PC Men’s Basketball Beat UNH, But the First Half Was a Struggle

PC Men’s Basketball Beat UNH, But the First Half Was a Struggle

Providence College men’s basketball was only up 7 points to the University of New Hampshire at halftime Tuesday night at home.

The Friars, coming off a disappointing performance at Colorado, would have been looking for a dominant win from start to finish, and the ultimate score masked PC’s struggles in the first half.

The 98-66 win over UNH may raise more questions than it answered. With the win, the Friars are now 3-2,

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UNH had lost earlier this season to Clemson by 50 points. The Wildcats came into the game with a 2-3 record, but their two wins were against D-II and D-III schools, respectively.

Jack Graham, UNH’s star guard, is a Smithfield, RI-native who spent the last two seasons at the University of Richmond.

He led the Wildcats with 21 points against the Friars.

He played in 12 games last season, totaling 10 points, four assists, and three steals. He saw action in five games during his 2023-24 freshman season. Graham was named the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council co-Player of the Year in 2023 when he led Milton Academy to a 24-2 record and its first NEPSAC Championship since 1974. He previously played at Bishop Hendricken High School and helped the Hawks win the Rhode Island Division I state title in 2021.

 

GAME STORY

FIRST HALF: 

• Providence responded to New Hampshire's first basket with a 7-0 run that included a Stefan Vaaks (Tabasalu, Estonia) pull-up three pointer, an Oswin Erhunmwunse (Benin City, Nigeria) layup and a Jason Edwards driving layup to make it 7-2 (17:43).  

• Vaaks connected on his second three pointer of the night to give the Friars a 12-7 lead going into the first media timeout (15:04).  

• Jamier Jones (Sarasota, Fla.) found Cole Hargrove (Norristown, Pa.) on a baseline cut that resulted in a Hargrove dunk to make the score 14-9, Providence (13:51).  

• Two Edwards layups and a Jaylen Harrell (Boston, Mass.) basket resulted in a 6-0 run that gave Providence its first double digit lead of the night going into the second media timeout (10:44).  

• A 13-4 UNH run pulled the Wildcats within one, 25-24, with under five minutes remaining in the half (4:38).  

• Out of a Providence timeout, Harrell scored his second basket of the night on a driving effort to give Providence the three-point lead, 27-24 (4:17). 

• Vaaks' third three-pointer of the evening and an Edwards layup kept the Friars lead at three, 32-29, heading into the under four-minute media timeout (1:46). 

• Jaylin Sellers (Columbus, Ga.) connected on his first three pointer of the night on an assist from Edwards to make it 35-31 with a minute remaining in the first half (1:04). 

• A backdoor cut and layup by Sellers on an out of bounds play gave the Friars the 38-31 lead going into halftime.  

• Providence shot 15-33 (45.5%) from the field, 4-15 (26.7%) from three, and 4-7 (57.1%) from the free-throw line.   

• New Hampshire shot 11-35 (31.4%) from the field, 5-15 (33.3%) from three, and 4-4 (100%) from the free-throw line.    

• Edwards led all scorers in the first half with 12 points.  

• Jack Graham registered 10 points for UNH in the first half. 

• Vaaks added nine points in on 3-4 shooting from three in the first half.  

• Erhunmwunse recorded two blocks in the first half.  

• The rebounding battle was tied at 22 going into the break.  

 

SECOND HALF: 

• Edwards continued his success, connecting on back-to-back three-pointers to give the Friars a 13-point lead (18:58). 

• On the following possession, Vaaks was fouled on a three-point attempt, forcing a UNH timeout (18:24). 

• Ryan Mela (Natick, Mass.) scored his first two baskets of the game on a driving effort followed by a three-pointer to give Providence the 53-38 lead (16:38). 

• Edwards found Sellers for a layup on a half-court alley-oop pass to make the score 55-38 (16:06) 

• Edwards found Sellers again on the following possession, this time for three, to make it 59-40 Providence going into a media timeout (14:59).  

• Sellers converted an and-one attempt to give Providence the 61-42 lead (14:35). 

• Edwards stepped back for his third three pointer of the game that gave the Friars a 20-point lead, 64-44, before diving on a loose ball that led into a Providence timeout (13:29). 

• Mela converted on an and-one opportunity and found his own miss for a personal 5-0 run to extend the Providence lead, 69-44 (13:20). 

• On the following possession, Mela scored on a floater to bring his second half and game total to 12 points (11:25). 

Vaaks drove and kicked to Jones for a three-pointer and on the next possession Jones attacked the baseline for a dunk to push the lead to 78-53 (9:46). 

• Erhunmwunse converted a slam dunk from a dump down pass from Mela (6:45).  

• Sellers drove to the paint and threw down an emphatic and-one dunk to extend the lead to 85-60 (5:56).  

• Jones threw down another alley-oop dunk on a pass from Edwards and scored a layup on the following possession to extend the Friar lead (4:37).  

• Vaaks laid off a pass for Peteris Penis to finish on a layup to give him his first career points as a Friar (2:10).  

• Jones three down back-to-back dunks for his third and fourth of the night to extend the Friar lead to 96-66 (1:02). 

• Jaylen Harrell threw down the final dunk of the game as time expired to make the final score 98-66.  

 

DATA: 

• Five players finished in double figures for the Friars: Edwards (25),  Sellers (18), Jones (14), Vaaks (13), and Mela (12)  

• Through five games the Friars are averaging 96.4 points per game 

• Erhunmwunse registered 11 rebounds 

• Edwards registered 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists. He is the first Friar to record a 25-5-5 game since Devin Carter did on Feb. 7, 2024. 

• Edwards registered a career high eight assists. 

• Edwards also tied career highs in rebounds (5) and steals (3). 

• Edwards is the first Friar since Kris Dunn in 2015 to record 25 points, five rebounds, eight assists and 3 steals in a game.  

• Stefan Vaaks had three three-pointers in the game, marking his fifth game of the season where he has recorded two or more threes. 

• The Friars opened the second half shooting 10 of 10 from the field.  

• Providence shot 37-66 (39%) from the field, 10-26 (38.5%) from three, and 14-22 (63.6%) from the free-throw line.   

• UNH shot 25-64 (51.5%) from the field, 8-28 (28.6%) from three, and 8-9 (88.9%) from the free-throw line.     

• The Friars have posted a 17-1 mark all-time versus the UNH Wildcats, including an 12-0 mark at home and a 5-1 record on the road. 

• The Friars have posted a 74-2 mark all-time versus teams from the America East. 

 

NEXT: 

The Friars will travel to Uncasville, Conn., to face Penn State in the Hall of Fame Showcase on Saturday, Nov. 22, at The Mohegan Sun Arena.  

Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on truTV. 

Then, the Friars take on a very good Wisconsin team on Thanksgiving Day.