Providence bounces back by scoring 100 points in a win at DePaul
A trip to Chicago to take on DePaul proved to be just what Providence needed. Devin Carter scored 20 of his team high 25 points in the first half — a half that saw PC pull away over the final five minutes and head to the break with a 47-31 advantage.
In the opening half Josh Oduro picked up two early fouls, while DePaul led ten minutes into the game. Jayden Pierre kept PC connected by burying a trio of 3-pointers in the first eight minutes of the game to settle the Friars in. After Ticket Gaines hit a corner three to put Providence ahead, 22-20, at the 9:35 mark, Kim English’s bunch would never trail again.
They closed the first half by outscoring the Blue Demons, 28-11, over the final ten minutes, and then blew past them in a second half that saw PC score 53 points.
Providence snapped its four-game losing streak with decisive a 100-62 win, and now they have a week off to prepare for a critical two-game stretch that includes a road trip to first place Seton Hall followed by the highly-anticipated return of Ed Cooley and Georgetown.
Before we look too far ahead, some notes on the DePaul win…
PC scores 100 in a Big East road game for the first time since 2004
The last time Providence went on the road and scored 100 points in a conference game they seemed to be surging toward a special postseason.
The 2003-04 Friars broke a Big East record by scoring 62 points in the first half against St. John’s on Feb. 29, 2004, in what was ultimately a 103-78 win over a Johnnies team that entered with 1-12 conference mark.
Those Friars were 20-5 after that win, 11-3 in the Big East, tied for first in the league, and ranked 13th in the country before shockingly losing their final two regular season games and going one-and-done in the Big East and NCAA tournaments. That Friar team had scored 100 points at Villanova just a few weeks prior.
Wednesday night marked the first time PC went for 100 in a Big East road game since that fateful season.
Contributions up and down the roster
Carter led the way with his huge first half, but four other Friars scored in double figures. Josh Oduro had his second consecutive solid outing with 17 points and nine rebounds, Pierre scored 14 on 5-7 shooting from the field, while Rafael Castro went for 12 points and eight rebounds, and Rich Barron got hot late (4-5 shooting) and also finished with 12 points in his return home.
After the game, English said his staff has toyed with the idea of playing two bigs together, and we saw a brief glimpse of it on Wednesday. Doing so could unburden Castro a bit from a defensive matchup perspective and give PC a lengthier lineup option. The redshirt sophomore had perhaps the best performance of his career: 12 points, 5-6 shooting, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He finished around the rim, threw down an alley oop from Garwey Dual, and took a steal coast-to-coast for a layup.
While English prefers to spread the floor with shooters, he played two bigs together with some success in spurts at George Mason, with Oduro and 6’10 Virginia Tech transfer Ginika Ojiako beating teams up inside.
Pierre has scored in double figures in every game since Bryce Hopkins went down with an injury, including a combined 41 points over the past three. Pierre is shooting 10-21 from three since Hopkins went down.
Corey Floyd Jr. also scored on a pair of tough finishes at the rim.
DePaul reaching new lows
Speaking of the 2003-04 season, that is the last time DePaul reached the NCAA Tournament, back when they were wrapping up their run as a member of Conference USA under head coach Dave Leitao.
Since joining the Big East for the 2005-06 season, the Demons have had a winning conference record just once. There was a three-year stretch from 2008-2010 when they won two conference games combined, then they won eight conference games over the following three seasons.
DePaul isn’t improving under Tony Stubblefield. They were 6-14 in conference play in 2021-22, 3-17 last season, and DePaul currently stands at 3-14 overall and 0-6 in Big East games.
They went 2-8 in the non-conference (thank you South Dakota and Louisville) and here are the results in Big East play:
An 84-48 loss to Villanova
An 85-56 loss at UConn
A 68-65 loss at Georgetown
An 84-58 loss to Creighton
A 94-69 loss at Villanova
A 100-63 loss to Providence
Stopping the skid
Providence’s 137.1 Offensive Rating on Wednesday was its highest of the season, by a good margin. The Friars had previously cracked 120.0 twice this year — 125.0 versus Wagner and 120.4 against URI. Their previous Big East best came against Butler, when PC had an Offensive Rating of 114.4.
Here is a look at their ratings, by game, for the season:
PC’s Defensive Rating (85.0) was their best mark since the Big East opener against Marquette (81.0). After seeing their defense leak of late, Wednesday was a step back in the right direction.
Bryce Hopkins has surgery in Chicago
English shared after the win that Hopkins had successful surgery to repair his torn ACL. “Surgery went well today in Chicago. We were with his family in the waiting room all day. His spirits were great. We were Facetiming with him in the locker room,” he said.
“This is day one on his road to recovery, and we’re really excited to embark on this journey with B-Hop.”
A few other notes from English postgame:
On junior college transfer center Anton Bonke, who enrolled at PC this week and will start playing next fall: “We want to start looking more and more like an elite Big East team. When you see the length inside in this league, we thought it was really important. Anton is someone who’s upside is really high, no pun intended. His size is really impressive — his hands, his legs — and he’s someone that’s going to be a formidable force for us for years to come.”
On a potential Odoru/Castro lineup: “We’re thinking about tinkering with our lineup and playing with two bigs more often… Slim had our highest plus/minus for the game, he finished with a plus 33.”
On Devin Carter’s big night: “Devin is an absolute warrior. He’s playing through illness. The last three nights he’s been really sick.”