Providence really needed a win at Xavier on Wednesday night. That’s never a good place for a team to be, but that’s where the Friars – who have never won at the Cintas Center – stood as they entered the night at 1-4 in Big East play.
This is a Providence team that played well in non-conference and gave reason to believe that they could be an NCAA Tournament team again this season, which would extend their school record streak. While they did stub their toe against rebuilding Wichita State (neutral) and UMass (home), they handled everyone else, including a big win at Texas, and they beat South Carolina, which is looking better now. The Big East appeared to be wide open, and while Providence knew they would be without talented freshman A.J. Reeves for a while, the thought was they had enough to hang in there.
We have since found, of course, that the Big East isn’t quite as wide open as originally believed – at least not for the top spot. Villanova still seems to have it on lockdown even as there were some questions about the Wildcats in non-conference, and Marquette has been keeping pace (which they continued to do in holding off DePaul 79-69 in Milwaukee last night). Still, one had to think what Providence showed was indicative of a team that would at least be in the top half and win enough good games to be an NCAA Tournament team.
Then Big East play started. They lost to Creighton at home by 11. Then Villanova came to town and ran out to a big lead, one Providence couldn’t dig themselves out of, and the Friars had started with two home losses. With losses at Georgetown and Marquette sandwiched around the one win against Seton Hall in Providence not being surprises, the Friars were in a bad place at 1-4.
Providence led by 10 with 3:44 left, but they didn’t close out the Musketeers smoothly at all. The Musketeers scored the next seven points and would cut the lead to two with just under a minute to go. They had several chances to tie it, but they gave the ball away twice after forcing Providence turnovers to cap an 18-turnover night. They got just one shot off in all that time, and when it missed, Providence had survived.
Reeves is still out for Providence, though the Friars surely hope he will return soon. He was projected to be out until around the end of this month, and his return would help. As you might imagine, it doesn’t get any easier, as the Friars go home to play DePaul but then go back on the road for four of the next five, including trips to St. John’s and Villanova. That tells you that Wednesday night was a much-needed win, no matter how difficult it might be or how adventurous the final minute was.
Side Dishes
When you’re having a season like Tennessee is, there’s bound to be at least a close call along the way. That happened on Wednesday night, where Vanderbilt gave them all they could handle and more before succumbing 88-83 in overtime. Vanderbilt is winless in SEC play, but not lacking talent or chances to win, as they were within striking distance against Ole Miss and Kentucky and dropped a close one to South Carolina. Grant Williams remains one of the best players no one knows about, as the reigning SEC Player of the Year had 43 points and eight rebounds, going 23-23 from the free throw line along the way. LSU kept pace with them atop the SEC, beating Georgia 92-82.
Nevada once again turned on the jets in the second half to run away from a team, this time Colorado State. The Rams did well to stay within striking distance in the first half and went into the locker room down by just seven, but the Wolfpack outscored them 58-25 after intermission for a 100-60 rout. The Wolfpack shot 56 percent from the field, including 13-27 from long range, and took full advantage of 21 Ram turnovers. Another rout of note was Houston not letting East Carolina give them a game like the Pirates have done with a couple of other teams, blowing them out 94-50.
Oklahoma and Arkansas got back on track last night, with the Sooners beating arch-rival Oklahoma State 70-62 in Stillwater and the Razorbacks stopping a four-game losing streak with a 72-60 win over Missouri, which puts the Tigers at 1-4 in SEC play. In another battle of close rivals, TCU held off Texas 65-61 to even their Big 12 mark at 3-3.
It was a good night to be a road team in the Big Ten as Purdue remained hot with a 79-67 win at Ohio State, while Wisconsin took care of Illinois 72-60 in Champaign.
Duquesne handed Saint Louis their first loss in Atlantic 10 play, holding off the Billikens 77-73 in Pittsburgh. That creates a logjam at the top, as both of those teams join Davidson, 73-62 winners over George Washington, at 5-1, and all a half game behind 6-1 George Mason after the Patriots scored the final seven points for a big 67-63 win at Dayton last night.
It was a topsy-turvy night in the Missouri Valley as both teams tied for the top spot went down, which will tighten things up a bit. Indiana State took care of Valparaiso 70-53, but more shocking is Loyola-Chicago getting annihilated 70-35 at Missouri State, with the Bears outscoring the Ramblers 40-11 in the second half.
Tonight’s Menu
A busy night of action is ahead of us, including full slates in the Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, CAA, Conference USA, Horizon, Ohio Valley, Southern and West Coast Conference.
- There’s one game during the day as well, as Oakland goes to IUPUI with an 11 a.m. tip.
- The two ACC games tip off at 8 p.m. as Louisville hosts NC State and Syracuse hosts Miami.
- Two teams battling for the top of the American Athletic Conference meet as Temple hosts Memphis (7 p.m.)
- A good Big Ten matchup is on tap early with Iowa hosting Michigan State (7 p.m.)
- The Northeast Conference has a full slate, and the best of those games looks to be Robert Morris hosting Sacred Heart (7 p.m.)
- The highlight in the Ohio Valley is what has become one of the really good rivalries in recent years as Murray State hosts Belmont (9 p.m.)
- Leading the way in the Pac-12 is Arizona going to USC and Washington traveling to Oregon (9 p.m.) early on, with UCLA hosting Arizona State later (11 p.m.)
- A full slate in the Sun Belt is highlighted by the first place showdown with Texas State visiting Georgia State, while two teams that are each a game back meet as well with Georgia Southern hosting UT Arlington (both at 7 p.m.)
- The battle for second in the West Coast Conference continues as BYU hosts Saint Mary’s (11 p.m.)
