PC Basketball Battles Florida Tuesday to Kick-Off Critical Two-Game Stretch
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
PC Basketball Battles Florida Tuesday to Kick-Off Critical Two-Game Stretch
PC is 6-5 on the season with two games left on the non-conference schedule before Big East play begins, including the game against Florida, and then a home game against Texas on Saturday afternoon.
“They are big. It’s a chance to improve again against two really good teams before we get to Big East play, we will keep improving and get better and better. We will be up for the challenge, we will go at it and then go to the next game after that,” said PC assistant coach Jeff Battle after the Stony Brook game on Saturday night.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to KenPom’s latest rankings, the Friars have the 267th most challenging non-conference schedule in the country and are just one game over .500.
PC’s RPI ranking is also near the bottom at 215th.
That is below Bryant, Brown, and URI.
Wins over the Gators and Longhorns could serve as a spark to the Friars season with conference play looming.
Losing both games would see the Friars finish the non-conference schedule with a losing record.
Providence is playing Florida as part of the Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational.
Game time is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2.
PC's Non-Conference Struggles
Providence is trying to turn around what has been a rough non-conference season.
PC has losses to Northwestern, the University of Pennsylvania, Long Beach State and the College of Charleston, as well as, Rhode Island.
PC’s win over Stony Brook on Saturday snapped a stretch of four losses in five games.
Providence ha wins over Division I newcomer Merrimack, NJIT, Sacred Heart, Pepperdine and Saint Peter’s.
One bright spot for PC this season is the play of sophomore David Duke.
Duke leads the Friars with 13.5 points, five rebounds and four assists per game,
UMass transfer Luwane Pipkins is coming off his best game as a Friars, pouring in 21 points against Stony Brook.
“He’s an experienced guy, has played in a lot of games. My conversations with him lately have been just being who he is, be who you are. I mean, we couldn’t guard the guy for two years. So I want him to be the old Pip,” said Battle.
Senior forward Alpha Diallo also averages 13 points and nine rebounds per game.
Scouting the Gators
Florida comes into the game with a record of 6-3 overall.
The Gators have wins over #18 Xavier and Miami, and losses to Florida State, Connecticut and #24 Butler.
Florida State is currently ranked 19th in the country, and Butler is currently ranked 17th, as of Monday's new rankings.
“I know they are a really good team, they play in a great league. They have a few guys on the team that we tried to recruit so we know they are really good players,” said Battle.
Florida is led by Kerry Blackshear Jr., who averages 13 points and eight rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, Keyontae Johnson averages 12 points and six rebounds per game.