Providence Basketball: 3 keys for Friars to upset Kansas in Sweet 16 matchup

When Selection Sunday arrived and everybody saw the 4 vs. 13 matchup in the Midwest Region, a lot of people were quick to go with the upset. I mean, you can’t really blame them as the 13 seed South Dakota St. Jackrabbits came into the game on a 21-game winning streak, having not lost a game since mid-December.

Their opponent, the 4 seed Providence Friars, was known to be a team that had a “lucky” regular season, always seeming to catch teams at the right time and a squad that was a very popular pick to be upset during the First Weekend.

Despite all of the doubters, the Friars have found themselves in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1997 after defeating the Jackrabbits and the 12 seed Richmond Spiders last weekend. The two victories were in different fashions as they played a close game against South Dakota St. and blew out Richmond. Noah Horchler was a big difference-maker for Providence, averaging 14.5 PPG and 11.5 RPG in the first two rounds.

On the defensive side of the ball, Justin Minaya was called upon to guard the lead scorers of each team and excelled, specifically holding Richmond’s Tyler Burton to just five points.

While the Friars played a pair of double-digit seeds in the first two rounds, they are now met with their most difficult opponent of the season in the 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks.  The Jayhawks breezed through their opening round game against Texas Southern and survived a scare against a beat-up Creighton team to get to this point and have their eyes set on yet another Final Four appearance. This is one of Bill Self’s best teams he’s had in a few years, led by All-American Ochai Agbaji and sharpshooter Christian Braun.

Even though knocking off the top team in the region will be a tall task, this is a Friars team that is perseverant and has proven people wrong before. Here are three things that I think need to go right for them to make the Elite Eight for the first time in 25 years.