The Friars worked through growing pains in the Bahamas against Kansas State
Billy Ricci provides his breakdown of Providence's tough overtime loss to Kansas State
Friar Family, I am still feeling the raw emotion after what should have been an instant classic between Providence and Kansas State last night. What NBA regular season game has had that level of intensity this early in the season? This game is why we are college basketball fans, and showcased even more why we are so passionate about Providence Basketball through the ups and downs of that game. Shout out to all those Friar fans who made the trip to Baha Mar… and the guy without his shirt on we possibly didn’t need to see haha. This game truly had it all, and much respect to Kansas State, without Ques Glover and Nae’Qwan Tomlin they were tough, resilient, and clearly well coached.
Now let’s get into it. You could feel right from tip off the “early season tournament jitters” from both teams, as the pace was elevated and not sustainable for either team to run their desired offense. Seeing Jayden Pierre go out early was certainly worrisome, but even more worrisome was Will McNair’s fire and aggressiveness to prove a point to the Friars. With the first seven points of the game all on his own, McNair was clear in his reason he decided to transfer – he felt he should have been the starter for PC this season. I noticed when I watched him in practice over the summer, that he was very good at using his large frame to create easy shots and get position for rebounds/blocks. He showed that time and time again Friday night, rejecting Bryce Hopkins and using his size advantage against Josh Oduro to score consecutively in the early parts of the game.
The Friars didn’t waver though heading into the mid-way point of the first half, as they held onto a 15-11 lead right around the 10-minute mark. With Pierre out and Oduro losing the battle against McNair at points, it almost seemed imminent that the Friars would lose ground against this Elite 8 team from last year. The Friars showed their toughness with some great blocks from Garwey Dual and Corey Floyd Jr., and continued to be led by Devin Carter, who although had his share of turnovers, was the Friars’ main option to create his own shot with Hopkins struggling to be effective. Going into halftime only down three after a waived-off three pointer almost felt like the best case scenario for PC, considering other than a gritty defensive performance – not much was going right on the offensive end.
When the second half began, the Friars seemed to have a little more edge to them. It almost seemed like Hopkins was going to turn a corner in the second half and start to dominate like he did for much of last season. But even though the Friars had their moments, Arthur Kaluma and Tylor Perry seemed to always have an answer. Perry was truly incredible from the line, it was automatic, including one of multiple fouls on threes the Friars gave up that led to three Perry free throws.
I will unfortunately remember the second half of the Providence/Kansas State game for a lot of the mistakes we saw that kept inhibiting PC’s chances of pulling out a win. Fouling on multiple three pointers has to be in your top three, followed by missed free throws which continues to be a problem for PC, and lastly, Hopkins still not feeling comfortable on the offensive side of the ball. Positioning Hopkins around the three-point line to begin the offense doesn’t seem to be working, it seems to me if we can get him in some post-up or elbow jumper scenarios – he can get to the rim much easier than having to take multiple dribbles beyond the three-point line that we have seen lead to a pass or turnover.
Many will remember the Arthur Kaluma wide open three in OT as the game-changing momentum for Kansas State, but I can’t blame Carter for that as he was giving everything he had down the stretch, including the final play of the game which, in my opinion, he was fouled by the body contact from McNair. Kansas State seemed poised to win in many of the late-game scenarios but couldn’t seem to capitalize. But, in the end, without Oduro or Pierre in OT – it was going to be a large hill to climb for the Friars.
And then came the altercation between Dai Dai Ames and Garwey Dual, a truly awful way to end a game that showed so much for both teams this early in the season. To conclude here, let me be clear, Friartown, PC showed a lot of resolve, toughness, and ability to create, even with a lot of turnovers and lack of efficiency from the offensive end. But Kansas State showed why they were an Elite 8 team last year and were just that much more poised to win. It was almost like Providence was the scrappy challenger and they were the seasoned vet who did just enough to win. All I know is we have a team that is going to compete night in and night out, and that maybe losing that game is a blessing in disguise to help the Friars fix what they need to as the season continues.