Villanova Continues PC’s Pain, Friars Fall to 1-5 in the Big East

Villanova Continues PC’s Pain, Friars Fall to 1-5 in the Big East

On the Fox pre-game show, Seth Davis said emphatically, “[PC] must win the game tonight.”

But it did not happen; the Friars lost 88-82 to Villanova in Providence.

PC played without leading scorer Jason Edwards — out with a reported foot injury.

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But in a twist, there was a bit of an advantage for the Friars; they shortened the bench and developed more continuity with Jaylin Sellers (24 points), Jamier Jones (23 points), and Stefan Vaaks (21 points) all scoring in double figures.

But, after that, the Friar scoring collapsed. Ryan Mela was the next highest scorer with just 5 points.

Devin Askew led the Wildcats with 20 points.

PC has a couple of runs trimming the Villanova lead. The Friars had an 8-0 run down to the 10-minute mark, cutting the Villanova lead to 5.

Then, after Villanova opened the lead up again, the Friars cut the lead down in the final two minutes, but simply could not close the gap.

The Friars fall to 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the Big East.

Villanova improves to 14-3 and 5-1 in the Big East.

 

FIRST HALF: 

• Jamier Jones opened up the scoring for the Friars after he was fouled on a three-point attempt, he converted all three attempts at the line to make it 3-0, Providence (19:06). 

• Jones connected on the first field goal of the night for the Friars off a driving effort to make it 5-3, Providence (17:41).  

• Corey Floyd Jr. got physical in the lane before converting on a turnaround jump shot to keep the Friar lead at 2 (16:03).  

• Providence beat the shot clock on a Stefan Vaaks driving layup and followed it up with a Vaaks three on the next possession to tie the game at 12 (13:48). 

• Floyd Jr. found Jones out in transition for a layup to cut into the Villanova lead, 20-14 (11:53).  

• Oswin Erhunmwunse recorded his first basket of the night off an alley-oop pass from Vaaks (10:30). 

• Jones continued his hot shooting performance on a crafty move towards to rim to make it 23-18, Villanova (9:19). 

• On the following possession, Ryan Mela found Duncan Powell for a three-pointer to make it 23-21, Villanova heading into a timeout (8:35). 

• Out of the timeout, Powell recorded a steal that led to a Jaylin Sellers layup to cap off a 7-0 Providence run and tie the game at 23 (8:01).  

• After a 10-0 Villanova run, Providence responded with back-to-back buckets by Sellers and Jones to make it 33-27 Villanova with 4:43 remaining in the half.  

• Mela found the rolling Jones for an emphatic dunk through the lane with three minutes remaining in the half (3:03).  

• Powell posted up before finding Sellers for a wide-open three-pointer making it 42-32 (1:56). 

• Vaaks was able to get by his man and finish at the rim to keep the Villanova lead at 10, 44-34 (1:06). 

• Villanova led at the half 46-34. 

• Providence shot 14-25 (56.0%) from the field, 3-9 (33.3%) from three, and 3-3 (100%) from the free-throw line.   

• Villanova shot 18-34 (52.9%) from the field, 6-17 (35.3%) from three, and 4-5 (80.0%) from the free-throw line.    

• Jones led all scorers with 13 points for the Friars on 5-7 shooting 

• Vaaks and Sellers chipped in with seven points. 

• Devin Askew and Malachi Palmer both had ten points for the Wildcats.  

 

SECOND HALF: 

• The Friars opened the second-half scoring with a Jones transition layup to cut the deficit to ten (18:54).  

• After a Villanova bucket Providence connected for its first three of the half when Cole Hargrove (Norristown, Pa.) pulled down and offensive rebound and found an open Sellers (18:20).  

• A few possessions later Sellers knocked down another three to once again make it a ten-point game at 52-42 (17:05).  

• Ryan Mela got his first points of the game on a floater in the lane; Providence then forced a turnover that resulted in a Sellers break-away slam. The dunk put Sellers up to 17 points on the night.  (14:15).  

• After a Villanova three, Mela used a spin move to get to the rim and finish with his left-hand. The Wildcat lead was trimmed to 11. (13:07) 

• Providence was able to get a stop on defense; Jones took advantage and quickly ran the fast-break for an and-one layup. Villanova held a 63-54 lead into the media-timeout (11:51).  

•  The Friars forced a shot-clock violation; Vaaks then got crafty on his way to the rim to cut the deficit to five (10:17).  

• The first PC possession out of the under-eight media-timeout Sellers connected with Jones for an alley-oop slam. Villanova controlled an eight-point lead (6:52).  

•Sellers pulled down an offensive rebound in traffic and kicked it out to Vaaks for a deep three (5:54).  

•Jones sank two foul shots with under five minutes to play to add on to his impressive night and trim the deficit to ten (4:29).  

•After Vaaks' third three of the game, Floyd found Erhunmwunse to make it a six-point game (1:52).  

•Off a baseline-inbounds play Sellers drilled his fourth three of the game to make it 83-78 (0:42) 

• Villanova was able to pull away for an 88-82 victory.  

 

DATA: 

• Providence shot 31-56 (55.4%) from the field, 8-25 (32.0%) from three, and 12-17 (70.6%) from the free-throw line.   

• Villanova shot 32-64 (50.0%) from the field, 10-28 (35.7%) from three, and 14-18 (77.8%) from the free-throw line.     

• The Friars finished with three players in 20 or more points: Sellers (24), Jones (23), and Vaaks (21).  

• The Friars had three players score 20 or more points for the first time since 2/14/23 against No. 18/18 Creighton. Sellers (24), Jones (23) and Vaaks (21) all had 20 or more for Providence.  

• Jones and Vaaks point totals marked the first time in the last 30 years that two freshman each scored 20 or more points in a game for the Friars.  

• Vaaks' 21 point performance marks the first time that a freshman has recorded 20 or more points in two consecutive games since Sharaud Curry in the 2005-06 season.  

• Jones registered a career high of 23 points. That is the most points by a Friar freshman since AJ Reeves scored 24 against Butler in 2019.  

• Tyler Perkins added 15 for the Wildcats.  

• Providence held the advantage in points in the paint 42-38. 

• Providence holds a 44-74 mark all-time versus Villanova.  

 

NEXT: 

The Friars will return to action when they host Creighton University on Friday, Jan. 16. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. in Providence. The game will be televised on FS1.