Friars come from behind to beat Vandy, 67-60
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Nothing like waiting until the last minute - or more specifically, the last 9:36 - to get things in gear.
In the first round of the 2013 Paradise Jam at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas, Providence found itself on the beach for much of the first 30 mintues against the Vanderbilt Commodores...trailing 56-40 with just over 10 minutes left. Shots had not fallen, rebounds had been tipped away, and more importantly the other guys' shots were falling. Not exactly a recipe for tournament success.
With 9:36 remaining, Tyler Harris hit one free throw that still had PC behind by 15. But it was a free throw that turned into a raging, downhill avalanche thereafter that smothered Vandy right to the end, as the Friars turned up the defensive heat and scored an incredible 67-60 come-from-behind win.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTPC sophomore guard Kris Dunn keyed the comeback with his defensive presence on the floor - made all the more remarkable since he fell to the floor in the second half and was thought to have re-injured his right shoulder. Dunn only missed a couple of possessions before returning to the game, and his intensity - plus his steals - fueled the furious comeback. PC scored 17 unanswered points on the Commodores, with Harris, Carson Desrosiers and Bryce Cotton all contributing on the offensive side. For Cotton, who finished with 14 points, he struggled mightily with his outside shooting, connecting on just 3 of his first 13 attempts.
But a three by Cotton pulled Providence within one at 56-55 with 5:02 left, and another jumper by Cotton from the top of the key gave the Friars a lead at 57-56 with 3:22 to go. Vanderbilt managed to hit just one of their final 10 shots from the floor over the final 9:36, and suffered four turnovers...as the Friars closed the game out with an astounding 27-4 run.
Dunn and his teammates made them pay.
Vandy (2-2) managed to stop the bleeding on a three-pointer from Rod Odom with 2:55 to go to give the Commodores a brief lead again at 59-57. Desrosiers, LaDontae Henton and a Dunn steal with a layup put PC up to stay, however, as Vanderbilt wobbled from the defensive body blows. Ultimately, on the heels of losing an overtime game last Tuesday night at Big East newcomer Butler, their confidence was shaken to the core.
They never recovered. PC improves to 5-0 on the season, their best start to a year since 1990-91, and faces LaSalle Sunday night in the tournament semi-finals.
“This was an incredible team win,” Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley said. “Although we did not shoot the ball well, we did a great job defensively. We played all zone over the final 10 minutes and the team did a fantastic job. This was a true team win as we got contributions from everyone. Tyler (Harris) played well, Carson (Desrosiers) was so effective on the defensive end and Kris (Dunn) just battled, getting his hands on a lot of passes.”Post Game Notes
As mentioned, the win puts Providence at 5-0 for the first time since the '90-'91 season under Rick Barnes, when they began that year 6-0 before losing...four Friars finished in double figures, led by Harris' 15, Cotton's 14 and Henton's 12 points. Kris Dunn finished with 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals, Desrosiers contributed five points and six rebounds and Kadeem Batts had eight points and six boards...Vandy was led by Rod Odom's 17 points, while Eric McClellan (a Tulsa transfer) had 13 after coming into the game leading his team at 20 ppg...PC was outrebounded 35-34, but forced 17 Commodore turnovers and scored 22 points off of the mistakes...the game was just the second meeting ever between the schools, with Vanderbilt having beaten PC 72-66 at the then-Providence Civic Center on November 9th, 1998 in the first round of the CoSIDA Classic...Providence is now 80-59 all time in in-season tournament games, finishing 1-2 last year in Puerto Rico. They'll be playing for a tourney title with a win in Sunday's semis for the first time since 2007, when they dropped the Puerto Rico Tip-Off final to Miami...the win also marked the team’s fourth consecutive victory over an SEC opponent (Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt).
