News and Notes: The latest on Garwey Dual, a comparison of Devin Carter and Justin Minaya on the defensive end, another Ed Cooley accomplishment, and much more.
1. Not surprisingly, considering the injury to Jared Bynum, a hampered Jayden Pierre, and foul trouble that led to Bryce Hopkins’ heading to the bench for a critical stretch in the first half, Providence had its worst offensive effort on Saturday since they kicked off Big East play with a win at Seton Hall.
PC’s offensive rating of 100.4 narrowly edged out their 100.3 mark from the opener in Newark. It wasn’t far off from most of their conference away games, however:
100.3 at Seton Hall
111.4 at Butler
101.6 at DePaul
100.4 at Creighton
Comparatively, the Friars were a 122.7 versus Marquette, 122.4 against Connecticut, and 107.7 versus St. John’s at home.
Regardless of playing at home or on the road, Providence’s free throw rate has been through the roof in virtually every game, but last night’s 23.1% would rate in the 29th percentile if projected over the course of the season.
Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner deserves a lot of credit there. Dating back to last season, he has been one of the best shot blockers in the country, yet he rarely fouls.
“I thought Kalkbrenner’s size was a factor in the game,” Cooley said afterwards.
2. PC’s 21.1% shooting from three was their worst outside shooting performance in conference play, by a good margin. PC shot 38.5%, 34.8%, 30.8%, 50%, 44.4%, and 41.4% in six Big East games prior to Saturday.
3. The only Friars with a positive +/- on Saturday: Bryce Hopkins +1, Clif Moore +6, and Jayden Pierre at +8.
The biggest difference on Saturday came when Baylor Scheierman was on the floor. He was a +24, while the next closest Bluejay was Kalkbrenner at +12.
Scheierman finished with 5-7 shooting inside the arc, 3-6 from three, and 19 points.
The South Dakota State transfer is becoming more assertive offensively. He was coming off a season-high 25 points in Creighton’s 90-87 loss at Xavier.
Prior to the Xavier game, he had taken more than 10 shots in a game just five times. He has taken 31 attempts over the past two.
4. While his high school coach is making the case for Garwey Dual as a top 40 player, 247 Sports released its latest rankings last week and Dual came in #81. His teammate, and fellow PC commit, Drew Fielder is #113.