The Jayden Pierre Effect and Takeaways from Friday's Win Over Lehigh
Providence was efficient in their Black Friday win over Lehigh, shooting nearly 52% from the field behind a pair of terrific efforts from Bryce Hopkins (25 points, 14 rebounds, 10-16 shooting from the field) and Josh Oduro (29 points, 7 rebounds, 13-18 shooting) en route to a 78-64 win.
The Friars were, once again, without starting point guard Jayden Pierre, who continues to work his way back from a groin injury suffered in the Bahamas a week ago. Pierre tried to give it a go against Kansas State last week, but sat after playing just five minutes. Then he was out in Sunday’s win over Georgia and also against Lehigh.
Friar head coach Kim English essentially said the team is taking it slowly with Pierre. The sophomore is “doing more and more each day” but the staff wants him to get practices under his belt before moving forward.
The loss of Pierre is far more significant than those who don’t watch Providence closely may assume. He was shooting the ball terrifically: 14-24 from the field and 7-12 from three. Pierre provided a steady hand for a group whose only other natural point guard is a true freshman that is a handful of games into his career.
Down Pierre, the Friars take a hit on both ends of the floor. Opponents were shooting a meager 4-27 from the field against him prior to the injury (14.8% shooting). There were a couple of decent looks against him that Wisconsin shooters missed, but in general Pierre has stuck to offensive players and forced contested shots on most possessions.
Offensively, Pierre freed up Dual to go more in attack mode when Providence played its two point guards together. Pierre has also been a reliable spot up shooter on a team that has struggled to hit from distance. He is 7-11 when spotting up (62%), while PC is 31-118 (31%) as a team.