The Season in Review: Returning From a Pause and Jared Bynum's Star Turn Begins with a Buzzer Beater at Xavier
After missing three games, and nearly two weeks of full practices due to a Covid pause within the program, there were serious concerns that Providence’s terrific start to the season getting derailed.
Providence’s record stood at 14-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big East when their time away forced them to miss a home game against Connecticut and road contests at Creighton and Seton Hall.
If there was a safe landing spot in the 2021-22 Big East it was at home against Georgetown — the Friars’ first opponent upon returning back to action. The bottom hadn’t quite fallen out for the Hoyas at this point (they entered the game 6-8 overall and 0-3 in the league), who made a few runs against a Friar team that threatened to blow the game open a few times.
Any concerns about how Providence would look were immediately alleviated with a 13-0 start out of the gate. Ed Croswell went to work in the first half, shooting 6-6 from the field. Yet, for all of Croswell’s efficiency and such a fast start, a last-second 3-pointer by Georgetown cut the halftime lead to just 37-34.
We were still early enough in the season that when Jared Bynum connected from beyond the 3-point arc it was being referred to as a rarity by Fox play-by-play man Eric Collins, but Bynum was beginning to look like an all-league player. He finished with eight assists and scored nine points in this one.
PC led by as many as 16 in the second half, saw that lead trimmed to 64-60 late, but got a trio of threes by Justin Minaya and Noah Horchler (2) over the final four minutes to pull away. Minaya was terrific with nine points, nine rebounds, and five assists, while Horchler’s second half big shot making was a sign of what was to come later in the season. He went 4-7 from deep and scored 14.
As he’d done so often, Al Durham got to the free throw line consistently (8-8) and played 38 minutes in a game in which fatigue was a concern coming in.
The Friars took home an 83-75 victory in this one.
Providence upped its record to 16-2 overall and 6-1 in the Big East a few days later with a 69-62 win over Butler. The 16-2 start marked the program’s best since 1978, while Ed Cooley picked up his 210th win as head coach of the Friars, surpassing the great Dave Gavitt.
PC was without AJ Reeves for the fourth straight game.
Nate Watson was the only starter to score in double figures with 18 points, and once again it was the duo of Bynum and Croswell injecting life off the bench. Bynum was the tone-setter in the first half, while Croswell was once again perfect in shooting 5-5 from the field.
The duo came up with perhaps the play of the game when a Bynum steal and dish led to a Croswell and-1 that sent the crowd, and his teammates, into a frenzy with 8:20 to go in a four-point game.
This was a one or two possession game seemingly all night before Bynum found Watson for an alley oop with 3:45 to play in a 60-56 game.
Watson came up with the winning bucket with just over a minute left in a 64-60 game with an and-1 off a pick and roll with Durham.
It was apparent Providence was on to something after a trip to #21 Xavier on Jan. 26.
Xavier was 4-3 in league play, but two of their three losses came to Villanova, while the third was against a Marquette team that was as hot as anyone in January.
The Friars threw the first punch — more specifically Al Durham did. The grad transfer set the tone with 10 points in the game’s first five minutes. On the other end of the floor, Justin Minaya was doing it all defensively — drawing charges, pulling the table out on post players, and blocking shots at the rim.
Providence ran out to a 14-point first half lead, aided by making their first four shots from beyond the arc.
Bynum continued to look more like one of the best point guards in the Big East, once again getting to the paint at will en route to 16 points and four assists, while Durham went for 22.
The Friars controlled this game for 34 minutes before a Xavier run tied the game at 53. Still, Providence countered that run behind a tricky lefty layup and an assist from Bynum to go back up five.
This had the feeling of one Providence deserved, but let slip away late after a Bynum turnover followed by a defensive breakdown led to a wide-open Paul Scruggs three to give Xavier its first lead (62-60) with 51 seconds left.
PC tied the game after Durham made a pair of free throws on the next possession, setting up one of the biggest sequences of the season.
After Xavier missed on the ensuing possession, Durham raced down the floor, flipped a little pass back to Bynum who upfake, took a dribble to his left, and snapped a 62-all tie by swishing a 3-pointer with 1.5 left on the clock.
Ball game.
Bynum’s confidence, and game, took off from here. As the calendar turned to February his scoring totals were: 19, 32, 25, 18, 18, 27, and seven. He shot 24-43 from beyond the arc in February — the days of “a rare 3-pointer from Bynum” were history.
The Xavier win was Providence’s fourth straight and eigth in nine games. The Friars were set to return home with a massive test in front of them: a Marquette team riding a seven-game winning streak that started at PC’s expense.
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