Breaking down Providence's 17-1 run that turned the tide against UConn
Saturday night was supposed to be a celebration for Connecticut and their fans. While this is the second season since UConn returned to the Big East, Husky fans had waited almost nine years to see their team take on a Big East opponent in-person.
Unfortunately for UConn, that opponent happened to be a veteran Providence team that didn’t break mentally, despite a home crowd that was ready to explode at any run.
UConn struggled out of the gate, trailing 20-14 after the Friars went on a 15-4 spurt midway through the first half.
Order seemed to be restored in Hartford shortly after, as Connecticut ripped off a 7-0 run to take the lead back at 21-20 with just over three minutes left in the first half.
Few in the crowd would have expected that to be the Husky’s last lead of the night.
Providence ripped off a 17-1 run over the final three minutes of the first half, and into the opening of the second.
PC senior AJ Reeves was the catalyst. Reeves was recruited by Connecticut out of Brimmer and May, and could have followed in the footsteps of Shabazz Napier and Jalen Adams as Boston natives who went on to shine for the Huskies, but instead he committed to Ed Cooley and Providence in the June prior to his senior year of high school.
In a game in which buckets were, predictably, tough to come by with these two defenses, Reeves buried a 3-pointer at the 2:40 mark of the first half to silence a roaring XL Center — giving Providence back the lead.
After Noah Horchler came up with a steal on the other end, Reeves connected on his fourth three of the half with 2:14 to go and, suddenly, Providence had room to breathe. On that shot, Reeves threw a quick ball fake a former Mass Rivals teammate Akok Akok and then buried a corner three right over the springy defender.
Reeves wasn’t done there. A minute later, he drew three defenders to the 3-point line, which freed up Ed Croswell for a dunk and a foul on a pretty pass from Jared Bynum. Croswell’s free throw made it 29-22 and, that quickly, the tenor of the game had changed.
Reeves made one final play before the half completed, drawing two defenders off of a curl and elevating to find Croswell for another cutting dunk.
Therein lies the impact of AJ Reeves once a few shots fall through. His four shots from distance certainly caught the attention of Dan Hurley’s Huskies, and led to five easy points for Croswell — and helped PC close the half up 31-22. Reeves either scored or assisted on eight of Providence’s 11 points during an 11-1 run to close the half, and freed Croswell for the other three by drawing multiple defenders.
The second half opened with Nate Watson’s best spurt of the game. Watson scored on three of Providence’s first four possessions of the second half to push PC ahead 37-22 in front of a silenced Connecticut crowd.
Of course, this run isn’t possible without a defense that kept UConn off the scoreboard from the 3:09 mark of the first half until there was 17:40 left in the second.
During that stretch UConn missed all seven of their attempts from the field, and scored just a point on a free throw from Isaiah Whaley.
Defense carried Providence on Saturday. The Friars held UConn to 31% shooting from the field and 8-29 from long distance (27.6%). Six Friars grabbed at least four rebounds, and PC out-scored UConn, 34-22, in the paint.
The 17-1 run was some of their best basketball during an impressive 11-1 start to this season — and it took the energy out of a Connecticut crowd expecting to spend Saturday night celebrating.