Tag Archives: Rodney Bullock

Links of the Day

#pcbb Links of the Day 12/10/15

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Game Previews & Recaps

Thoughts from the Road: All-Time Classic Game for Friars and Rams

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This Thoughts from the Road: Couch Edition is brought to you from the insanely comfortable — and hard to get up from — couch at the Smerkers’. It is also fueled by trips to Anthony’s and East Side Pocket and Mollie’s buffalo chicken mac and cheese.

  • Ed Cooley was doing his best troll job by using coachspeak to call this matchup against Providence’s most-played opponent all-time a business trip and not a rivalry game. Cooley’s comments added a little fuel to the fire this year to a game that lost a bit of it’s luster when E.C. Matthews tore his ACL in URI’s season opener. The game certainly lived up to whatever hype there was and is garnering lots of national attention for how exciting it was and for the dramatic fashion in which the Friars won the game.

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Game Previews & Recaps

Thoughts from the Road: Friars Still Winners Out West, Even After Loss to Michigan State

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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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Game Previews & Recaps

Friars Lose: (3) Michigan State 77, Providence 64

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Final Score
Michigan State  77
Providence  64
Leading Scorer Leading Rebounder
Michigan State Forbes: 18  Costello, Davis, Valentine: 6
Providence Dunn: 21 Bentil: 7

Notes:

  • Ben Bentil had an excellent showing in the entire Wooden Legacy Tournament. The 6’9 sophomore led the Friars in scoring in the first half again. Bentil had 13 points at the half to go along with 6 rebounds and finished the night with 20 points and 7 rebounds.
  • Kris Dunn had his highest turnover number of the season in this game and also was forced to the bench for a chunk of the second half after picking up his 4th foul. Dunn came back in with 4:21 remaining and tried to carry the team to a win but he fell short. Dunn scored 21 points on 8/19 from the floor and added 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
  • After having a season-high 10 first half turnovers, Providence only coughed it up 2 times in the second stanza. Providence was able to compete with Michigan State on the glass after getting annihilated against Arizona on Friday night. The rebounding margin was -7 but it was closer than that for most of the night. The Friars even led that stat +6 at the half.
  • Denzel Valentine was hampered by early foul trouble and didn’t seem to really ever get into takeover mode. He finished with 17 points but wasn’t exactly the same player he had been the prior two games of this tournament.
  • Bryn Forbes carried the Spartans on the scoring front for much of the night and finished with 18 points.
  • The final score of this one didn’t indicate how close it really was all night. The Friars and Spartans see sawed the lead all night and Michigan State was able to extend the lead, make free throws and get some garbage baskets to extend the lead.
  • Dunn and Bentil were named to the All-Tournament team.
  • Friars return to action Wednesday back at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center against Hartford. That game tips at 7pm EST and is on FSN.

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Game Previews & Recaps

Friars Win: (11) Arizona 65, Providence 69

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Final Score
Providence 69
Arizona 65
Leading Scorer Leading Rebounder
Providence  Bentil: 21  Bullock: 4
Arizona Anderson: 27  Anderson: 12

Notes:

  • Ben Bentil carried the scoring load for Providence for much of this game and led the Friars in scoring wit 21 points.
  • Kris Dunn dealt with foul trouble for a lot of the night but took over in clutch time. Dunn score 11 of Providence’s 13 points in the last 3:58 and the other basket was a dunk he assisted on to Bentil. Dunn finished with 19 points on 7/9 shooting. He also had 8 assists.
  • This game had the feel of an NCAA Tourament — complete with the horrendous referring — and will prove to be very helpful for Providence’s confidence in a tournament setting.
  • Ryan Anderson killed Providence like he used to do in a Boston College uniform. Anderson led all scorers with 27 points and added a game high 12 rebounds.
  • Rebounding was an ugly stat for Providence. Arizona dominated the glass to the tune of 43-22. The Friars gave up 16 offensive rebounds and 26 second chance points. That isn’t good and they obviously won despite it but that kind of disparity won’t be present in a lot of other wins this season.
  • Junior Lomomba and Ryan Fazekas played well for Providence. Lomomba played excellent defense and added a few offensive moves to the rim. Fazekas hit two 3-pointer, including a key one to narrow an Arizona lead from 7 to 4 with 6:07 left in the game.
  • Friars return to action Sunday in the final game of the Wooden Legacy Tournament at 10:00pm EST on ESPN2 against (3) Michigan State for the championship.

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Game Previews & Recaps

Game Notes & Preview: Providence (5-0) vs. Arizona (5-0) 11/27/15

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Where: Titan Gym – Fullerton, CA

When: 11:30 EST

How: ESPN2 (Roxy Bernstein & Sean Farnham)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

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Game Previews & Recaps

Friars Win: Evansville 64, Providence 74

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Final Score
Evansville 64
Providence  74
Leading Scorer Leading Rebounder
Evansville Balentine: 18 Mockevicius: 9
Providence  Bentil: 24  Bentil: 8

Notes:

  • Ben Bentil had an excellent first half to lead all scorers with 17 points at the break. The Friars offense started off sluggish and out of rhythm but it was Bentil who got things going. He went 7/7 from the free throw line and finished 10/11 from the charity stripe. Bentil finished with a career high 24 points. He also grabbed 8 rebounds.
  • Kris Dunn started slow but picked things up toward the end of the first half and carried it over to the second half where Providence opened up a large lead — largest was 19 — in the first 5 minutes. Dunn finished with 18 points on 7/15 shooting. He also added 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
  • Rodney Bullock was quiet on offense but was active on the glass. He pulled down 7 rebounds but scored just 7 points after starting 0/5 from the field. Bullock didn’t get involved in the offensive flow much during the early part of the game and it looked like he was out of sync most of the night.
  • Ryan Fazekas made some critical 3-pointers at a time when the Friars’ offense was lackluster. He finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds.
  • Junior Lomomba continues to defy physics and make 3-pointers. Lomomba scored 9 points in the second half and finished with 13 points on 4/8 from the field.
  • The only freshman besides Fazekas to get minutes in this game was Quadree Smith and those minutes only came in the first half.
  • I’ll never understand the logic behind starting this game playing zone. DJ Balentine quickly shot the Friars out of it with 2 deep treys.
  • Friars return to action Friday at 11:30pm EST on ESPN2 against the winner/loser of the Arizona vs. Santa Clara game in the second round of the Wooden Legacy Tournament.

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