to Michigan State, the Friars were still big winners over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Before I even talk about the impact of getting a win over a top-15 team on a neutral court I want to mention the opportunities that Providence gained from a schedule perspective. Consider this slate of opponents: Evansville, Santa Clara, UC Irvine. That’s what Providence probably would have faced had they not gotten off to a good start by beating a solid Evansville team. Instead, the Friars got to play Arizona and Michigan State — two teams who are likely to be top 4 seeds in the NCAA Tournament — not to mention they beat one and hung tough with the other.
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