Villanova at PC

[IE]

PROVIDENCE (17-9, 7-6): The Friars snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive 84-61 win over DePaul on Saturday. PC never trailed and for the fourth time this season had all five starters score in double-digits. Desrosiers came off the bench for a season-high 10 points, giving PC six players in double-figures in a game for the first time since Dec. 9, 2009 against George Washington in a 110-97 win?.PC was smoked at Villanova back on Jan. 5, 91-61. Wildcats raced out to a 50-26 halftime lead and were never threatened?The Friars beat ?Nova last year in Providence, 69-66, and have won the last two meetings on their own court in the series?Cotton averaged 26.5 points, five assists and 3.5 rebounds in a loss at Georgetown and the DePaul win last week. He shot 60 percent from the 3-point line and 89 percent from the foul line in the two games?Cotton passed Ernie DiGregorio in the DePaul win and moved into eighth place on the PC all-time scoring list.



VILLANOVA (22-3 10-2): The Wildcats are ending a three-game road trip that began in Chicago with a 25-point win at DePaul but hit a road block in a 100-81 loss at Creighton on Sunday. The Cats fell behind, 50-37, by halftime and let the Blue Jays shoot 64 percent from the field?The loss helped drop Villanova from sixth to ninth in the AP Top 25. Only losses this year are a season sweep by Creighton and at No. 1 Syracuse. Cats are fifth in the RPI this week?Explosive offense averaging 80.7 points, 23rd in the country. Wildcats have scored 80 or more points in four of the last five games?Bell hit foul trouble and scored just six points in a 30-point win over PC in Janaury. He?s scored 16 or more points in each of the last nine games?Villanova was the highest-ranked team to play Creighton in Omaha since fourth-ranked DePaul visited in December 1983?Villanova on track to earn its ninth NCAA Tournament berth in the last 10 seasons.

 

[IE]

Beating 9th-ranked Villanova would give PC a major late-season boost



When you?re guiding a program on the rise, you dream about nights like the one Providence College basketball fans can enjoy Tuesday night.

Home game, national TV, top-10 opponent, a chance to take a giant leap toward the NCAA Tournament. It?s an opportunity everyone from coach Ed Cooley to star guard Bryce Cotton and a fan base that?s snapped up nearly all of the 12,000-plus tickets for a matchup with Villanova realize is unique.

?It?s a great opportunity. This can get us closer to our goals, and to face one of the top-tier teams in the country can be another big momentum boost for our program,? said Cotton.
Cooley says he knows snow is in the forecast for the daytime hours, but implored fans to take their time and get to Providence. In fact, he sounded like he?d be out shoveling the sidewalks on Sabin Street himself if that meant squeezing a few more Friar souls into the Dunkin? Donuts Center.

?This is one of those opportunities where it?s the last ranked team we?ll play at home until next season,? Cooley said. ?It?s an opportunity to support your team. We only have two home games left. This is one of our seniors? last home games. Come on out and support those kids.?
Cotton and fellow senior Kadeem Batts realize how important the game is. They have only five regular-season games left in their PC careers, two at home. With a 17-9 record (7-6 Big East) and an RPI in the mid-50s, the Friars have plenty of work left to do to remain in the mix for the program?s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2004.
That?s why a potential win over the ninth-ranked Wildcats (22-3, 10-2) can be such a season-altering event. It?s also why PC fans are looking forward to this game as much as any in the last five years, or since Keno Davis? first team faced No. 1-ranked Pittsburgh in 2009. PC pulled the upset that February night to boost its record to 9-7 in the Big East, but that team ultimately fell short of an NCAA invitation.
PC?s last win over a Top 10-ranked team came in 2011 against Villanova, then ranked No. 8. Getting past this version of the Wildcats will prove difficult. The best evidence comes from a 91-61 clawing the Cats gave the Friars on their home floor back on Jan. 5. Jay Wright?s team came out firing on all cylinders and Providence looked like a group that didn?t even want to be in the same gym. Villanova led, 50-26, and by as many as 34 points early in the second half.
?There wasn?t much to take out of that because we just played horrible and they played fantastic,? said Cotton. ?Now it?s right back to the drawing board, but a good thing about this conference is you do get a chance to play every team twice. In the first game we just didn?t have energy and we didn?t have focus.?

Batts said he remembers PC applying similar Big East beatdowns that made little sense. One was a 90-59 throttling of No. 14 Louisville in 2012 at The Dunk in a year where the Friars finished 4-14 in the conference and the Cardinals eventually played on into the Final Four.

?I don?t think we?ve ever played a Big East season where there hasn?t been a blowout game on our behalf or against us,? Batts said. ?We definitely remember that [Villanova] blowout. If guys don?t play with some vengeance, there?s something wrong with us.?
Unlike previous seasons in a deeper, more-powerful Big East, the Friars haven?t seen ranked teams parade into their arena this winter. The only other ranked foe to play at The Dunk was Creighton, then ranked 20th. PC handled Doug McDermott and Co., fairly easily, 81-68.

Villanova has lost at top-ranked Syracuse, and to Creighton twice by large margins. The most recent came Sunday night in Omaha, 101-80. The Wildcats flew East right after the game, arriving in Rhode Island at around 2 a.m. and instantly began preparing for the rematch with the Friars.

Asked if he felt Villanova?s blend of strong, quick guards and the league?s top pair of forwards in James Bell and JayVaughn Pinkston can be a matchup problem for his team, Cooley insisted ?They?re a problem for anyone in the country.?
?I?m more concerned with our focus and attention to detail. Villanova is good. They?ll be who they are,? he said. ?We want to make sure we get higher percentage shots. They have a quickness advantage at some spots and we have a size advantage at other spots. It?s going to be a test of wills.?

 

[lowell]

I like Providence for small play.
Nova has to still be reeling from beat down in Omaha.
Richmond line looks tempting.
Richmond needs to win to remain on possible list for invite to the tourney.

 

[IE]

Richmond line looks tempting.
Richmond needs to win to remain on possible list for invite to the tourney.

What to watch: The Colonials present a major interior challenge. Richmond will focus on limiting the 6-foot-10, 264-pound Larsen and the 6-9, 210 Armwood. But that won?t necessarily stop GW, one of the A-10?s most balanced scoring teams.

Notable: In A-10 competition, Anthony averages 20 points. ? Each team has lost a standout guard. UR is without Cedrick Lindsay (knee injuries) and GW lost Kethan Savage (broken foot). ? Colonials, who have lost two consecutive games for the first time this season, are going for their first 20-win season since 2007. ? ? UR opponents shoot 41 percent from the floor, 28.5 percent from 3-point distance. ? Spiders, winners of three consecutive and seven of nine, are 11-2 at home.