Was the Georgetown Loss the Worst In PC History?

Was the Georgetown Loss the Worst In PC History?

Saturday’s Providence College meltdown was easily the worst collapse this season, in a season of collapses.

The Friars' implosion against UConn (PC was up 11 points with 3 minutes left in the game, before losing to the Huskies) was epic, but in retrospect, it is just the norm.

This past week, a GoLocal column outlined five brutal last-minute losses in which PC was leading in the final minutes only to lose those games.

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In a program steeped in success  — NIT Championships, two NCAA Final Fours, and a bastion of Hall of Fame coaches and players — success is supposed to be the norm.

There have, of course, been heartbreaking losses — none worse than the 1973 Final Four.

In the national semifinals, Providence played Memphis State and took a double-digit advantage before PC star Marvin Barnes was forced to leave the game due to a knee injury. 

After trailing at halftime by nine points, the Tigers rallied to win, 98–85, and secure their place in the national championship game. Barnes only played 11 minutes. Ernie DiGregorio scored 32, and GoLocal’s own Kevin Stacom added 15.

That was a heartbreaking loss, but not a collapse — Barnes played just 11 minutes and scored 12 points.

Everyone knows, including Memphis State, that if Barnes had been healthy, the Friars would have faced UCLA for the National Championship.

 

The Kim English Tenure Is Becoming the Era of the Collapse

Last season, under coach Kim English, there were two ugly losses for PC that now seem to be precursors to this season.

In February of 2025, the Friars suffered a brutal defeat. It was an ugly performance when they fell to the No. 21/22 Marquette Golden Eagles, 82-52, at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Then just weeks later, the Friars led by 16 points in the first half, but went cold as DePaul University got hot. DePaul won for the first time in seven years in Providence 80-77. The loss was the Friars' 8th in their previous nine games.

 

The Georgetown Loss Was a Special Kind of Pain

First, Georgetown came to Providence on Saturday with just one Big East win.

Second, the Hoyas are coached by former Providence coach Ed Cooley, who not only dumped the Friars for Georgetown, but as GoLocal unveiled, Cooley had put his Rhode Island house on the market weeks before he announced his exodus to DC. Friars fans turned on Cooley.

Third, in the loss to Georgetown, the Hoyas outscored Providence 47-27 in the final 17 minutes.

Lastly, the loss sends the Friars into a three-way tie with Georgetown and Marquette for last place — each team has just two wins in the conference.

After last season’s 12-20 overall record and a 6-14 record in the Big East, coupled with this season’s 9-11 and 2-7 — the combined record is 21-31 and 8-21 in the Big East.