PC has now lost six games by three points or less after losing at Butler, 82-81
By KEVIN McNAMARA
As Kim English is fond of saying in this frustrating season, his team still has enough talent to win Big East games. It’s just not happening.
The latest example came Saturday at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse as the Providence Friars pushed hard but once again could not close in crunch time in a 82-81 loss to Butler. The Friars trailed by 13 points with 9:14 to play but rallied nicely to tie the game at 76-76 with 3:45 left but could not execute down the stretch. A final inbounds play with 4.4 seconds left went sideways and PC lost for the third game in a row and five in the last seven.
“Plays didn’t go our way down the stretch, especially defensively,” English said. “Poor execution on the last play by us.”
The Friars were quite good offensively with their highest point total in the last seven games. Sparked by a career effort by Rich Barron (23 points, 7 threes) and a big day by Bensley Joseph (26 points, five threes), the Friars hit a season-high 16 threes. That’s the most treys by a PC team since the opening game of the 2019-20 season.
But the defensive effort was another story. Butler continually pounded the Friars in the paint, shooting 50 percent from the field and 10-of-19 from the 3-point line. The defense cracked over the first 10 minutes of the second half with Butler’s physical ballhandlers continually taking PC’s defenders into the lane for buckets. Eighteen of Butler’s first 28 points in the half came in the paint with Jahmyl Telfort (24 points) and Pierre Brooks (18) hurting the Friars badly.
English tried several changes on defense, even pulling his only rim protector in center Oswin Erhunmwunse for six minutes. Nothing firmed things up, however, as the Bulldogs won the rebound battle, 34-24, and had 14 more points in the paint.
“It’s discipline to not let guys do what they want to do,” English said. “It’s getting matched up in transition defense. It’s discipline. We have to get more of it before we can win.”
The Friars were, of course, short-handed. Sitting on the bench were Bryce Hopkins (knee) and Jabri Abdur-Rahim (knee) are out for the season and Wesley Cardet (leg) remains sidelined. Christ Essandoko was back in Providence struggling with what appears to be a persistent stomach bug.
But the group that did lace them up was good enough to beat a Butler team that improved to 11-13 overall and 4-9 in the Big East. After the defensive lapses stuck the Friars in a hole, a stirring 15-2 run sparked by two threes from Barron and ending with a Corey Floyd jumper tied the game at 76-76. Then it was all about execution over the final 3:45.
A floater by Telfort that Erhunmwunse nearly snatched out of the sky was ruled a goaltend. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw for a 82-78 lead. Jayden Pierre followed with a turnover and then both Joseph and Erhunmwunse couldn’t convert at the rim. Butler couldn’t score either as PC forced a shot clock violation with 24 seconds left.
Barron banged home his seventh 3-pointer to make it a 82-81 game with 13 seconds left. Telfort missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Friars a chance to win but it didn’t happen. Butler had two fouls to give and used them both to whittle the clock down to 4.4 seconds. PC was out of timeouts and its final play went haywire. Joseph was the inbounder but poor screening didn’t free Pierre to the pass was made to Erhunmwunse. He quickly gave the ball back to Joseph but the lefty shooter was going to his right and had no chance to shake free for a clean look.
“We have to screen better, have to cut harder, have to execute better,” English said. “We didn’t execute what we wanted.”
The Friars are now 1-6 in games decided by three points or less. That includes three (Villanova, St. John’s, Butler) of the last four losses.
SUBSCRIBE TO KEVINMcSPORTS.COM TODAY!! CLICK HERE
For the second straight game the Friars weren’t able to get to the free throw line. After watching Creighton hold a 21-6 edge in free throw attempts, the exact same numbers appeared against Butler. The Friars were called for 18 fouls to only 10 for the home team and two of those were on purpose in the final 10 seconds.
“Back-to-back games the free throw disparity is large,” English said. “Butler makes 30 field goals, we make 30 field goals. They get 21 free throw attempts to our six.”
Why this disparity? The lack of an inside offensive game certainly doesn’t help but the Friars were out-scored in the paint 40-26. Defensively the Friars need to guard the ball better off the bounce and play without fouling.
Providence returns home where it will play four of its final seven games. The first two come Wednesday against Xavier and then Saturday against Villanova.
