Busting Brackets
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Big East Basketball Power Rankings: DePaul, Butler exceeding expectations

By Lukas Harkins

VILLANOVA, PA - JANUARY 02: Saddiq Bey #15 of the Villanova Wildcats reacts after making a basket in front of Paul Reed #4 of the DePaul Blue Demons in the second half at Finneran Pavilion on January 2, 2019 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the DePaul Blue Demons 73-68. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA - JANUARY 02: Saddiq Bey #15 of the Villanova Wildcats reacts after making a basket in front of Paul Reed #4 of the DePaul Blue Demons in the second half at Finneran Pavilion on January 2, 2019 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the DePaul Blue Demons 73-68. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 14: Duke of the Friars drives. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 14: Duke of the Friars drives. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /

. . . Providence Friars. 7. player. 476

Providence has the most inexplicable loss of any team in the Big East so far this season. Even though St. John’s has suffered a loss to Vermont and Villanova was blown out by Ohio State, the Friars’ defeat at the hands of Northwestern takes the cake. And it might not even be particularly close. Outside of their win over PC, the Wildcats have played two other games so far this season and they lost both…to Radford and a brand-new D1 squad in Merrimack. Yet, they were able to essentially dominate Providence for 40 minutes.

What makes that loss even harder to comprehend for Providence is just how well the team has played aside from that game. Even with that dismal loss, the Friars are still a net-positive in adjusted efficiency margin change since the opening day of the season while rising four spots to No. 26 in the overall KenPom rankings. PC might not have a single top-150 win yet, but their performances in “tune-up” games have been impressive. They even defeated that same Merrimack team mentioned earlier by 37 points. (College basketball really is funny sometimes.)

On the whole, Providence’s defense looks elite to begin this season. They are absolutely shutting passing lanes down and forcing their opponents into poor decisions. This has resulted in the Friars boasting the nation’s sixth-best defensive turnover rate at 28.9%. On the offensive end, David Duke (14.6p/5.0r/5.2a) and Alpha Diallo (13.2p/9.6r) are leading the way as the team’s only double-digit per game scorers.

It is important to mention, though, that Luwane Pipkins now appears to be assimilating to the system and Nate Watson only just took the court for the first time in their last game after missing the first three due to injury.

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