The Friars collapse in the second half to lose to Georgetown, 81-78
By KEVIN McNAMARA
PROVIDENCE – A startling swing of emotions, if not of coaching careers, was on radiant display Saturday afternoon at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.
When the twists and turns were over, Kim English and the Providence College Friars were all but left for dead. That the group leaving the arena smiling was led by Ed Cooley made this one sting to the core.
The hits, runs and errors part of this game are as follows. Georgetown appeared completely overwhelmed for at least 28 minutes in falling behind by 21 points, trailing by 18 at the half and by 16 with 10:52 to play. Then the Friars disappeared. Again.
Georgetown started making everything (68% in the second half), the Friars went into full panic mode and English and his staff came up empty trying to slow the Hoya waterfall. Turnovers and some awful offensive sets marked the end but, as per usual, this one was all about a defense that is tragically flawed. Cooley’s cats scored 56 second half points with K.J. Lewis leading his team with 26 points and big man Vince Iwuchukwu scoring 14 of his 16 in the second half.
Yes, the Friars had a chance to tie. A Stefan Vaaks dunk and free throw made it 81-78 and when Lewis missed a free throw with 13 seconds left, the Friars had a chance. But a planned option to get the ball to Vaaks with a screen went haywire when he and Jaylin Sellers looked lost and were left with a Sellers 3-point prayer that was blocked away at the buzzer.
“We had the play we wanted to run,” said English, who had no timeouts left to call. “We got the (free throw) miss and we did not do what we wanted to on the last play. And that’s on me. The ability to take it from the board to the court has been a consistent thing this season. There comes a time in the game where we need to execute. I have to do a better job explaining when we want to run a play we need to run that play.”
So the Friars lose another one, their fifth in six games to drop to 2-7 in the Big East and 9-11 overall. It’s pretty clear that the only passport for this team into the NCAA Tournament would come after a Miracle on 34th Street at the Big East Tournament.
But this one is much more than another loss. It hurt the program, the fans, hard. Maybe not a group of players who are transient in these NIL days, players who wouldn’t know Cranston from Cumberland and certainly hold no ill will towards Ed Cooley.
But to see Cooley come in and grab his first win as the Hoya coach, after kicking his can for 30 minutes, is a problem. Losing this one, collapsing in this one, on this stage, feels like it digs deeper. Losing in this way after blowing another win in the team’s previous game at Marquette is the type of two-game disaster that few programs can bear. That this double shot to the gut came on the watch of a coach who is clearly on the proverbial hot seat is a reality all of Friartown needs to come to grips with.
Asked if his team is feeling some of that big boy pressure, English said “I think it’s a culmination of a lot of moments. I think there’s some fragility in the group with knowing how to (close games). It was there in the first half. Our defense is in front of our bench in the first half. Second half you’re on your own. The five guys out there are on their own. Up 21, up 18 at the half, you have to find a way.”
The Friars not only didn’t find a way, they walked another painful path to a loss. This group has now lost seven games by six points or less. Stretching back to last season, English has three wins in his last 20 Big East games. That’s 3-17 if you’re not reading closely.
One could look at the bevy of close losses and spin that the Friars are a few plays short, that they could change two or three things and all of a sudden the wins could start multiplying. That does not seem to be the case at all with this program.
This is a group that is inherently flawed, and that includes the coach. Media – and fans – always second guess. Questioning why English didn’t call a timeout in the overtime session at Marquette was an easy second guess. That was a coaching mistake. But how about in this Georgetown game when star freshman Jamier Jones leaves the game midway through the second half with his team leading by 13 and doesn’t get put back on the floor until the Hoyas trailed by just 67-63 with 5:41 to play. After a quick driving layup score from Jones, the team’s best athlete did turn the ball over and was subbed out at the 4:04 mark.
And never returned. English basically chose to play Duncan Powell over Jones. Powell finished the second half with one basket, zero rebounds and was an amazing minus-24 in 14 minutes of playing time.
English explained that away with a reference to being a freshman and a missed defensive assignment but it certainly rates as a head-scratcher. Especially on a team where missed defensive coverages happen at a dizzying rate.
There are other shoulda/coulda’s after any game but at this point several serious problems are more than apparent. For two years in a row English and his staff have identified a relatively new roster of players (at considerable revenue share & NIL costs) and gotten little return. That this group is more talented offensively than other teams is a given but their multiple defensive issues, lack of team cohesion and now ability to perform under pressure are just flashing red lights of concern.
Where does this group go from here? How tough is it to keep showing up to practice, listen to the same coaching staff and get kicked in the shins game after game? Can they show resiliency in their next game, which just so happens to come at Gampel Pavilion against the University of Connecticut Huskies?
You could make a case that the Friars just lost to perhaps the two worst teams in the Big East. The way things are going you could also make a case that Providence may just sink to that lonely bottom soon enough.
