Friars Top UMass 85-65 in Saturday Matinee at The Dunk
GoLocalProv Sports Team
Friars Top UMass 85-65 in Saturday Matinee at The Dunk
See the Five takeaways slideshow below.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWell played.
"I thought we played really well, thought we had great shots at the rim, missed a couple of cheap shots. It was a good team win," said Friars head coach Ed Cooley.
The Friars held a 24-20 lead with just over five minutes to play in the first half after UMass's Zach Coleman knocked down a three pointer. Friars coach Ed Cooley called a time out and out of that time out, Providence went on a 13-4 run to end the half with a 37-24 lead.
The Minutemen would get no closer then 11 points the rest of the way as the Friars come away with their third straight win.
LaDontae Henton led the Friars with 27 points, six rebounds and two assists while Kris Dunn followed up with a double-double, netting 16 points and dishing out 11 assists. Dunn only had three turnovers in the game.
The Minutemen were led by Maxie Esho with 17 points and Donte Clark with 14 points off the bench.
Lineup change
One change Ed Cooley made in this game was to his starting lineup, starting Ben Bentil over Tyler Harris. Bentil played 19 minutes and netted five points and pulled down five rebounds. Meanwhile, Harris had 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench for the Friars.
"Just trying to develop young guys, we need more offensive fire power off the bench once Big East play comes," Cooley said about the line up change.
Conference play is coming
Providence will travel to New York to take on Miami on Monday night at 9 p.m., the last game before conference play begins at home against Creighton on New Years Eve.
For a further look at the Friars win over Creighton, see the five takeaways slideshow below.
Five Takeaways From the Friars 85-65 Win Over UMass
Shoot Jalen, Shoot
Freshman Jalen Lindsey played 25 minutes and netted eight points. Lindsey went three for five from the field, including two of three from beyond the three-point arc.
Lindsey is one of the best shooters on the team but he needs to shoot the ball more and Cooley was telling him to do so at points throughout the game. Taking only five shots is not enough for a player of his calibur.
Tyler Harris
Tyler Harris started the game on the bench in favor of freshman Ben Bentil. Harris has been pretty inconsistent this season for the Friars and though coach Cooley would never admit it, that may have been part of the reason he lost his starting job.
Either way, Harris played well off the bench for Providence, netting 12 points in 16 minutes of action. Harris also had three steals in the game for Providence.
The Friars need Harris to play well as Big East play takes a giant leap closer to getting started.
Rebounding
Providence had size advantages all over the floor in this game against UMass and it shows in the rebounding battle.
The Friars out rebounded UMass 42-32 including 17-9 on the offensive glass. Carson Desrosiers led PC with nine rebounds, six offensive. Desrosiers fell one rebound shy of a double-double as he had ten points in the game.
The Friars 17 offensive rebounds helped lead to 15 second chance points.
LaDontae Henton
After a brief lull through the Kentucky, Boston College and Brown game, LaDontae Henton has returned to form just as Big East play is about to begin.
Henton led the Friars with 27 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 37 minutes played. Henton went 10 of 19 from the field and four of six from the free throw line for the Friars.
A good sign for Providence.
Kris Dunn
After a few shaky games a couple of weeks ago, Kris Dunn has really turned it around and has looked much more comfortable on the floor. His turnovers are down, he is being aggressive and he is still racking up assists.
Dunn had a double-double in this game, netting 16 points and dishing out 11 assists to help lead the Friars to victory.
Dunn also led the team with five steals and only turned the ball over three times.
Providence as a team only turned the ball over nine times in the game despite UMass pressuring the ball, in both the half court and full court, nearly the entire contest.
