Friars dealt a devastating blow by Wildcats

Friars dealt a devastating blow by Wildcats

If Sunday’s overtime loss to West Virginia was a right cross, Tuesday night was a left hook.

One-two, knockout. The big question now, is whether or not the Friars can get up off of the canvas to finish out the season.

Leading by 14 at halftime on the road at Villanova, and stretching the lead to 19 at one point in the second half, PC found itself in need of a basket, a defensive stop, or both during a crucial cold spell…and could get neither to stop the bleeding after being pummeled by the Wildcats. The result was a devastating 74-72 loss that almost defies description.

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Except to say, wow.

The loss drops Providence to 13-12 on the season, 2-10 in the Big East, and the win improves Villanova to 11-13 overall, 4-8 in conference play. The Wildcats halt a three game losing skid…while the Big East road woes continue for the Friars, with the losing streak now at 21 straight games, dating back two seasons.

With Villanova holding an early one point lead, the Friars began to show their offensive prowess behind the slashing drives of sophomore Gerard Coleman. Coleman led a 12-4 PC run with strong moves to the hoop to give the Friars a seven point lead at 18-11. The Wildcats answered with a 9-2 run of their own, and held a 28-26 lead with 4:11 to play in the first half…when the air raid began.

Led by sophomore Bryce Cotton’s long distance bombs, PC outscored Villanova 18-2 to close out the half with a 44-30 lead. Cotton hit four straight during the run, scoring 12 of his 18 first half points during the stretch.

Buoyed by a 60% shooting performance in the half, the Friars came out strong to start the second half on the Wildcats home floor, with LaDontae Henton and Vincent Council primarily supplying the firepower. A 9-2 run was capped by a Henton three-pointer, giving PC a 55-36 lead four minutes into the half.

The Friars still led by 19, 60-41, when the game turned for the home team. Villanova pulled back into the contest by outscoring Providence 22-3 over the next 8:40 of game time, with the Friars missing 14 consecutive shots from the floor during the drought. Villanova’s top scorer, junior guard Maalik Wayns, had been held to just 1-6 shooting for three points (averaging more than 18 points per game) and left the game with a left knee injury during the run.

He never returned. But then again, he didn’t need to.

6-7 freshman JayVaughn Pinkston took control, bullying his way inside the Friar defense on drives to the basket. 6-10 junior center Mouphtaou Yarou also had little resistance when he grabbed the ball in the paint, and when the Wildcats managed to kick it out, Dominic Cheek hit two big three’s to stagger the PC defense. Pinkston ended the night with career highs of 28 points and 14 rebounds, and could have had more. Yarou scored 17, while Cheek also hit for 17 points…more than picking up the slack for Wayns on the bench.

The decisive blows were delivered by Pinkston in the final 1:44. With Providence leading 72-67, Pinkston took over with three straight drives from the top of the key to the basket – all appeared to be the same plays run by Villanova – and he scored the final seven points of the game. The Friars had a final shot to tie or possibly win, but Cotton’s shot was well defended and it missed short of the mark as the buzzer sounded, giving the Wildcats an improbable win on their home floor.

And sending the Friars home, perhaps in need of psychiatric assistance, at this stage of the season.

Or rather, a cut man in their corner to patch up the damage from back-to-back beat downs.

Friar Notes

Cotton led the Friars with 20 points, including 6-11 on three’s. But he could manage just two second half points, as the Wildcat defense managed to deny him catching the ball in comfortable spots…Council scored 17 points and added seven assists, but also turned the ball over seven times. Coleman added 16, 12 coming in the first half…Henton scored 13 points, but could pick up only three rebounds…while shooting 60% from the floor in the first half, PC shot just 32% in the second half. The Friars made just five of their final 25 attempts from the floor…the win is Villanova’s 9th in the last 10 meetings with Providence, and the Friars have not won at Villanova since 2004…the Wildcats’ scoring advantage in the paint was 38-26, and they connected on 52% of their shots in the second half…not to rub more salt into the wounds, but the Wildcats have been outscored 69-34 in the opening four minutes of the second half over their past six games, and were outscored by PC 9-2 during that time period Tuesday night…the Friar bigs had a rough night all the way around. Bilal Dixon, Kadeem Batts and Ron Giplaye combined for six points and 12 rebounds, but allowed Pinkston and Yarou to score 45 points and pull down 22 rebounds…next up, South Florida. Tip off is at 4:00 pm Saturday afternoon at the Dunkin Donuts Center (103.7 WEEI-FM, www.friars.com)...