PC Friars Look to Stay on Top of Big East Tilts with Seton Hall and Creighton

PC Friars Look to Stay on Top of Big East Tilts with Seton Hall and Creighton

The 11-2 Providence College men’s quintet will face the 8-5 Seton Hall Pirates at 6:30 PM on Wednesday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.  The match-up begins a stretch of eight Big East games in January for the Friars.  After the Seton Hall game, PC will play its first away game in the Big East this season on Saturday afternoon, January 6th, at Creighton.  PC is going to miss home cooking at the AMP, as five of the seven remaining Big East games in January are on the road.

 

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Seton Hall Matchup/Wednesday

What should be made of the PC-Seton Hall matchup?  The Pirates have a decent 8-5 record, but they have lost to lower-tier Big 10 teams Iowa and Rutgers.  They surprised the basketball world and UCONN’s Dan Hurley a couple of weeks ago with a shocking 75-60 home win over the Huskies. Just when you thought the Pirates might have been overlooked in the pre-season Big East predictions, the Hall laid an egg in their next game at Xavier, 74-54.

 

Seton Hall is led by a dynamic 6’6” guard Kadary Richmond who averages 15.2 pts/game and by 6’6’’ g/f Dre Davis who puts in 13.4 pts/game.  Richmond is also a very effective defender because of his reach.  Their big man is 6’10” Jaden Badiako who averages 9.8 pts/game and 8.1 boards/game, but he has not been a key guy in their offense.

 

 

 

Because of PC’s elite defense so far this season, which has resulted in a 11.3 pts/game scoring margin, and because of their 10-0 home record, the Friars should prevail against the Pirates and start their Big East season 3-0.

 

Creighton Matchup/Saturday

 

The schedule makers were generous in giving PC three home games to start the Big East season.  But the first Big East road game at Creighton will be daunting.  It would have been nice if PC started its Big East road schedule against a Georgetown or a DePaul, but PC will have to show us if they are a legitimate top tier Big East team by facing Creighton in Omaha.

 

Creighton, a projected top 3 team in the Big East, has stumbled out of the gate going 9-4 overall and 0-2 in Big East play.  But they have a formidable offense, will face PC before 17,000+ fans on their home court, and will be desperate for a win against ranked PC after the Bluejays recently blew a double-digit lead in losing to Marquette, 72-67, this past weekend.

 

 

 

Creighton’s offensive prowess is evident with a scoring margin of almost 15 pts/g.  They have 3 go-to scorers in guards 6’7’’ Baylor Scheierman and 6’4’’ Trey Alexander and center 7’1” Ryan Kalkbrenner.  All of these guys can score and rebound and provide assists.  The Friars biggest challenge is likely to be 7’1’’, 270 lbs, Kalkbrenner, as PC has no one to match up with him when he posts low.  His FG%/g is a scary 65%.

 

This game features the Big East’s best offense in Creighton against the Big East’s best defense in Providence. To have a chance in this game, PC’s defense will have to limit Creighton to 75 or fewer points.  Its offense is going to have to increase its 3pt %/g from 33% to something close to 40%, reduce turnovers, and hit free throws at least at a 75% rate.

 

Friar Trivia

Last week’s questions and answers:

 

Q. In the mid 2000’s two former PC players faced off against each other in the NCAA Final Four tournament.  Who were they, and what teams did they coach?

 

A.  Jim Larranaga, PC, 1967-71, coached George Mason University in the Final Four of the 2005-06 season against Billy Donovan, the star of Rick Pitino’s 1987 Final Four team, coached University of Florida in the 2005-06 Final Four.  Florida prevailed 73-58 against upstart George Mason and went on to win the NCAA championship beating UCLA 73-57.  Donovan repeated at Florida in the 2006-07 season with another NCAA ring.  Donovan left Florida after the 2014-5 season, coaching in the NBA with Oklahoma City and now with the Chicago Bulls with an overall record of 375-295. Larranaga coaches Miami in the ACC.

 

This week’s trivia question:

 

Q.  Before the Friars built the on-campus basketball arena Alumni Hall in 1955, where did the Friars play their home games during the previous five years?