Kris Dunn flirted with a triple-double but finished with a measly double-double: 22 points, 9 assists, 10 rebounds, 7 steals and 1 turnover.
Rodney Bullock had another strong game as he keeps reinforcing that his game is for real. Bullock finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Ben Bentil scored 21 points and 5 rebounds.
NJIT turned the ball over 22 times and Providence cashed in for 23 points off those turnovers.
Damon Lynn took a little while to get going but he single handedly kept the Highlanders in the game by burying 3-pointers late in the game. He finished with 22 points with 4/9 from deep.
Jalen Lindsey played a second straight solid game. He didn’t score as much as he did against Brown but he found the opening in the zone and made some nice plays on the defensive end. Another guy who may not have had a great box score game that played well was Junior Lomomba. He made some nice defensive plays and a few nice passes and moves to the basket.
Providence led pretty comfortably most of the night but NJIT made a run around the 4 minute mark to get the lead down to 5. Providence managed to keep their heads on straight and maintain their composure.
Providence was much better this game at the free throw line. They finished 25/30 from the charity stripe for the game.
Friars return to action Thursday at 9pm EST on ESPNU against Evansville in the first round of the Wooden Legacy Tournament.
Now that actual games have gotten underway the accolades coming Kris Dunn’s way are ones he will earn on the court during this season instead of the ones labeled “preseason”. The first such
“in-season” accolade came on Monday when the Big East announced their weekly award winners. Dunn was named the season’s first Big East Player of the Week for his career-high 32 point performance in Providence’s win over Harvard on Saturday.
This is the inaugural 2015-16 edition of “Thoughts from the Road” and even though I’m getting this done a little later than I wanted I’m just glad to be talking about actual basketball games again.