PC Wins - Friars Advance to Second Round of NCAA Tournament
Friday, March 18, 2022
The Providence College Friars battled the hot shooting South Dakota State University from wire-to-wire and won 66-57 in the opening round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The Friars were led by balanced scoring -- Nate Horchler and Al Durham each scored 13, and Jared Bynum scored 12 points.
PC won almost every stat, but like the score, it was no blowout.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"This was a major challenge," Head Coach Ed Cooley said. "This is the most connected group I've been around in 28 years of coaching, and I think we responded every single time after a loss. We responded with a win, and I thought the response was great. This team has an 'it' factor."
The Friars outrebounded SDSU 41-32 and outshot SDSU from behind the 3-point line -- South Dakota was supposed to have a big advantage from long-range.
The Friars shot 36.4% from behind the 3-point line (8 of 22) and SDSU shot 30.4% (7 of 23).
WHO'S NEXT
PC will play the Richmond Spiders on Saturday. The Spiders the #12 seed upset #5 seed Iowa on Thursday night.
This Friars was the 21st NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018.
For Ed Cooley, this is another milestone — he has led the Friars to SIX NCAA Tourneys in 11 years, which is more than any other coach at PC.
It is the Friars' sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament under Cooley (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022). The Friars have posted a 15-21 mark all-time in NCAA Tournament play. The team has made two trips to the Final Four (1973 and 1987), four appearances in the Elite Eight (1965, 1973, 1987 and 1997) and five trips to the Sweet Sixteen (1965, 1973, 1974, 1987 and 1997).
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