Can PC Bounce Back Against Creighton Wednesday After Father Shanley’s Sweet Revenge

Can PC Bounce Back Against Creighton Wednesday After Father Shanley’s Sweet Revenge

Another disappointing loss for the Friars this past season to St. John’s. On Saturday, St. John’s found a way to win 68-66 after blowing a 16-point lead with 8:32 to go in the game.  This follows a 72-70 game on December 20th, when PC squandered a 17-point first-half lead to lose at the buzzer.  St. John’s found a way to win both close games.  The Friars found a way to lose both close games.

After the December heartbreaking loss, the Friars carried their heartbreak into their next game and got mauled by Marquette 78-50 at the AMP. 

 

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Father Shanley's Sweet Revenge

PC hoop fans were shocked when former Providence College President Brian Shanley, O.P. was asked to resign in 2020.  His 15-year run at PC was marked by impressive new facilities, a larger endowment, record student applications, a more diverse student body, enhanced academic programs, and great success for PC athletic teams.  Shanley, unfortunately, got caught in a crossfire that occurs at many Catholic colleges—too Catholic or not Catholic enough—and his Dominican superiors asked him to step aside.

It didn’t take long for Shanley to find work at another eastern seaboard Catholic College—St. John’s in Queens, NY.  The Board of Trustees at St. John’s, mindful of Shanley’s athletic success in Providence, hired Shanley as someone who could bring St. John’s back into basketball prominence.  Shanley looked past the recent indiscretions of former Friars’ coach Rick Pitino and salvaged Pitino from basketball purgatory at Iona College to become the new St. John’s coach two years ago.  In his second season at the helm, Pitino is rewarding Shanley with a 19-3 season so far and the return of 15th-ranked St. John’s to national hoop glory.

Before Shanley packed his bags in 2020 and left the PC campus, he was asked at a press conference what his favorite PC athletic moment was while he was President.  He quickly answered that it was PC’s stunning win over Boston University to win the NCAA hockey championship in 2015.  His best sports moment since he left Friartown may have been this past Saturday when he watched St. John’s complete a basketball sweep this season over Providence College before a sold-out crowd of 19,196 at Madison Square Garden.

 

The Creighton Blue Jays

The Friars have the misfortune of facing red-hot Big East teams of late. The Blue Jays have won seven Big East games in a row, just like the St. John’s win streak before their most recent game against PC.  In Creighton’s current win streak, they have impressive road wins against UConn and Villanova.  The win streak also includes thrashings of Providence 84-64, DePaul 73-49, and Seton Hall 79-54

The Bluejays are led, of course, by two studs—center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who is averaging 18.5 pts/game and 8.4 boards/game, and guard Steven Ashworth, who is scoring at a 16.3 pts/game clip with 6.8 assists/game.  It is rare when one of them is off their game, so the Bluejays have the luxury of counting on both guys in just about every game.

While the Bluejays are going to be favored to win this game handily, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict a PC upset win for the following (some of them spurious) reasons:

-- Creighton has lost 4 out of the last 5 games against PC at the AMP/Dunkin Donuts Center.

-- Creighton averages more turnovers/game than PC.

-- PC’s starting lineup can’t have a worse game offensively than it did at St. John’s.

-- Law of Probability:  Creighton is due for a loss.

Tip-off for the Wednesday game at home is at 8:30 PM.