The Season in Review: Providence Makes a Statement in Madison
When Providence headed west to take on Wisconsin in their third game of the season, they knew they had a chance to make a statement — despite Wisconsin’s relative inexperience.
The Badgers had been nearly impossible to beat in the Kohl Center since the building opened in 1998 (328-60 heading into this one). Yes, Wisconsin was young, but they were a top 20 defensive team virtually every year over the past decade and were sure to be stingy on that end of the floor.
They had an experienced and tough guard in Brad Davidson, and a high-potential wing in sophomore Johnny Davis. Davis had not yet blown up on the national stage at this point. He averaged over seven points per game on a veteran Wisconsin team as a freshman (shooting 39% from three) and was a part of Team USA’s U19 gold medal winning team last summer.
Providence had struggled against high major opponents in recent Novembers. They were defeated soundly by Alabama and Indiana in the 2020 Maui Invitational, fell to their only high major November opponent the season prior (Northwestern), and were looking for their first win over a high major opponent in November since they took out South Carolina in Mohegan Sun in 2018.
The Friars caught a break when Davis would miss this game due to injury — a break they would hear about for virtually the remainder of the season as their profile grew and Wisconsin (predicted to be a mid-tier Big 10 club) vaulted their way into the AP’s top 10 by January. Davis became an All American in the process, leading the Jeff Goodmans of the world to place a giant asterisk next to this win.
The biggest difference in this game? PC had Nate Watson and the Badgers didn’t.
Watson dominated this game from the early stages, making 11-15 from the field and scoring 24 points on the night. Providence led by 11 at the break (34-23) and was ahead 55-42 with just over six minutes to play before Wisconsin went on an 8-0 run to make it close late.
In the final two minutes, Friars fans got their first glimpse of Al Durham in his closer role. With the shot clock winding down with under two minutes to play, Durham connected from deep on a straight-away trey to all but end it. Durham was making his return to Big 10 country after spending four years with Indiana.
Durham and AJ Reeves combined for six made 3-pointers, while Jared Bynum shot just 1-10, but added seven assists and nine rebounds.
After the win, Ed Cooley said, “I’m in my 28th year coaching and this is one of the better wins we’ve had. I thought we showed resilience. I thought we were really, really tough. If anything epitomized a Friar win — that was one.”
Providence closed the first half on on a 22-5 run, with Watson showing his full repertoire — facing up, floaters off of the dribble, and punishing defenders with his back to the basket. He scored 22 points in the opening 22 minutes of the game, and looked primed for a monster season.
Reeves hit a pair of important threes to quell second half Badgers runs, while Noah Horchler came out of nowhere for an offensive rebound and put-back to make it 55-42 with 6:15 on the clock.
Watson and Cooley met with the media via Zoom following the game:
The win gave Providence an early-season confidence boost, and did wonders for their NCAA Tournament resume.
PC improved to 4-0 on the season three days later with a 69-58 win over New Hampshire. PC came out sluggishly in this one, leading 30-27 at halftime, and trailed early in the second half before pulling away mid-way through the second.
Watson was once again impossible to stop in the post, making 7-8 from the field, while Horchler finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists. Durham added 19 points on 7-7 at the free throw line, and Justin Minaya went for eight points, 10 rebounds, and three assists off the bench. Alyn Breed made a few key buckets when this was a one possession game in the second half.
Durham showed a bit of everything in this game, hitting a right-handed floater, blowing past Wildcats defenders in transition, and providing one of the highlights of the season with a behind-the-back bounce pass to Horchler for a transition dunk.
The following week, Providence would travel to Newark, NJ to take on Northwestern and either Georgia or Virginia in the Roman Legends Classic…