Have the PC Friars Hit Bottom? Are We Looking at the NIT? - McMahon

Have the PC Friars Hit Bottom? Are We Looking at the NIT? - McMahon

Two versions of the Providence College basketball team showed up last week to play critical Big East rivals. One version played the #1 team in the country, Connecticut, and played them tough in Storrs, in the game right up until the end.  The other version of the Friars played a careening, reeling, and desperate Villanova team.  This was a game that I had circled as a “W” for the Friars. PC responded with its worst effort of the season. Go figure.

 

Did Coach English get any sleep Sunday night after the Villanova game? He must be as baffled as I am about his players. This was a PC team that, not too long ago, was ranked 24th in the country. Since Bryce Hopkins got injured, the remaining players have not been able to make the adjustments on offense to be consistent from one game to the next.

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There are so many bad statistics to cite from the Villanova game. I won’t run through them all. You know them already.  Besides the turnovers and sloppy forced shots on offense, the stat that really stood out for me was bench scoring for the two teams.  Villanova got 28 points from its bench; the Friars got zero.  I have never seen such a disparity in bench scoring for a PC game.

 

The lack of a bench means that the starters, especially Carter and Oduro, have to be almost perfect every night to win.  A subpar performance from Carter and/or Oduro and the Friars will be in trouble.  Really not enough consistent offensive power in the rest of the line up to pick up the slack.  A random thought as we head into the home stretch of this season: If Carter leaves after this year, the Friars next year may be dueling with Georgetown and DePaul in the lower tier of the Big East.

 

At this point in the season, PC has to pull off some big upsets to be considered as one of the final teams to be selected for the NCAA tournament.  The remaining PC schedule has five home games:  Creighton, St. John’s, DePaul, Villanova, and UCONN.  The road schedule has Butler, Xavier, Marquette, and Georgetown.

 

I am going to go out on a limb and predict the following: home wins against St. John’s, DePaul, and Villanova and one road win against Georgetown.  That will give them 18 wins before the Big East tournament and a win there is likely to be a roll of the dice.  I’d be pleasantly surprised if they can beat Butler, Xavier, or Marquette on the road. To be considered for the NCAA tournament, PC will need to upset either Creighton or UCONN at home.

 

The game against Creighton at home this Wednesday night may decide the Friars' fate come March—the NCAA’s or the NIT.