The Season in Review: Putting on a Show in Chicago, Slipping up versus Marquette, and Nate Watson Dominating St. John's
Providence closed out 2021 with consecutive wins over nationally-ranked conference opponents when they took out UConn in Hartford and Seton Hall at home.
With a 12-1 record and a 21st ranking in the AP Poll in hand, the Friars headed to Chicago to take on DePaul. Providence showed no signs of slowing down in this one, ripping off a 15-2 run early in the first half, and later a 22-0 spurt to blow this game open early. PC led 42-17 at halftime and were never threatened in this New Year’s Day affair.
This was considered a Quad 1 win at the time — a road victory over a Blue Demon group that entered with a 9-2 record behind the talented duo of David Jones and Javon Freeman-Liberty. Yet, everything went right for the Friars on this day — they smothered DePaul defensively (sub-30% shooting), Al Durham and Jared Bynum got wherever they wanted with the ball in their hands, threes were falling, and the Friars came up with back-breaking offensive rebounds throughout the game.
Perhaps no play better demonstrated the desperation and focus of this Providence team than fifth year center Nate Watson flying to the floor for a loose ball late in the shot clock with PC ahead 35-14 late in the first half.
Durham finished with a team-high 17 points, Justin Minaya had a 12 point, 11 rebound double double, and Providence shot 53.3% from long distance in the 70-53 victory.
The DePaul game wasn’t all good news for Ed Cooley’s bunch, however. AJ Reeves, who had been playing perhaps the best basketball of his career at the time, fractured his finger and would be out indefinitely.
Providence rose to #16 in the AP Poll following the DePaul win, but suffered through one of those nights at Marquette three days later.
In a near reversal of the DePaul game, Marquette went on a 20-0 first half run to take a 42-22 lead at the break. The Friars couldn’t buy a bucket, shooting 7-25 from the field.
The second half didn’t get much better, as the Golden Eagles put an 88-56 beating on the now 13-2 Friars.
Notable from this one, Watson became PC’s all-time leader in games played at 137.
In Providence, it felt like the kind of night you simply turn the page from and move on, but a blowout at the hands of a Marquette team that was 0-3 in the league at the time became a battle cry for pundits who seemingly spent the rest of the season poking holes in a Friar team that really should have been one of the feel-good stories in the country.
This loss, and victories over shorthanded Seton Hall and UConn without Adama Sanogo were used to disparage PC pretty much up until they advanced to the Sweet 16 three months later.
In reality, the win over Providence was the beginning of a terrific stretch of basketball for Marquette. That game kicked off a seven-game winning streak — one that would only be snapped in a return date with the Friars on Jan. 30. After that loss to PC, Marquette turned around and knocked off Villanova on the road.
As for the Friars, Marquette would be the only team in the league to beat Providence in conference play, other than Villanova. The Friars won eight straight games after the Marquette loss, and 11 of the next 12.
The winning streak started with an 83-73 victory at home against St. John’s. The Johnnies had no answer for Watson, who scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half of a 22 point, 11 rebound double double.
The final score is a bit misleading, as the Friars trailed by seven points with around 15 minutes to go before Watson started going to work.
The win was Ed Cooley’s 300th as a head coach.
This game also provided a glimpse of what was ahead for Jared Bynum, who scored what was then a season high 18 points. Bynum went 8-9 at the free throw line, as the Friars feasted at the stripe, making 26-30 for the game.
Three days later, Providence traveled to Omaha to take on Creighton, but the game was postponed due to Covid within the Friars’ program. PC would also have their next two games suspended — at Seton Hall and home versus UConn — games they would eventually not make up due to scheduling complications.
The Friars would have to wait nearly two weeks to play again, and the concern in Providence would be that they could have lost some of the momentum gained during their 14-2 start to the season.