PC Basketball Falls to #14 Minnesota 86-74
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
PC Basketball Falls to #14 Minnesota 86-74
The southpaw strikes again! #cartwright #onemanereckingcrew #pcbb pic.twitter.com/22GfOFhmyF
— The Morning Hangover (@TheMorningHang) November 14, 2017
"I thought we played well for about 26 minutes, I thought thier physicality in the second half particularly with Murphy, I'll have nightmares about him for a couple of weeks, he played really well," said Providence head coach Ed Cooley after the game.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe loss drops the Friars to 1-1 on the season, while Minnesota improves to 2-0.
PC Can't Hold 2nd Half Lead
The Friars held a 55-52 lead with 12:32 left to play in the second half following two Isaiah Jackson free throws before Minnesota took control, outscoring Providence 50-35 in the second half.
"Early part of the second half where we had some transistion baskets, that we normally make the right play on, we just couldn't make the play on. I thought that got us really stagnant and then they got really comfortable offensively," said Cooley.
Minnesota went on a 6-0 run capped off by a Nate Watson turnover that led to a Dupree McBrayer layup with 10:54 to play in the game, giving Minnesota a 58-55 lead.
Providence would get back to within one, 58-57, on a jumper by Kyron Cartwright before Minnesota would get a three from Amir Coffey to extend their lead to four, 61-57 with 10:12 to play.
Providence would get back within three, 63-60, following a Rodney Bullock jumper before Minnesota would go on a 9-3 run to take a 72-63 lead with 7:06 to play in the game.
Providence would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Friars Recover From Slow Start
Providence got off to a slow start in the game, but managed to recover.
After trailing 12-2 in the opening minutes the Friars went on a 10-2 run to cut Minnesota’s lead to 14-12 with 12:39 to play following a Nate Watson dunk.
Minnesota would build up as much as a five-point lead the rest of the way before PC would cut it to one, 25-24, with a layup by Alpha Diallo.
Providence would tie the game three times at 30, 32 and 33 before taking their second lead of the game since it was 2-0.
With the game tied at 33, Cartwright found Jackson in the corner for a three to give the Friars a 36-33 lead.
On PC’s next possession, Cartwright found Lindsey for another three to extend the Friars lead to 39-33 with 1:40 to go.
Minnesota would cut the Friars lead to three, 39-36 with 54 seconds left. They had a chance to tie the game, but were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.
The Friars would take a 39-36 lead in the half.
Next up
The Friars return to action on Thursday, November 16 when they take on the University of Washington at Madison Square Garden in New York as part of the 2K Classic.
Game time is set for 9:30 p.m.
Richard Pitino goes back to his alma mater and gets a road win with long-term equity. Minnesota convincingly beats Providence at The Dunk. Impressive.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 14, 2017
Providence College Basketball 2017-18 Projected Starting Lineup
Guard
Kyron Cartwright - Senior
Kyron Cartwright was ranked as the sixth-best guard in the country and the second-best guard in the Big East by CBS Sports.
He was also named to the preseason All-Big East second team at Big East media day.
"Kyron is the fastest player in the Big East, he can distribute the ball, he was 4th in the league in assists last season, so he can make things happen," said Hassett.
In 2016-17, Cartwright averaged 11.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in the regular season helping the Friars to a third-place finish in the conference.
He finished the season ranked fourth in the country and first in the Big East with 6.7 assists per game.
Coming into this season, Cartwright is tied with John Linehan with 450 career assists. He has a chance to climb as high as second all-time and pass Ernie DeGregorio who recorded 662 career assists.
Vincent Council is number one with 725 career assists.
Guard
Alpha Diallo - Sophomore
Alpha Diallo will look to build off a freshman season in which he started 16 games for the Friars.
He averaged 5.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and one steal in 21 minutes of action per game. At the end of the year, the team named him the Marvin Barnes Defensive Player of the Year.
Diallo started his freshman season coming off the bench and playing inconsistent minutes through the first eight games.
By PC's fifth Big East Conference game, he was in the starting lineup and would stay there.
Diallo finished the season reaching double figures in five of the Friars final 12 games, including 18 points against both Villanova and St. John's.
Guard
Jalen Lindsey - Senior
Jalen Lindsey has missed the entire preseason with a knee injury.
Lindsey returned to practice on Wednesday and will be a game-time decision for Friday, according to Cooley.
If Lindsey can't go, senior Isaiah Jackson will take his place in the starting lineup.
Last season with PC, Lindsey averaged 10.4 points, four rebounds and one steal in 31 minutes of action per game.
He also shot 46% from three.
Forward
Rodney Bullock - Senior
Rodney Bullock returns to the Friars this season after testing the NBA Draft waters last March, before pulling his name out.
Prior to the start of this season, Bullock was named second-team all-Big East.
"With Rodney Bullock, he has to be consistent. He has to come out and give it to you every night. With this team, there is no reason why he shouldn't average 17 points and get 8-10 rebounds per game. He has to be more aggressive on both ends of the floor," said Hassett.
In 2016-17, Bullock led Providence in scoring and rebounding with an average of 15.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
He also led PC with five double-doubles on the year and scored at least 20 points in nine games, including a career-high 36 points against New Hampshire.
In PC’s NCAA Tournament game against USC, Bullock poured in 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Center
Kalif Young - Sophomore
Forward Emmitt Holt remains out with abdominal issues and is not even on campus,
"The Holt injury is a major problem. He is the toughest player on the team, the best rebounder, and a post up guy that they don’t have. He is also good outside guy that can stretch the defense. Plus, you lose the experience," said Hassett.
Holt's absence means 6'9" sophomore Kalif Young will open the season at center.
"He has a tremendous opportunity now with Holt gone to get more minutes then he would have gotten. The reliance on him now is bigger. With Emmitt out there he didn’t have to play important minutes, now he has to play important minutes," said Hassett.
In his freshman season with the Friars, Young averaged 3.2 points, 3.2 rebounds 0.5 blocked shots in 13 minutes of action per game.
