Season Over: PC Bounced by Dayton 66-53 in NCAA Tourney
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Season Over: PC Bounced by Dayton 66-53 in NCAA Tourney
"We just didn't have it tonight. I'm proud of our seniors, they came to us when we needed an identity," Friars head coach Ed Cooley said after the game.
See the five takeaways slideshow below
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Friars tied the game at 30 early in the second half on a Kris Dunn jump shot with 18 minutes to play.. From there Dayton went on a 14-5 run.
The Flyers used a 9-0 run late in the game to put it away and win 66-53.
The Friars led 5-3 early on before Dayton went on a 13-2 run to take a 16-7 lead. Providence despite shooting terrible, PC only trailed by three, 28-25, at the half but built very little momentum at throughout the game.
Dismal Shooting
The Friars were led by LaDontae Henton who netted 18 points on 7-of-23 shooting from the field, including 4-of-14 from three-point land.
Kris Dunn in his first career NCAA Tournament had 11 points and seven turnovers.
Dyshawn Pierre led Dayton with 20 points in the game while Jordan Sibert followed up with 15.
For a further look at the game, see the five takeaways slideshow below.
Five Takeaways From the Friars 66-53 Loss to Dayton
Jalen Lindsey
One positive from the Friars two season ending losses was the play of Jalen Lindsey. Lindsey has struggled with his confidence for pretty much the entire season but in the final two games, his confidence was restored.
Lindsey shot 4-of-8 from three-point land for 12 points in the game against Dayton. This comes after a nine point performance against Villanova in the Big East tournament.
Hopefully Jalen Lindsey can carry this confidence into next season.
Kris Dunn
Kris Dunn played in his first career NCAA Tournament game (maybe his last?) and did not play well.
Dunn netted 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field and turned the ball over 7 times.
Kris Dunn got in foul trouble early on in the game, including a questionable flagrant foul, and that forced him to the bench where he sat for about six minutes.
That contributed to yet another slow start for the Friars.
Maybe coach Cooley should have just let him stay in the game.
Off to the NBA
Lots of talk about Kris Dunn heading to the NBA next season but his NCAA Tournament performance will not help him.
Kris Dunn has only played one full college season and he was up and down this year. At least one more full season in college would really help him.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks to a month.
Fast start...or not
The Dayton Flyers were pretty much playing a home game and because of that it was important for Providence to get off to a good start. Needless to say, that didn't happen for the third time in four games.
PC had some early foul calls on them and let it get in their heads and before you knew it, they were down 16-7.
The Friars have lost all three games in which they started slow and had to try and claw back into it.
Another slow start, another loss. This one ends the season.
LaDontae Henton
LaDontae Henton's PC career came to an end in poor fashion. In his final game, Henton had 18 points on 7-of-26 from the field, including 4-of-13 from three-point land. Henton did grab 11 rebounds but dished out no assists.
While LaDontae Henton's 18 points looks good in the box score, but if you watched the game you know about 6-8 of those points came in garbage time in the last minute or two when the game was pretty much over barring a miracle.
Dayton's defense was good, just like Villanova's and just like Butler's but Henton had to find ways to get open or at least get your teammates involved (again 0 assists in this game). It's also on Ed Cooley as well when you talk about in game adjustments and game plan.
LaDontae Henton did not play well in three of the Friars last four games and Providence lost all of them.
It's too bad Henton's career ends the way it did.
On a positive note, Henton passed Jimmy Walker to become the Friars second All-Time leading scorer. Ryan Gomes is still safely in first.
Season Over
With the 66-53 loss the Friars season comes to a close. Providence finished the season with a a 22-11 record overall and 11-7 in the Big East.
PC closed the season by losing three of their last four games and extending their NCAA Tournament winless streak to 18 years.
This season was all about winning NCAA Tournament games, more so than last season, and the Friars were not able to do that despite having two of the best players in the country.
Coupled with the fact PC played terrible in the game, this loss will be a tough one to get over for Friars fans.
