Providence guard Bryce Cotton averaging OVER a a full game per night

Mar 4, 2014; Providence, RI, USA; Marquette Golden Eagles guard John Dawson (2) defends Providence Friars guard Bryce Cotton (11) during the first half at the Dunkin

Providence Friars guard, Bryce Cotton, might be one of the best players in the entire country. We could also make a fairly easy argument that he is the second best player in the Big East Conference.

Cotton, who is averaging 21.7 ppg, has basically put Providence on his back and helped the Friars get on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. Which was put on full display for the nation in a game on Tuesday night.

Last night, Cotton played 50 minutes against Marquette. The game went into double-overtime, he scored 25 and the Friars eventually took down the Golden Eagles, essentially putting them in the position to make the NCAA Tournament — sans tomfoolery.

That is a lot of minutes for one night. In fact, if our math skills are sharp, Cotton played an entire game that went two overtimes. One would think that would mean a breather would be in Cotton’s near future. However, that would be wrong.

There isn’t a player who is asked to do more, minutes wise, than Cotton. With the 50 minutes on the hardwood last night, it is official, Bryce Cotton is averaging 40.2 minutes per game. To put that in some proper perspective, a college basketball game is only 40 minutes long.

Why has Cotton been left on the court so much? Because Providence needed him to be. Playing for their NCAA Tournament lives, Ed Cooley relies on Cotton to be everything, anything and more, in the name of winning basketball. Which seems to include playing more minutes of basketball a night than you would think would be mathematically possible.

Cotton is a senior. This is his last go at helping Providence go to the Big Dance and possibly making a deep run in March. Playing all these minutes, however, got to be hurting his legs a bit.

Knees weak. Mom’s spaghetti type stuff. You know?