By KEVIN McNAMARA
Basketball sometimes isn’t a very complicated game.
You can’t turn the ball over. You need to guard the rim. Oh, make your free throws.
Those three axioms travel anywhere in basketball, even all the way to the Bahamas and the Battle 4 Atlantis. All three helped limit the Providence Friars in Wednesday’s first round game against Oklahoma and ultimately led to a 79-77 defeat.
The Friars turned the ball over 16 times, including six in the opening six minutes. Those errors, including six from seasoned point guard Jayden Pierre, led to 23 Sooner points. Early on Oklahoma got its scoring attack rolling by scoring 16 points in the paint with guards Kobe Elvis (26 points) and Jeremiah Fears (20) getting wherever they needed to go with dribble penetration. Late in the game, after PC had cut its deficit to 69-66, turnovers by Wesley Cardet and Pierre opened the door for Oklahoma to seize just enough cushion to secure the win.
Asked about the team’s ballhandling and passing errors, Pierre said he’ll own his mistakes.
“For myself, playing too fast and just slowing down was something I needed to do,” he said. “As a whole it’s something we just have to get better at, starting with me. We’ll figure out what we need to do to get that number down. That’s how we’re going to win games. That was the difference in the game. Turnovers is what we have to improve.”
A bizarre rash of late-game mistakes created an opening for a miracle in the final seconds as this game didn’t get decided until Pierre missed a 28-foot jumper off the back of the rim at the buzzer. Oklahoma led 75-66 with 44 seconds left but proceeded to melt down against Providence’s all-out scramble, pressure defense. Some missed free throws were followed by a Bensley Joseph 3-pointer but when Elvis hit two free throws to make it 79-75 with three seconds left the game appeared iced.
However, an Oklahoma player came onto the floor as PC was inbounding the ball and the officials ruled a too many men on the court foul. That gave Pierre two free throws and the Friars the ball out of bounds. Pierre rushed the ball into the frontcourt and had a clean, open look for what would’ve been a game-winning shot but the ball bounded off the rim.
It was an odd game for the Friars in that much of the team’s first half offense came via the 3-point line. The good news is the team shot a sizzling 9-of-22 from downtown but this is a team that shot 31 percent from deep in the opening five games. The craziest stat surely that the Friars scored just one two-pointer in the first half and just 12 for the game.
“We shot nine free throws in the first half so you can’t shoot a shot at the rim if you get fouled,” said coach Kim English. “A lot of our threes came from pressure on the rim. I think they were good looks. We did take a few bad ones but we’re going to take what the defense gives us.”
Much of the pre-game noise surrounding the Friars centered on the availability of Bryce Hopkins. While KevinMcSports never conjectured that Hopkins was certain or even likely to make his season debut, other media did and ultimately he decided not to play. English said he’s been more cautious than Hopkins but it’s also clear that the senior’s family and close advisors may be leery of returning too soon after his knee surgery.
“He’s getting there but it’s probably me more than him, honestly,” English said. “It’s me making sure he’s right. I can look in his eyes and tell when he’s ready. He’s been great in practice. He’s getting close. We want to make sure everything is right. If we are a couple of games or halves too late, I think that’s okay. Our focus is the long-term viability and health of Bryce. When he gets back we’ll be really excited to have him.”
The Friars will be back in action at 7:30 Thanksgiving night for their second game in this tournament. They will play the loser of the Arizona-Davidson first round game.
