PC Gets Hammered in the Second Half By Xavier at Home
Saturday, January 13, 2024
The Providence College men's basketball team was defeated by the Xavier Musketeers (8-8, 2-3 BIG EAST), 85-65, on Saturday at home.
It was the Friars' fourth consecutive Big East loss since Bryce Hopkins was injured, but for the first time, the Friars collapsed in the second half.
PC fell to 11-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference. Graduate student Josh Oduro led the way for the Friars with 20 points. Junior Devin Carter scored 18 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCarter, in the second half, looked exhausted. He has been forced to carry nearly all of the office over the past two weeks.
PC led by 11 points in the first half.
"We weren't the team we wanted to be today," Head Coach Kim English said. "We have to improve and go on the road and play a lot better on Wednesday."
FIRST HALF:
- Jayden Pierre (Elizabeth, N.J.) made a short-range jumper for the Friars' first basket. Xavier jumped out to an early 9-4 lead.
- Oduro and Rich Barron (Chicago, Ill.) knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to give the Friars their first lead of the game. After a 12-2 scoring run midway through the half, PC led 16-11.
- Xavier's Desmond Claude was the first player to enter double figures, opening the game 4-5 from the field, including two three-pointers. He entered halftime with 19 points.
- At the 9:10 mark, Pierre connected from three-point territory to extend the Providence lead to double-digits, 28-17.
- The Musketeers answered with a 7-0 surge to cut into the lead. Corey Floyd, Jr. halted the scoring drought with a triple from the left wing.
- Xavier went on a 13-1 run to regain the lead before halftime. Ticket Gaines (Buffalo, N.Y.) buried a triple before the buzzer sounded to cut the PC deficit to one.
- PC trailed 41-40 at halftime.
- Providence shot 15-29 (51.7%) from the field, 7-17 (41.2%) from three and 3-5 (60.0%) from the free throw line.
- Xavier shot 17-34 (50.0%) from the field, 5-11 (45.5%) from three and 2-4 (50.0%) from the free throw line.
SECOND HALF:
- Xavier opened the half on a 9-0 run, holding the Friars scoreless for over three minutes. At the 16:39 mark, Carter put the Friars on the board with his second three-pointer of the game. PC trailed 50-43.
- The Friars missed 10 of their first 11 shots, with eight misses coming from three-point range. •The Friars endured a four-minute scoring drought. Stretching back to the first half, Xavier was on a 33-7 run.
- The Musketeers outscored the Friars 23-5 in the first 8:27 minutes of the half. Xavier led 64-45, their largest lead of the game.
- After struggling early in the half, the Friars found a rhythm with a scoring run of their own (10-2). Oduro converted back-to-back three-point plays, finishing through contact and connecting at the free throw line. The Friars cut the deficit to 11.
- Xavier held a 16-point advantage, 71-55, with 7:15 remaining.
- At the 2:27 mark, Xavier's Trey Green iced the game with his fifth three-pointer of the game.
NOTES:
Providence finished 21-53 (39.6%) from the field, 8-30 (26.7%) from three and 15-22 (68.2%) from the free throw line.
Xavier finished 32-63 (50.8%) from the field, 12-24 (50.0%) from three and 9-12 (75.0%) from the free throw line.
The Musketeers out-rebounded the Friars by nine, 38-29.
Xavier scored nine more points off turnovers and six more points in the paint.
Xavier's Trey Green finished with a game-high and career-high 23 points (9-14 FG, 5-8 3P), including 18 in the second half. Desmond Claude finished with 21 points, including 19 in the first half.
Xavier's 12 made three-pointers is the most allowed by the Friars this season.
Attendance – 12,348
NEXT:
The Friars will travel to Chicago, Ill. to take on the DePaul Blue Demons (3-13, 0-5 BIG EAST) on Wednesday, Jan.17 at Wintrust Arena. Tip-off is set for 9:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
Providence leads the all-time series record against DePaul at 38-13. Providence has won 15-8 games on the road against the Musketeers.
