PC Faces Southern Cal in Search of 1st NCAA Tourney Win in 19 Years

PC Faces Southern Cal in Search of 1st NCAA Tourney Win in 19 Years

The Providence College Friars men's basketball team is set to make their third NCAA Tournament appearance in three years. The Friars will take on the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans tonight at 9:50 p.m. on TBS. 

"I think we can play with anybody in the country. We're in this because we got an at-large win and have some really good wins on our resume," said Friars Head Coach Ed Cooley in his Wednesday press conference. 

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

While PC has been in the tournament three years in a row, they are looking for their first NCAA Tournament game victory in 19 years. 

"Being here three years in a row, some familiarity right now. We have some guys that played on the floor last year. Kris, Ben, Kyron, Jalen, Junior have all played in this game. From a programatic development standpoint, this is our fifth year here running this organization and to continue to move our program forward, we need to try to advance in this tournament to continue to build our brand and build our program. So all the pressure is on me, not so much the players to try to get our program to continue to be one of the elite schools in the country," said Cooley. 

The USC Trojans 

The Trojans enter the NCAA Tournament after going 21-12 overall and 9-9 in the Pac 12. The Trojans finished 6th in the conference and lost to Utah in the Pac-12 Tournament. 

"They like to play at a fast tempo and they are very talented to the guards and to the bigs. Very athletic, very different from the Big East teams that we've played against due to how talented they are and how athletic.

I think it's going be a great, fun game and I think the tempo is going to be fun. Tomorrow is going to be an up-and-down game," said Kris Dunn on Wednesday. 

USC is led by Jordan McLaughlin who averages 13.4 points per game and is shooting 46.7% from the field. 

Nikola Jovanovic follows up with 12 points per game and is shooting 52% from the field. 

Expect this to be a fast pace game. 

For the Friars to Win 

For Providence, it's no secret that it comes down to Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil. If they don't have a good games, PC's chances of winning are slim, see the Big East semifinal against Villanova or the regular season road game against DePaul. 

For Providence, where will the secondary scoring come from? 

"I always tell our guys to do their job. What is your role on their team. Like what do you do to help Providence College win? Whether it's Kyron dictating pace and tempo in finding guys, whether it's Jalen and Ryan making shots, Rodney being on the glass, Junior being that defensive stopper. I think as you build a team, you have to build their roles, and if they buy into their roles, I think the more roles that can be identified early, you have later success," said Cooley. 

The Friars will look to control the pace of the game and push the ball up the floor when they get an opportunity to do so in order to get easy baskets. 

"I think we played a great pace in tempo all year. We just have to make sure we're not playing the way somebody else wants us to play," Cooley added 

Lastly, Providence needs a god start. The Friars have had an issue with falling behind early in games this season and more times than not, it has cost them. 

A good start, getting out to good lead in the game will give the rest of the team confidence. 

Game Day 

The Friars and Trojans tip off at 9:50 p.m. in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

The winner of this game will move on to the second round on Saturday and will most likely face North Carolina, the number 1 seed in the East Region.