Providence Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Friars
Schedule
While there are still some things that are unknown about this season’s full schedule for Providence, the Friars have released their upcoming schedule for November and December, which will consist of six non-conference games and four conference games. The Big East will announce the remainder of their conference schedule for 2021 in the future.
Also, it is still unknown whether fans will be able to attend Friars games this season at the Dunkin Donuts Center. In a pandemic year, this season will look quite different for Providence. Instead of playing in their usual arena at the Dunkin Donuts Center, the Friars will host their home games during November and December at their practice gym, which is the Mullaney Gymnasium at Alumni Hall.
Alumni Hall is also home to the Providence Friars Women’s Basketball Team. The last time that the men’s team played at Alumni Hall was in 2018 against Seton Hall when condensation on the floor at the Dunkin Donuts Center forced the second half to be suspended and play was resumed the next day at Alumni Hall.
This season, the Friars will start their schedule off with six non-conference games from late-November to early-December, followed by four Big East games for the rest of December.
The Friars will begin play at home on Wednesday, November 25th when they host Ed Cooley’s former team, the Fairfield Stags, at Alumni Hall. Cooley was head coach of Fairfield from 2006 to 2011. Providence is 15-1 all-time against the Stags, with Cooley going 3-0 against his former team. This will mark the first meeting between Providence and Fairfield since 2013.
Providence will then travel to Asheville, NC to participate in the Maui Invitational at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center, from Monday, November 30th thru Wednesday, December 2nd. The Friars will play three games in three days.
Providence will first play the Indiana Hoosiers on November 30th at 2:30 p.m., with what should be a challenging matchup against Indiana’s star player, Trayce Jackson Davis (13.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg), who was a Big Ten Third-Team selection as a freshman last season, while leading the Hoosiers in scoring and rebounding.
The second matchup in the Maui Invitational will take place on Tuesday, December 1st against either Texas or Davidson at 1:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. The third game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday, December 2nd will be determined during the course of how the Maui Invitational bracket plays out.
Providence will then travel back home to host their final mid-major opponent, Fairleigh Dickinson, on Saturday, December 5th at Alumni Hall. The following week, the Friars will hit the road for their Big East-Big 12 Battle matchup at TCU on Wednesday, December 9th. This matchup will mark only the second time that Providence and TCU have faced each other, with TCU winning its lone meeting 79-77 in 1998.
The Friars will play the remainder of their schedule as conference games. The Friars will open Big East play with two straight home games at Alumni Hall. The first of two will be on Saturday, December 12th against Xavier.
The second home game will be on Thursday, December 17th against UConn, marking the first meeting between Providence and UConn since 2013 when UConn was a member of the old Big East (pre-conference realignment).
Providence will close out the month of December with two conference games on the road. Their first conference road game will be at Seton Hall on Sunday, December 20th, and the last conference game of 2020 will be at Butler on Wednesday, December 23rd.
The rest of the conference schedule in 2021 has yet to be announced. According to NJ.com, the Big East is also looking into options to have a conference bubble starting in January. Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut is one of the sites being explored to host games in the Big East bubble.
Here is a list view of the Providence Friars schedule for November and December:
November
Wednesday 11/25 TBD vs Fairfield (Home – Alumni Hall – Providence, RI)
Monday 11/30 2:30 p.m. vs Indiana (Neutral Site – Maui Invitational – Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, NC)
December
Tuesday 12/1 1:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. vs Davidson/Texas (Neutral Site – Maui Invitational – Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, NC)
Wednesday 12/2 vs TBD (Neutral Site – Maui Invitational – Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, NC)
Saturday 12/5 TBD vs Fairleigh Dickinson (Home – Alumni Hall – Providence, RI)
Wednesday 12/9 TBD at TCU (Away – Big East/Big 12 Battle – Schollmaier Arena – Fort Worth, TX)
Saturday 12/12 TBD vs Xavier (Home – Conference Game – Alumni Hall – Providence, RI)
Thursday 12/17 TBD vs UConn (Home – Conference Game – Alumni Hall – Providence, RI)
Sunday 12/20 TBD at Seton Hall (Away – Conference Game – Prudential Center – Orange, NJ)
Wednesday 12/23 TBD at Butler (Away – Conference Game – Hinkle Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN)