PC Falls to Top Seeded North Carolina in 2nd Round of NCAA Tourney
Sunday, March 20, 2016
The Providence College Friars fell 85-66 to top seeded North Carolina on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament played in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is the second time in three years that the Tar Heels have ended the Friars season.
"I thought North Carolina played real well, really well. They played well. They made shots and we didn't. And I think that was the determinant factor of the game.
Just tough to walk away from this. It's tough to see a young man that has grown up in front of my eyes in Kris and what he's meant to our organization, and to see where he was, and now where he's at, and then where he's going. You know, you look at it where, damn, you're like a dad seeing somebody grow up in front of your eyes. I can't tell you how much I love this kid and this team, what they've meant to Providence and what they've meant to me this year. I'm going to really miss them," said PC Head Coach Ed Cooley in his post game press conference.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTOver powered in the Second Half
The Friars had the game tied at 41 points, North Carolina went on a 67-51 with minutes to play in the game.
The game took a turn the wrong way for PC when Ben Bentil fouled out with 7:23 left to play. Providence was down 63-50 at the time.
"Yeah, we got in foul trouble. I think they took advantage of that. They made a couple of runs. In the first half I thought we withstood it. Once I got in foul trouble, the guys they kept fighting. They kept being resilient. Everybody was making plays. Once Ben had foul trouble, they took another run. We tried to withstand it but they overmatched us," said Kris Dunn after the game.
Prior to that, the Friars held a 36-34 lead early in the second half.
Grinding in the First Half
The Friars held a 28-25 lead before Carolina closed the half on a 9-2 run and took a 34-30 lead at half time.
Prior to that, the Tar Heels led by as much as 7 points before Providence rallied and took a 22-21 lead.
Kris Dunn only played 8 minutes in the first half as he picked up two fouls and sat on the bench.
The Leaders
Kris Dunn led the Friars with 29 points on 10-16 shooting from the field, but sat most of the first half due to foul trouble.
Season Over
Providence finished the regular season with a record of 23-10 overall and 10-8 in the Big East Conference and held the 4 seed in the Big East Tournament.
In the first round of the Big East Tournament, the Friars defeated Butler behind Ben Bentil's 38 points before falling to Villanova in the semifinals.
The Friars got an At-Large Bid into the NCAA Tournament where they beat the University of California in the first round. The win was the program's first tournament win in 19 years.
More to come...
Related Slideshow: 5 Takeaways From PC’s NCAA Tournament Loss to North Carolina
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