#10 Providence Falls to #7 Xavier 75-68
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
The #10 Providence College Friars (17-4, 5-3 Big East) fell 75-68 to #7 (18-2, 6-2 Big East) Xavier on Tuesday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The loss ends the Friars two game winning streak and is their third loss at home in the Big East.
'We have to find a way to win at home, we have lost three conference games here and I think we lost three here all of last year. We got to keep our guys positive, keep them moving forward. We have a tough road swing coming up," said PC head coach, Ed Cooley after the game.
The game marked the first time two top ten teams have played at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
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Xavier held a 34-26 lead at the half and opened the second on a 12-6 run to go up 46-32, taking control of the game. The Musketeers would eventually lead by as much as 17 with 7:22 left to play in the game.
The Friars would make a run, getting as close as three points, 68-65, with 1:20 left to play, however, on Xavier's following possession J.P. Macura knocked down a transition three to put Xavier back up by 6 points.
PC would not be able to get closer the rest of the way.
Xavier shot 50 percent from the field, 55 percent in the second half, en route to a win.
First Half
A Ben Bentil dunk tied the game at 20 before Xavier closed the first half on a 14-6 run to take a 34-26 lead into the locker room.
Xavier opened up the game with a 7-0 run before the Friars used a 13-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 13-7, with just under 15 minutes to play.
Providence shot 31 percent from the field in the first half and 9 percent from three.
The Leaders
The Friars were led by Ben Bentil who netted 25 points on 8 of 18 shooting from the field, while grabbing 6 rebounds.
Kris Dunn followed up with 16 points on 6 of 15 shooting from the field, while grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists.
Next up
Providence returns to action on Saturday, January 30 when they visit Georgetown. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. and can be seen on Fox Sports 1. PC is undefeated on the road.
Post game reaction and 5 takeaways slideshow coming.
Related Slideshow: 5 Takeaways From PC’s 75-68 Loss to Xavier
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