By KEVIN McNAMARA
Whenever the final epitaph on this Providence College basketball season is written, the refrains are going to ring with quite a bit of familiarity.
First off, the injuries. All legit, from Bryce Hopkins to Jabri Abdur-Rahim and anyone else who had a chance to alter the arc of this disappointing campaign. Health is clearly this team’s chief downfall, but it is far from alone. Kim English’s team had enough bullets, enough firepower to finish better than 6-14 in the Big East this season but it did not happen.
That mark – Providence’s worst since four-win efforts in Keno Davis’ last two years and Ed Cooley’s first – was cemented Saturday at the Cintas Center as Xavier pushed back a gritty Friar team to win in crunch time, 76-68. The Friars pushed hard all day against an NCAA bubble team desperate for a win but shot themselves in the foot much too often to pull off the upset.
The Friars (12-19 overall) turned the ball over 17 times, Xavier scored 20 points off the miscues and the visitors were swamped from the foul line by a 17-4 count. Those two items – turnovers and a marked free throw disparity – are high up on the list of issues that English and his staff could not improve upon.
“It’s not a recipe to win on the road, 17 (turnovers) is far too much, eight from those two guys,” English said of primary ballhandlers Bensley Joseph (5) and Jayden Pierre (3). “Those guys are trying, they’re trying really hard but we have to be more sure with the basketball.”
As for the free throws, the Friars were only called for four more fouls (17-13) but Xavier finished 17-of-21 from the foul stripe while PC was just 4-of-11.
“That’s self-explanatory,” English said. “You want to make more free throws than your opponent attempts. They did that, we didn’t. That’s the recipe.”
The Friars rely on Pierre and Joseph to both create offense and score. The fact that a solid forward or big man (like a Bryce Hopkins) isn’t able to ease that burden clearly hurts but the fact is these two guys do turn the ball over at inopportune times. Increased minutes for Corey Floyd haven’t helped the issue either as he’s lost the ball 15 times in the last four games.
That said, those three players create the majority of the Friar offense right now. PC shot 42 percent in a 32-point first half and finished with a very solid 48 percent clip from the field and an impressive 50 percent (12-of-24) from the 3-point line. But losing the ball 17 times and shooting an anemic 36 percent (4-of-11) from the foul line is too much to overcome. The Friars do lead all Big East teams in turnovers per game.
“I think our guys played hard, which is a good starting point,” English said, “but you have to play hard and you have to be tough and you have to be smart and you have to execute.”
Joseph led the Friars with 27 points and seven 3-pointers. His shooting kept PC in the game, especially late when he and Floyd combined for back-to-back threes to cut Xavier’s lead to just 69-64 with 2:59 to play. Xavier then scored two points after a PC foul, Floyd lost the ball off his foot, Xavier hit two more free throws after another foul call and then Joseph missed two free throws with 1:15 on the clock.
Another foul call on PC, this one center Oswin Erhunmwunse, irked the Friar bench and with 52 seconds left referee Mike Roberts slapped English with a technical foul. Xavier’s Ryan Conwell (21 pts) made a free throw to all but end it with a 74-64 lead.
“I think the referee mis-heard me,” English said when asked why he picked up a technical. “I did not say anything disrespectful…I’ve got nothing for that.”
The Friars went with eight players in the game. Both Wesley Cardet and Christ Essandoko were healthy scratches, according to English. Ryan Mela enjoyed one of his best games of late as he spun and shifted his way to 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Mela and Joseph were the only Friars to reach double figures.
Xavier shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half with Zach Freemantle leading the way with 25 points and 8 rebounds. The Musketeers carry a 21-10 overall record, 13-7 Big East mark and a seven-game winning streak to the conference tournament in Madison Square Garden. While Xavier earned a first round bye, the Friars will face Butler in a 4 p.m. Wednesday game. The winner faces No. 1 seed St. John’s Thursday at Noon.
“Every team in this league is 0-0 right now,” PC’s English said. “I thought we took a step in the right direction in some ways (today) to get some good mojo heading to the city. Excited to hook it up with Butler on Wednesday at four o’clock.”
