By KEVIN McNAMARA
The chance to enjoy a February blitz of a winning streak for the Providence College Friars has blown out the window.
The Friars reverted to some grizzly habits Wednesday night as they helped Seton Hall rally in the second half and grab a 87-80 victory at the Prudential Center. PC turned the ball 18 times, 9 in each half, to assist a Seton Hall attack led by point guard Budd Clark who dominated with 31 points, 8 assists and 5 steals. Clark, a transfer from Merrimack generously listed at 5-10, has proven to be one of the Big East’s top transfer portal finds.
“He was spectacular. He looked like Chris Paul,” PC coach Kim English said of the Hall’s little man.
Clark scored 21 of his 31 in the second half where the Pirates out-scored PC, 48-37. He made 11 of his 16 shots, played under control at all times and won nearly every cat-and-mouse screen game against a slew of PC defenders. English pointed out that PC “didn’t want to go over his ball screens” yet saw one defender after another – Jason Edwards, Jaylin Sellers, Corey Floyd- all fail to go under the screen. That often forced switches where Clark’s quickness and guile shined through.
PC led for the entire first half and didn’t give up the lead until Clark was in the midst of a personal 6-0 run that gave the Hall a 59-55 advantage. Jaylin Sellers (23 points) and Stefan Vaaks (20) did their best to keep the offense running down the stretch but some mindless turnovers and an inability to slow down Clark combined to kill the Friars.
“Eighteen turnovers you have no chance, on the road,” English said. “If you want to play the shot quality game, good. But if you lose the possession game, you have no chance.”
PC (11-14, 4-10) had won two games in a row to spark some excitement over the start of a bit of a turn-around in this lost season. But while Jason Edwards shined in his return from a foot injury in a win over DePaul with 25 points, the little man hurt the Friars in this game. He turned the ball over three times in the first half, struggled on defense and finished with 11 points on just 1-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line.
The above Clark highlight reel is enough to make a Providence fan ill. Clark is as true of a point guard, albeit a scoring point, as you can find. The Philadelphia native was snatched up by Shaheen Holloway after a transfer portal battle with no other Big East teams. PC, meanwhile, spent well over $1 million ($1.5 even?) for a scoring point guard in Edwards who is just as small as Clark but not nearly the all-around player.
English’s lone ‘true point guard’ on the roster is sophomore Daquan Davis but he’s missed basically the entire season with a knee injury. He also wasn’t exactly in the team’s top rotation when he was ruled out for the year. English believes in multiple ball handlers and scorers and not a true point guard/quarterback who runs the show like Clark. PC leads the Big East in turnovers (12.2) and was tied with DePaul (12.6) for the most in the conference last season.
That plan has not materialized into success with this team. Who knows how much better Sellers and Vaaks could be with a pure point guard? Perhaps they need the ball in their hands to score the way they do. But offensive efficiency isn’t this team’s challenge. The Friars shot 49 percent and made 14 three-pointers but the lack of a floor general to settle things down certainly hurt as the turnovers piled up.
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“The player in me, I think the vast majority of turnovers come down to discipline,” English said. “I take blame for pretty much everything that goes wrong with our program. I have to do a better job putting them in position to feel that (pressure) every day in practice. Maybe we couldn’t this week down so many guys (due to sickness).”
“That’s personal. Ball security, free throw shooting, one-on-one defense. The player in me, I think that’s very personal. I have to be a better job putting them in positions to feel that type of stress in practice.”
Jamier Jones did not play after struggling the last few days with the flu. Teammate Ryan Mela also battled the flu bug but was able to play 16 minutes. Mela (-8), Edwards (-8) and Cole Hargrove (-10). Oswin Erhunmwunsue was held scoreless for the first time this season and just the second time in his two years at Providence…The Friars have won just 10 of their last 35 Big East games.
