Duke Fuels PC’s Win on the Road Over TCU
Thursday, December 10, 2020
David Duke is proving to be the go-to man for the Providence College Friars early in this season.
PC defeated TCU, 79-70, on Wednesday in the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle. This was the Friars’ final non-conference game.
The Friars are now 4-2.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDuke and Nate Watson led the way in scoring for the Friars with 28 and 18 points, respectively.
"I thought we had really good chemistry on the floor tonight," Head Coach Ed Cooley said. "We had a good offensive rhythm and I thought our defense was a little bit better too. We kept [TCU] off balance by playing both zone and man."
"The game is controlled from the inside out," Cooley said. "If we can play inside-out basketball and get paint touches, and let our frontcourt get comfortable, we're going to do that."
Game Story:
At the 18:51 mark, Duke got the evening started for the Friars with a three-point basket. With 16:58 remaining, Providence had made all five of their shots from the field and forced a TCU timeout. Duke had three scores and A.J. Reeves had two to take an early 12-4 lead.
Leading up to the 11:16 media timeout, Ed Croswell scored in the paint on back-to-back possessions. The Friars held control, 19-16. Croswell finished with eight points off the bench.
With 6:38 left in the half, Watson converted on a second-chance layup. The Friars took their first double-digit lead of the game, 31-21. Shortly after, Watson made a fastbreak dunk off a Duke assist at the 5:52 mark.
Providence held a 34-27 advantage at the final media timeout of the first half. Both teams were struggling from beyond the arc, as the Friars were one for their last six from deep and the Horned Frogs were one for their last five. With 1:11 left, a flagrant 1 foul by TCU allowed Greg Gantt to extend the Friars lead to 13 points.
The Friars led at halftime, 43-32. Providence shot 17-31 (54.8%) from the field, 3-9 (33.3%) from three, and 6-13 (46.2%) from the free throw line. TCU shot 11-21 (52.4%) from the field, 2-8 (25.0%) from three, and 8-12 (66.7%) from the free throw line.
At the 18:38 mark, Duke knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing to open the second half for the Friars. Just over two minutes later, Duke added another basket from deep, his fourth three-pointer of the game. However, TCU had narrowed their deficit to five points by the first media timeout of the second half. The Friars led 51-46.
"Coach always asks me to stay aggressive and never take my foot off the gas," Duke said.
Jimmy Nichols, Jr. made a strong impact off the bench in the second half and finished with eight points and three rebounds in the game. With 9:35 remaining, Nichols made a jumper in transition for his third basket. Nichols assisted on Duke's fifth three-pointer of the game at the 7:57 mark.
Providence led 75-62 at the final media timeout. The Friars maintained control heading into the last stretch of the game and had made six of their last eight shots entering the final minute.
Providence finished 33-63 (52.4%) from the field, 7-16 (43.8%) from three, and 6-13 (46.2%) from the free throw line. TCU finished 27-45 (60.0%) from the field, 6-14 (42.9%) from three, and 10-14 (71.4%) from the free throw line. Mike Miles and R.J. Nembhard combined for 45 points for the Horned Frogs.
The Friars dominated the boards, pulling down 33 rebounds in comparison to TCU's 20. Providence also forced 19 turnovers and scored 26 points off turnovers. Duke and Watson were the two Friars in double-figures.
Up Next
The Friars will host the Xavier Musketeers for their first BIG EAST matchup of the season on Saturday, Dec. 12 in Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I. The game is set for tip-off at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on FS2.
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