NEW: PC Falls to Creighton 79-68 in Big East Opener
Monday, December 31, 2018
The Providence College Friars fell to the Creighton Blue Jays 79-68 in their Big East opener on Monday evening at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
“I thought our time off really showed, I thought we were really rusty offensively and I thought that gave them [Creighton] a lot of confidence on the other end. They made some really tough shots with the shot clock winding down," said Coach Ed Cooley after the game.
He added, "We have to do a better job go guarding the ball, we didn’t guard the ball, and I don’t think we moved the ball well, we only had 12 assists and only three in the first half."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Friars open conference play with a record of 0-1 with defending national champion Villanova coming to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Saturday.
PC drops to 10-4 overall.
The Blue Jays open conference play with a record of 1-0 and are 10-4 overall.
Friars Fall to Creighton
Trailing 52-49 with 11:56 to play in the game, PC’s Alpha Diallo knocked down a three and one to give the Friars a 53-52 lead with 11:15 to play in the game.
From that point, Creighton would go on a 12-3 run sparked by back-to-back threes from Martin Krampelj and Mitch Ballock to take a 64-56 lead with 7:29 to play.
Creighton is the 5th best three-point shooting team in D-I and when it mattered it showed.
The Blue Jays would then extend the lead to 69-58 on a three from Davion Mintz and then two free throws by Mintz with 5:17 to play.
Creighton shot 44% from three in the game, knocking down 13 of 29 shots some with PC defenders in good position defensively.
"I thought we overhelped on maybe five of their 13 threes, I thought we got sucked to the ball. Three of the threes they made were, you know, I mean Happy New Year Doug, but sometimes it is just your day like that," said Cooley.
Providence would get no closer than seven points, 71-64, with three minutes to play before Creighton would seal the game at the free throw line.
Diallo led the Friars with 18 points and ten rebounds while Maliek White added 13 points.
Friars Trail At Half
With the game tied at 19, PC’s Makai Ashton-Langford knocked down a three to give the Friars a 22-19 lead with seven minutes left in the half.
PC came up with a defensive stop on their next possession, but freshman Jimmy Nichols was called for a travel.
On Creighton’s ensuing possession, Ballock knocked down a three to tie the game.
From that point, the Blue Jays would go on an 11-2 run to take a 30-24 lead with 2:58 to play in the half.
The Friars would get back to within one, 32-31, on a dunk by White with 46 seconds to play, before the Blue Jays would get a layup on the other end to take a 34-31 lead into the break.
Both teams shot well from the field in the first half, PC shot 40%, while Creighton shot 39%.
However, both teams struggled from three with the Friars shooting just 22% and Creighton knocking down 29% of their shots from deep.
Next Up
The Friars return to action on Saturday, January 5 when they host defending National Champion Villanova.
Game time is set for 2 p.m.
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