Analyzing the Friars 9 Seed
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
Analyzing the Friars 9 Seed
A Bad Draw?
The only real gripe that the Friars and fans could make, and it's a legitimate one, is that they are the same seed as Butler.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Friars beat Butler three times this season and have a better RPI ranking, 40, then Butler, 56. If the committee wanted to give Butler a 9 seed, you could argue PC should have been an 8 seed, which is where they were projected the entire week leading up to Sunday.
Either way, whether PC was an 8 or 9 seed, the game was going to be tough and the road going forward is going to be tough.
Potentially Playing North Carolina in North Carolina
Number one seeds in the tournament always play at home or pretty close to home in the first couple of rounds of the tournament, so this is not a huge surprise.
This is not the same as last year when PC ended up having to play Dayton in Ohio after Dayton got a First Four game in Ohio.
Assuming the Friars were selected as an 8 or 9 seed all the way around, other options would have likely been playing Kansas in Iowa, Oregon all the way across the country in Spokane, or Virginia in Raleigh.
All of those scenarios would be as tough as playing UNC in North Carolina.
The reality is that the Friars are in this spot after finishing the season with a record of 6-6 and losing one game to DePaul
Teams With Bad Draws
The most obvious is Monmouth who won 17 road games, played one non-conference home game and did not get into the tournament.
Another team, although no one is going to feel bad for them, that got a tough draw is Kentucky. The Wild Cats won the SEC Championship over Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon, yet A&M is a 3 seed and Kentucky is a 4 seed.
Both Vanderbilt and Wichita State got a bad break as they will be playing in a play in game on Tuesday night to determine the 11 seed that will face Arizona in Providence on Thursday.
"This might be the greatest First Four game ever," Charles Barkley said on the CBS Selection Show broadcast.
Both teams are capable of making deep runs in the tournament and yet one will be eliminated before it begins.
Tourney Time
The NCAA tournament is set to kick off on Thursday, with the Friars game against USC coming at 9:50 p.m. on TBS.
Providence will be looking for their first tournament game win in 19 years.
Providence College Friars 2015-16 Projected Starting Lineup
G - Kris Dunn
Considered one of the top players in the country and the best point guard in the country, Kris Dunn passed on going to the NBA and came back to Providence for his redshirt junior season.
Dunn averaged 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds last season, registering eight double-doubles and one triple-double in the process.
Dunn was selected as the preseason Player-of-the-Year during Big East media day.
G - Junior Lomomba
Junior Lomomba is a glue guy for the Friars and also effective on the defensive end of the floor.
Last season, Lomomba finished with eight steals and 37 rebounds, averaging 11.1 minutes per game.
So far in 2015-16, Lomomba is averaging 28 minutes and six points per game.
G- Jalen Lindsey
Sophomore Jalen Lindsey, 6'7", played in 33 games, and started 13, for the Friars last seaso.
Lindsey averaged 3.8 points in 18 minutes of play per game. Lindsey shot 33 percent from three-point land during the season.
Lindsey's length can help the Friars on the defensive end as well.
F - Rodney Bullock
Rodney Bullock, 6'8" from Virginia, is a redshirt sophomore for the Friars but has yet to play a college basketball game. Bullock tore his ACL prior to last season and the year before that he was suspended.
In PC's exhibition game against Stonehill, Bullock had 26 points and 11 rebounds for Providence.
"I was impressed with his court awareness, his ability to post up when he wants was impressive given that he hasn't played a college game," Joe Hassett said.
F - Ben Bentil
Sophomore Ben Bentil, 6'9" leads the forward group after playing in 34 games last season, starting 23 of them for the Friars.
Last season, Bentil averaged six points and five rebounds in 21 minutes of play per game. Given that he is the tallest player that the Friars have, his minutes will go up significantly this season.
6 man - Kyron Cartwright
Kyron Cartwright
Sophomore Kyron Cartwright played in 34 games and started eight for the Friars last season. Carwright averaged 3.5 points in 19 minutes of play time per game.
Cartwright only made four three-pointers all of last season and will look to improve those numbers this season.
