The Week Ahead: Providence and Marquette in the Big East's Best Matchup, Kayvaun Mulready at the TD Garden
Providence and Marquette play in the marquee Big East game of the week, while Kayvaun Mulready and Worcester Academy take on Brewster Academy at the TD Garden on Saturday night in a matchup of two of the best prep teams in New England…
Providence at Marquette: Jan. 18, 9pm tip, CBS Sports Network/WPRO: 630 AM/99.7 FM
Ed Cooley’s Friars wrap up their most challenging road trip of the 2022-23 season with a late tip against a very good Marquette team. It’s a Golden Eagles group that should be hungry after falling to PC in double overtime a month ago, and coming off an 80-76 loss at #12 Xavier.
Rhode Island native Tyler Kolek scored 25 points for Marquette in Sunday’s loss, while emerging big man Oso Ighodaro added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Marquette led by as many as nine in the first half at Xavier, but got crushed on the boards (45-31) and were outscored 36-28 in the second half of the loss.
Marquette and Xavier were tied with under a minute to go before X’s Souley Boum knocked down a mid-range jumper to push Xavier ahead for good.
Shaka Smart’s club is 6-2 in league play, and is just a few breaks from being 8-0. They took out #6 UConn at home last Wednesday to improve their record at the Fiserv Forum to 10-1 on the season. The athletic Ighodaro led them with 19 points against UConn’s massive frontline on that night.
Providence and Marquette have played in some terrific games since the Big East realigned prior to the 2013-14 season. The Friars hold a 6-4 advantage over the past ten meetings. The Friars and Marquette have played in three overtime games and three double overtime games since realignment.
Here are just some of the notable matchups since that time:
Providence won on the Senior Night of Bryce Cotton and Kadeem Batts in double overtime, surviving a 75 footer by Davante Gardner that was waved off.
Marquette upset #8 Providence, 66-65, in Jan. 2016 to give Providence just its second loss of the season. The Friars were 14-1 heading in.
Ben Bentil scored 42 points and had 12 rebounds in the rematch in 2016 — another game that went into double OT.
PC held on for a 79-78 victory in Milwaukee behind 18 points from Kyron Cartwright, and then rallied to take a 73-69 win a month later on a slippery Dunkin Donuts Center floor in 2017.
Markus Howard went for 52 points in a 95-90 Marquette win in Jan. 2018. A few weeks later, PC returned the favor with a 77-75 road win.
AJ Reeves sent the 2020 game at Marquette to overtime on a last-second 3-pointer, as PC went on to win, 81-80, in the extra session.
Providence and Marquette battled to the final shot, in a game that was bumped back a day due to a blizzard in Rhode Island in 2022. The #17 Friars defeated the red-hot and 22nd ranked Golden Eagles on that day.
The Friars took over the latest double overtime victory behind a ridiculous 29 point, 23 rebound performance by Bryce Hopkins.
Providence (6-1) and Marquette (6-2) are currently second and third in the Big East standings, trailing 7-0 Xavier. The Muskies likely won’t be caught in the next week or two, as they take on DePaul and Georgetown over the next seven days.
At 116.9, Marquette has the highest offensive rating in the Big East this season, while defensively they are seventh at 101.4. In conference play, their offensive rating has jumped to 118.1. Defensively, they are at 108.0.
This may come as a bit of a surprise to Friar fans, but in Big East games, Providence has the best defensive rating in the league at 98.7 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Marquette is fifth in the country in fast break points per game (17.5) and 4th in points in the paint (42.1). Their 82.7 points per game is the 14th highest mark in the country.
Kolek has played his way into an All Big East spot this season, leading the league in assists by a wide margin at 7.9 per game (to go along with 9.8 points). Kam Jones is a lethal backcourt scorer, the 6’9 Ighodaro has broken out, while David Joplin is one of the best bench scorers in the league. Joplin scores over 10 points per game while playing fewer than 19 minutes a night.
Wednesday figures to be a big-time challenge for a Friar team that could still be without Jared Bynum.
DePaul at Providence, Jan. 21 at 2pm, Fox Sports 1/WPRO: 630 AM/99.7 FM
Providence won rather convincingly, 74-59, in Chicago on New Year’s Day. Devin Carter (22) and Jared Bynum (18) combined for 40 points as the Friars really limited DePaul’s leading scorers Javan Johnson (5-17 shooting) and Umoja Gibson (1-6).
Over the past 50 matchups with DePaul, Providence is 37-13. PC has won eight of the last ten contests and figures to be a considerable favorite against a Blue Demons team with an 8-10 overall record and a 2-5 Big East mark.
DePaul did knock off Villanova (75-65) last week, behind 18 points from Johnson and 24 off the bench from Da’Sean Nelson. They then fell by four at home to Seton Hall on Saturday in a game that included 11 ties and 11 lead changes.
Worcester Academy vs. Brewster Academy, Jan. 21 at 7:30pm, TD Garden
Friar fans hoping to see 2024 commit Kayvaun Mulready in action have a terrific opportunity to do so when his Worcester Academy club takes on perhaps the best team in New England in Brewster Academy on Saturday night at the TD Garden.
The two teams are playing as part of a day-long tournament: The Andrew James Lawson Foundation Invitational.
Mulready is fresh off of a terrific performance at the BABC Classic on Sunday in which he knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 21 points in the first half alone.
Mulready teams with a pair of terrific 2023 prospects in Duke commit TJ Power and Marquette signee Tre Norman.
Brewster is loaded with players like Solomon Ball (UConn), JP Estrella (Tennessee), Taylor Bowen (Florida State), Carey Booth (Penn State), and Reid Ducharme (Xavier).