NCAA Basketball top 25 power rankings: UCLA and Kentucky rise, Kansas falls
By Joey Loose
16. Providence (17-2)
Twice this season, Providence has had rough performances, with one of those coming with poor offense and the other with poor defense. Outside of that, the other seventeen outings have all led to wins, with some of those being some pretty impressive victories. The Friars look like a team that could make some noise when March Madness rolls around.
The Friars got the week started with a 69-62 win at home over a struggling Butler squad. It wasn’t their best performance, but Nate Watson had 18 points and Providence did enough for the win. A more impressive win came Wednesday night at Xavier, with a 65-62 victory giving the Friars a four-game winning streak. Aljami Durham had 22 points as the Friars ran their conference record to 7-1.
There’s still work to be done; the Big East is very tough and Providence is still working its way up these analytics and rankings. The Friars have pulled out wins in all these close games; leading the nation in the Luck statistic on KenPom, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a great team. Next week, they get a chance to show that, welcoming a very hot Marquette team on Sunday before a tricky road trip to St. John’s later in the week.