#11 PC Falls to #3 Villanova 72-60
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
#11 PC Falls to #3 Villanova 72-60
"The team's psyche right now, we have to see where it's at. This is a little bit of adversity we are hitting so we will see what we are made of. We have to go on the road and play at Marquette where we haven't won in god knows how long. It is one of those moments where you have to be disciplined, have a simple message to your team, it's a long season, we are still in good shape," said Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley after the game.
See the Five Takeaways Slideshow Below
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Friars got as close as 5 points, 58-53 with 5:16 to play after a Ryan Fazekas three after trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half.
However, Nova's Kris Jenkins came down on the next possession and buried a three to put Nova's lead back up to 8 points.
The Friars would get it to six, 63-57, after a Ben Bentil three but missed two chances to get closer on the following possessions.
Villanova would increase their lead to 14 in the final minute on the free throw line and seal the win.
The Friars and Wildcats split the season series.
Slow Start
The Friars got off to another slow start, going down 10-0 in the opening minutes of the game before finally making a field goal.
The Wildcats would lead by as much as 19 in the first half as they shot 40 percent from the field.
Providence shot 23 percent from the field,including 27 percent from three, in the first half and trailed 31-19 at half time.
The Leaders
The Friars were led Ben Bentil who poured in 20 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field.
Kris Dunn followed up with 11 points on 4 of 15 shooting from the field but turned the ball over 6 times.
Next up
The Friars return to action on Wednesday, February 10 when they visit Marquette. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.
See the Five Takeaways Slideshow Below
5 Takeaways From PC's 72-60 Loss to Villanova
Ryan Fazekas
For the second straight game, Ryan Fazekas has been a positive for the Friars. Fazekas went 3 of 6 from three-point land, 3 of 7 overall, and had 9 points, single handedly shooting PC back into the game in the second half.
Fazekas is still recovering from a battle with mono earlier in the season.
"I'm glad to see that Ryan is getting healthy, he has had back to back games where he is getting better. He has put a lot of extra time in conditioning. We have him run a mile and a half to two miles everyday, after practice at night. So his conditioning, his legs are getting underneath him, getting a little bit more confident. He still looks really thin out there but I'm glad to see he is getting in some sort of a rhythm, we will need him down the stretch," said PC Head Coach Ed Cooley.
2nd Chance Points
For the second straight game the Friars got beat on the boards badly, 46-29 overall.
Kyron Cartwright led the Friars with 6 rebounds.
Providence gave up 12 offensive rebounds which Villanova was able to turn into 13 second chance points.
Bentil not playing at 100% in this game was a factor in the rebounding numbers as he only grabbed 2 boards in the game.
Kris Dunn
Kris Dunn scored 11 points on 4 of 15 shooting from the field, while grabbing 4 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists and turning the ball over 6 times.
In the last two games, Dunn is 9 of 35 from the field and if you want to extend that to the Xavier game, Dunn is 15 of his last 50. PC Head Coach Ed Cooley had some concerning comments regarding Dunn after the game.
"I think he is trying to do a little too much sometimes. He is putting a lot of pressure on himself, I think there is so many external pressures that he is dealing with as an individual, everything that is coming at him and could be coming at him 1,000 miles an hour right now.
Hopefully, I can do a better job of trying to ease some of his stress, some of his thoughts. You know, when you put yourself in his shoes, it's coming at him and in the future that's what he will be paid to do, but right now we need for him to be a college student and a college player and right now he is putting too much pressure on himself.
I don't know if he is playing for the joy of it versus the pressure of it," Cooley said.
Ben Bentil
Ben Bentil led the Friars with 20 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field and 6 of 8 from the free throw line, and he did on a bum ankle.
Bentil hurt his ankle in the last game and was questionable to play in this one.
"Give our medical staff a lot of credit, they have done a great job over the last 48 hours, intensely working on his foot. He said it was really sore, I said lets see what we do, he says I'm ready to go when you need me and he toughed it out," Ed Cooley said in the post game.
Bentil did not start the game but ended up playing 34 minutes. On starting him, Cooley said, "that was something we talked about it, tried to steal some minutes early, we talked about it, but he hadn't practiced since he left the floor the other day so we had prepared practice without him. But with a talent like that, it's hard to keep him off the floor if he wants to roll."
Shooting
At the end of the day, no matter what plays a team is running or who is on the floor when, basketball is a make or miss game and the Friars have struggled in the make department, especially at home.
Providence shot 23% from the field in the first half and found themselves in a 31-19 hole at the break.
In the second half, PC sot 44 % from the field and got themselves back in the game.
PC shot 33 % from the field in the game, including 37% from three.
In their last home game against Xavier, the Friars shot 31 % from the field.
