The Season in Review: A Thriller Against Marquette, Pulling One Out Late in Queens, and Jared Bynum Goes Crazy at Home
When last we left off, Jared Bynum was beginning his ascent into one of the top guards in the Big East with a last-second 3-pointer to give Providence an exciting road win at Xavier.
PC returned from a Covid pause to win three straight games, and returned home after the Xavier victory with a massive test in front of them. Marquette, the #22 team in the nation in late January, was one of the hottest teams in the country heading into a Sunday afternoon tilt at the Dunkin Donuts Center. They were riding a seven-game winning streak that began when they blitzed the Friars in early January.
The rematch was pushed back a day due to a blizzard, but was it ever worth the wait.
The atmosphere was electric in the building formerly known as The Dunk, but Marquette led by nine early in the second half.
The final ten minutes of the game brought an outstanding duel between a pair of Big 10 transfers, and Providence’s big man blowing the roof off the Dunk in the final minute.
Al Durham hadn’t scored in the game’s first 30 minutes, but dominated over the last ten. He got to the rim at will, buried a contested three, and flipped home an impossible floater with his offhand. Marquette’s Daryl Morsell, a Maryland transfer, was equally as tough.
Ultimately, this game came down to the final minute, with Watson throwing a man out of the way to grab an offensive rebound before dunking on three Marquette players (while being fouled) to put PC ahead.
As Fox play-by-play man John Fanta aptly said at the time, “It’s bedlam.”
It really was. The crowd at the Dunk was beyond belief, and when Marquette missed two chances in the paint to tie the game in the final seconds, PC had a 65-63 win, and improved its record to 18-2 and 8-1 in the Big East.
The next three games were all exciting in their own right.
The Friars went to Queens to take on St. John’s following the Marquette victory. Providence was up 10 early in the second half before the Johnnies came storming back, tying the game after a 15-5 run.
The two teams went back-and-forth for nearly the entirety of the second half before Jared Bynum hit a 28-foot three at the end of the shot clock with PC trailing 74-72 with three minutes left. The Friars would never trail again, taking home an 86-82 win.
Bynum led the way with 19 points, Noah Horchler had 14 points, seven rebounds, and four steals, while Providence survived a terrific performance from St. John’s sophomore point guard Posh Alexander, who finished with 29.
The Bynum Show continued five days later at Georgetown.
Returning home (Bynum went to Georgetown Prep), the Friar point guard went insane from beyond the arc, scoring 27 of his career-high 32 points in the second half of a 71-52 PC victory. He made seven shots from beyond the arc.
“Jared put on a cape and had as good a performance as I've seen since I've been the head coach here,” Ed Cooley said after the game. “It's a credit to the team to find him. I'm really proud of our resilience once again.”
With the win, Providence improved to 20-2 and 10-1 in the Big East. That marked their best start since the 1972-73 season, and their best Big East record through 11 games ever.
A monster matchup with Villanova at the Dunk was on the horizon, but first Providence had to contest with a DePaul team that came to Friartown ready for a fight.