A Second-Half Surge Propels the Friars Past Seton Hall in Newark
Breaking down the Q1 win with thoughts from Kim English, plus highlights (Providence vs. Seton Hall in 5 Minutes) and the latest Friar Podcast
For a majority of Wednesday’s Providence/Seton Hall game in Newark, it looked like the Friars might miss out on a golden opportunity to pick up a Quad 1 victory.
At halftime Providence trailed, 31-30, despite a distinct advantage in field goal percentage (48% for the Friars vs. 27% by the Pirates), while limiting Al-Amir Dawes and Dylan Addae-Wusu to a combined 2-19 shooting from the field.
Shaheen Holloway’s club needed a lift from its experienced trio of Dawes, Addae-Wusu, and Dre Davis after it was announced just prior to the game that Kadary Richmond — and his 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists per game in Big East play — would be sidelined for this one.
Despite their offensive struggles, the Hall led at the half by ramping up the physicality and taking advantage of an officiating crew seemingly hellbent on letting the long-time Big East foes slaughter each other on the interior for 40 minutes.
An eight-point first-half Friar lead was eliminated thanks to an uber aggressive Seton Hall attack that saw the Pirates hold a 13-2 advantage on the offensive glass and an 11-2 edge in second chance points, and take nine free throws to Providence’s one.
“They never go away,” Kim English said when speaking about the Hall. “Down one of the best players in the league, one of the best players in the country, they absolutely just changed the way they played with incredible physicality, offensive rebound aggression, and steal aggression. It took our guys a little bit to adjust, to feel the tenor of the game.”
After baskets were so tough to come by in the first half, the Hall started the second by making eight of their first nine shots, spearheaded by a suddenly red-hot Dawes. As PC trailed, 51-41, at the 11:49 mark, too many critical categories had gone in the home team’s favor: a 21-5 edge in points off turnovers at that point, as well as a 13-1 advantage in free throw attempts, and 11-4 lead in second chance points.
But Providence was able to turn this game around by matching Seton Hall’s physicality on the interior, getting offensive sparks from a variety of sources, and leaning on a defense that gave up just three made field goals after the Hall’s 8-9 start to the second half.
The comeback was ignited by Jayden Pierre, who grew up down the road in Elizabeth, NJ. Pierre got to the free throw line to cut the lead to 51-43, grabbed a defensive rebound in traffic on the next possession, and then buried a 3-pointer after a good pass from Ticket Gaines to make it 51-46 with 10:45 left.
The momentum didn’t necessarily change in that instant, as much as it was slowly squeezed out of Seton Hall’s desperate grasp over the final ten minutes.
Those closing ten minutes became a battle of wills, with Josh Oduro and the bruising Jaden Bediako taking it to each other in the paint on nearly every possession. Bediako is one of the main reasons why Seton Hall is ranked in the 99th percentile in the country in offensive rebounding, but Oduro seemingly had enough down the stretch after PC was bullied in the first half. The graduate transfer big man scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, and physically walled up at the rim with four blocks after the break.
In a game that was defined — and ultimately won — on physicality, Oduro ramped his up over the final 20 minutes in what was a chippy battle with Bediako.
“Jaden Bediako, he played a physical, tough, extracurricular-type game. Josh had to adjust. He had to meet and exceed that physicality. I think he did. I thought he responded really well,” English said.
Seton Hall scored just two field goals over the final nine minutes of the game, and PC got enough contributions across the board to close out a critical 67-63 win on the road. The Friars saw Rafael Castro get to the line and connect on a pair of free throws early in PC’s rally, Oduro live at the line and throw down a reverse dunk over Bediako, a slashing score by Devin Carter, and Pierre giving them the lead at the 6:52 mark on a breakaway dunk.
Following the Pierre slam, PC never trailed again.
Still, this was a one-possession game heading into the final minute, but Pierre (4-4) and Corey Floyd Jr. (1-2) combined to hit 5-6 at the free throw line to help Providence close it out.
“Whatever the type of game it is, that’s just how we like it,” English said following the win. “That message had to be conveyed at halftime. Our guys made the decision to stop being pushed under the basket and start rebounding.”
The Friars wouldn’t have been in a position to win without the first half effort of Ticket Gaines. Gaines scored 14 first-half points on 5-6 shooting from the field, and 4-5 beyond the arc. He then buried another three early in the second half to keep Providence close. Wednesday marked the third time in eight Big East games that Gaines has made five 3-pointers. Unsurprisingly, PC is 3-0 in those contests.
The Friars’ 108.4 Offensive Rating on Wednesday was a touch higher than their season average of 106.8 (which ranks in the 51st percentile in the country). Here is their Offensive Rating on a game-by-game basis:
Defensively, Providence limited the Kadary-less Pirates to 32.3% shooting from the field and 31.3% from deep. Dawes’ early second-half spurt turned around what had been a poor showing (he finished 9-22 shooting for 26 points), while Dre Davis shot just 4-11 and Addae-Wusu had one of the more bizarre stat lines of the year: 0-13 shooting from the field, 0-4 from three, zero points, ten rebounds, and six offensive boards for the burly 6’4 guard.
Gaines led Providence with 17 points, Oduro finished with 16, while Carter went for 14 points, six rebounds, and six assists with two steals and no turnovers. Pierre scored all 11 of his points after halftime, and improved to 2-0 in his career in games at The Rock.
“I thought he grew up,” English said of Pierre and his strong second half. “Al-Amir Dawes was a senior in high school when Jayden was a freshman at the same high school. I thought he grew up incredibly today with his defense, with his shot taking, his rebounding, his free throws later. I was watching this Seton Hall team a few weeks back, looking at their age and thinking, ‘That’s what we’re going to look like when Garwey (Dual), and Jayden and Corey, Rich (Barron) are men.”
“I think since that Seton Hall game (the first meeting at the AMP) Jayden Pierre has put some really good games together.”
The win was a significant one for a Friar team that lost its first four games without Bryce Hopkins. This victory bumped PC’s NET ranking from 60th to 49th — good for seventh in the Big East. Providence also evened its Quad 1 record at 3-3 and improved its conference mark to 4-4.
Now all eyes turn toward Ed Cooley and Georgetown. There will be no shortage of emotion, opinions, and drama when the Hoyas come to town on Saturday. We’ll have all sorts of coverage of that one pre and post-game. Buckle up.
Additionally, below is the PC/Seton Hall game condensed to five minutes, as well as our latest podcast.