5 Takeaways From #23/24 PC's Win Over Hartford
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
5 Takeaways From #23/24 PC's Win Over Hartford
The game was highlighted by Kris Dunn recording his second career triple-double, becoming only the third player in PC history to record more than one triple-double. Dunn poured in 16 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out 14 assists, 11 of them coming in the first half.
"Honestly, I wanted to take him out of the game, but you know, when your players ask you to believe in him and stick with him. He's very unique, stat stuffer and I'm really really proud of him. He really gets us going when he plays at that level with that motor," Friars head coach Ed Cooley said after the game.
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Hartford scored with 5:26 left in the half to cut their deficit to one, 29-28 after trailing by seven.
However, Jalen Lindsey hit back to back to back three pointers on the next three possessions, sparking the Friars to a 19-0 run and a 47-28 halftime lead.
Hartford would not get closer than 16 points in the second half as the Friars would roll to the 89-66 win and move to 5-0 at home.
Leading the Way
Ben Bentil led the Friars in scoring with 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field, while also pulling down six rebounds in the game. Bentil has now scored at least 20 points in four straight games.
Jalen Lindsey poured in 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the field, including 4 of 6 from three-point land.
As mentioned, Kris Dunn recorded his second career triple-double and fell two assists shy of the school record.
Next up
The Friars return to action on Saturday, December 5th when they visit in state rival URI. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Ryan Center and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
5 Takeaways From PC's Win Over Hartford
Jalen Lindsey
Friar fans have to be happy to see Jalen Lindsey make a big contribution in the game.
Lindsey poured in 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the field and 4 of 6 from beyond the three-point arc. Lindsey also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists.
"Jalen got the game ball today, I thought he got us going. I think he hit three straight shots and that kind of was the determining factor in the game," Ed Cooley said after the game.
Added Lindsey, "My teammates found me in the open spots, I was just shooting the all with confidence, my teammates and coaches have faith in me that I was going to make those shots."
2nd Chance Points
Kris Dunn led PC with five offensive rebounds and as a team the Friars collected ten.
The ten offensive rebounds helped lead to 16 second chance points and PC outscoring Hartford 16-0 in that category.
Ben Bentil
While Kris Dunn has been the story of the season for the Friars, Ben Bentil is having himself a heck of a year and he is on quite a run.
Bentil poured in 21 points and pulled down six rebounds against Hartford, reaching the 20 point mark for the fourth straight game.
"We need him, that's his role. He's had four straight unbelievable games, I don't even know what he is shooting from the floor but it has to be a scintillating number," Cooley said.
No Let Down
Really the only concern coming into this game was the potential for a let down coming off a tough loss to Michigan State in a tournament where Providence had a solid showing.
"I didn't want our kids to come home and have any type of let down and I thought our kids played really hard," Ed Cooley said in his post game press conference.
Then the URI game on the horizon, this game had the potential to be that.
Kris Dunn
Kris Dunn recorded his second career triple-double with 16 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in the game. Of his 14 assists, 11 of them came in the first half.
Dunn becomes only the 3rd player in Friars history to record more than one double-double. The other two are Marvin Barnes and Bob Misevicius.
Dunn also broke Vinnie Ernst's record for assists in a half (record was 10), and was two assists shy of the program record of 16 assists in a game.
