News and Notes: Josh Oduro's production spike, Corey Floyd Jr. hitting the glass and finding a niche, a look at Wisconsin, Georgetown's leaky defense, costly missed free throws
News and notes about Providence and the Big East.
1. Listening to Kim English last offseason, it became apparent rather quickly how much potential he saw in redshirt sophomore Corey Floyd Jr. This season likely hasn’t been what Floyd hoped for or expected, but the past two games have been a step forward for a player who looked to be struggling to find his niche in his third system in three years.
Floyd Jr. played a combined 63 minutes in hard-fought games against Georgetown (31 minutes played) and UConn (32). The Connecticut game may have been his best of the season. He got the Friars going early by hitting the offensive glass, and later knocked down a corner three on a look from Devin Carter in what ended up being a seven-point, eight-rebound effort.
The Friars need their guards to help on the glass after losing Bryce Hopkins, and Floyd certainly filled that role on Wednesday in Storrs.
Floyd has now hit threes in consecutive games for the first time this season, and shot both in rhythm, after it felt like so many of his looks early were rushed. He also has five steals over the past two games.
If Providence is to make a push for the NCAA Tournament over the next month, getting the type of rebounding and physical play Floyd provided the past two games will be critical. As PC heads to play Villanova on Sunday, it’s worth recalling that Floyd scored eight points and nailed a pair of important second half 3-pointers in a narrow victory in Philly last January.
2. Josh Oduro certainly shut me up on Wednesday.