Clifton Moore Comes Up Big Against URI (and his old coach)
This one had to have felt good for Clifton Moore.
One of the forgotten subplots of Providence’s road trip to URI on Saturday night was the reunion of Moore and his former coach at Indiana, Archie Miller.
Moore’s journey from Indiana to La Salle, and now Providence, has been filled with change. A top 150 prospect coming out of Philadelphia in the class of 2017, Moore initially committed to Tom Crean before Crean was fired and replaced by Miller.
Moore was still a senior in high school when Crean was fired. He re-opened his recruitment, but eventually confirmed his pledge to Indiana.
In two years under Miller, Moore barely cracked the rotation — playing 4.8 minutes per game in nine appearances as a freshman and 4.1 minutes in 15 games during his sophomore year.
He then transferred home to La Salle where he had to sit out a year. Moore dislocated his ankle that February, did not return to basketball activities until August, and he was out of sorts during his first season back in Philly.
Moore broke out last fall for the Explorers, averaging 12.9 points and just shy of three blocks per game. He decided to transfer again after La Salle fired head coach Ashley Howard last spring.
The coaching change led to Moore at Providence — where his best friend from his Indiana days, Al Durham, shined a season ago.
Moore’s commitment to PC came about a month after it was announced that Miller was taking over at URI.
There was next to no mention of Moore’s playing days under Miller in the build-up to the rivalry game, yet Moore came out with perhaps the most aggressive approach we have seen from him through eight games this season.
He checked into Saturday’s 88-74 win with the Friars trailing, 14-11, and just over 13 minutes to play in the half.
The first four possessions Moore played each had his imprint on them.
His first touch led to perhaps his most forceful take to the bucket this season. Moore bullied his way inside and dropped in a short hook.
On PC’s next trip down the floor, Moore started with the ball beyond the 3-point arc, worked his way into a back-to-the-basket move in which he drew two defenders and found Ed Croswell for a layup.
Moore was then called for a charge on a 50-50 call (a call that drew Ed Cooley’s ire) and then he put up a 3-pointer on his fourth possession of the game. He added a steal and a blocked shot in his first three minutes on the court.
Providence blew this game open with a 15-2 run over the final 5:21 of the first half. As a result, a 26-25 PC lead at the time turned into a 41-27 Friar advantage at the break.
Moore was huge during that stretch — knocking down a pair of free throws, throwing down a tip dunk off a Noah Locke jumper, and finishing on a layup.
By halftime, Moore had eight points on 3-4 shooting from the floor and 2-3 at the free throw line.
In the second half we saw Moore countering a Josaphat Bilau three with a 3-pointer of his own to push PC ahead, 60-45, with over 12 minutes to play. That shot quickly quieted the Rhody faithful.
Moore eventually ended his night with 14 points on an efficient 5-7 shooting from the floor, and 1-2 from beyond the arc, in 19 minutes. He added a pair of blocks and assists as well.
“I think it was really just me providing energy for the team,” Moore said of his performance afterwards. “I was just really confident coming into this game after talking with Coach (Cooley).
Providence has been dissected in every which way during its 6-3 start to the season, but an utterly essential component will be to get consistent efforts from the graduate transfers — Moore, Jared Bynum, Ed Croswell, and Noah Locke.
On Saturday, both Moore and Locke (11 first half points on 3-6 shooting from deep) were the biggest keys to a strong first half performance that took the Ryan Center crowd out of the game over the final 20 minutes.
This was a win that had to have meant a lot of the psyche of a team that had looked unsure of itself through most of the season. They were able to silence a raucous crowd and essentially control the game for 25 minutes.
And — even if it went overlooked — it had to have felt great for Clifton Moore to play such an integral role against the coach who didn’t play him much at Indiana.