Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big East Basketball: UConn, Seton Hall remains in hunt of latest power rankings

By Salvador Lopez

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: The Big East logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Xavier Musketeers and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center on February 1, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: The Big East logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Xavier Musketeers and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center on February 1, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 12
Next
Big East Basketball David Duke Providence Friars (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Big East Basketball David Duke Providence Friars (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

7. Providence Friars (7-6, 3-4 Big East)

Brutal…The Friars are crushing their chances at an NCAA Tournament bid by losing three straight games to start the new year.

During their first game of 2021, Providence trailed by 12 points against Creighton with less than five minutes remaining, only to make a comeback and tie the game 65-65 with seven seconds left.

On Creighton’s next possession, the Blue Jays dribbled down the court for Marcus Zegarowski to pass the ball to a cutting Christian Bishop who threw down the game-winning dunk for Creighton.

Once again on Sunday against Xavier, it was déjà vu all over again. The Friars made three straight three-point shots to take a 73-66 lead with one-minute remaining. It looked like this time that Providence would come out on top.

However, that was until Xavier ended the game on an 8-0 run in the final minute that resulted in two Providence turnovers, and the Musketeers hitting the final shot by Colby Jones with one-tenth of a second remaining.

On Tuesday night against Marquette, the Friars failed to bounce back and lost their third straight game 79-69. For the second game in a row, the Friars backcourt depth has taken a massive hit as sophomore point guard, Jared Bynum (5.8 ppg, 4.5 apg), missed the last two games due an injury he suffered during the first half against Creighton.

The majority of Providence’s scoring is through the duo of junior guard, David Duke (19.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.8 apg), and senior center, Nate Watson (18.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg). Duke and Watson have each scored in double figures in all 13 of their games.

Besides Watson’s scoring in the post, it seems like the entire weight of the offense has been left for Duke to handle. On Sunday, Duke carried Providence by scoring 30 points on seven three-point shots, only to fall in the last second against Xavier.

Duke has played at least 38 minutes during his last ten games. He is currently third nationally playing a total of 487 minutes through 13 games.

With Duke bound to play the whole game and Bynum currently injured, the Friars roster lacks serious depth and has been a disappointment with all the talent surrounding the team. The transfers of Jared Bynum, senior forward, Noah Horchler (4.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg), and junior forward, Ed Croswell (3.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg), has not panned out to what was expected from them so far this season.

However, the reason for optimism in Friartown is that head coach Ed Cooley has an opportunity to turn things around. Providence started 7-6 overall record last season with multiple bad losses on the schedule. The Friars ended up winning their last six games to close out last season.

To keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, Providence must find a way to win and cannot take any more bad losses as they did against Butler in December.

Providence’s matchup against Georgetown on Saturday has been postponed due to Georgetown going on pause. The Friars will have two quality opportunities to improve their resume next week with back-to-back road games on Wednesday at Creighton and next Saturday at Villanova.

Home/Big East