Friar Basketball Newsletter: Providence improves to 11-1 with a win at UConn, now ranked #22 in the AP Poll
It’s hard not to feel great about being a Friar fan these days. On Saturday, Providence ruined UConn’s unofficial return to the Big East with a 57-53 upset of a Husky team that came in ranked 20th in the country in the AP poll.
Two days later, Providence vaulted over Connecticut, as it was announced on Monday that Ed Cooley’s bunch was ranked 22nd by the AP writers in the latest poll. This marks the first time that PC has been ranked by the AP since February of 2016, when Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil were leading the program. Here is a look at some of the history of Providence and the AP Poll, as well as current NET ratings and trends for Big East programs.
We dug pretty deeply into the Providence/UConn game as well. You can read a breakdown of PC’s 17-1 run on Saturday night that turned the game around — more specifically, the article delves into how AJ Reeves got it rolling, which opened the floor for his teammates.
Here is the 17-1 run in its entirety:
Friar fans can also relive the win over UConn with this condensed version of the game.
A key component for Providence on Saturday was the play of Jared Bynum, who returned from an ankle injury and provided a big lift. Here subscribers can read all about how Bynum impacted this game, as well as more on the play PC drew up for an Al Durham layup in the final minute (and how it was so well set up from earlier in the game), how UConn scored on just one of 11 possessions in which Providence went to a zone defense, plus much more on the win in Hartford.
Prior to the game, we reflected on the last time Ed Cooley and Providence played in front of UConn fans (in March of 2013). That day ended in heartbreak for PC. The article also looks into how the Providence program that UConn fans remembered from their first go-around in the Big East is far different than the program as it currently exists.
This week’s News and Notes column shares impressions of class of 2022 PC commit Jayden Pierre, whose Long Island Lutheran team rolled against Chaminade last week. We also highlight Justin Minaya’s terrific defensive numbers, Reeves continuing to build momentum since the loss to Virginia, Dan Hurley’s thoughts after the game, where the game of UConn’s Akok Akok stands, another Penny Hardaway gaffe, the Friars on the offensive glass, and Cooley doing something that hasn’t been done since the days of Dave Gavitt.
In Craig Leighton’s latest Reflections of a Lifelong Friar fan article, he takes a look back at the departure of Rick Pitino to the Knicks and the challenging season that ensued.
David Duke Jr. got an opportunity at big minutes with the Brooklyn Nets recently, and responded with a pair of double doubles.
Lastly, and I know we’ve been saying this frequently, but we want to thank all of you who have supported our site over the past decade, and now as we have transitioned to Substack. Many of you have signed up for the site more recently, so we wanted to take a look back at some of what you may have missed from the summer and early fall.