Josh Oduro scores 32 points, Providence rallies to beat No. 19 Creighton 91-87 in overtime
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Providence coach Kim English didn't hold back in calling his team's effort during an 18-point loss at Villanova last week its worst of the season.
The Friars responded with perhaps their best one under the first-year coach.
Josh Oduro had 32 points and 12 rebounds, Devin Carter added 28 points and 11 rebounds, and Providence rallied to beat No. 19 Creighton 91-87 in overtime Wednesday night.
Carter made five 3-pointers to help the Friars (15-8, 6-6 Big East) end a two-game skid and improve to 2-2 against ranked teams this season.
“We took two losses and we had to bounce back," Carter said. "Double-overtime, triple-overtime –- we had to stick together.”
English said he's proud of how his team responded after “tough conversations” following the Villanova setback.
“This is a beast of a league," English said. "You have a tough road loss where you just get your butt kicked. The beauty of it is it's a beast, but it's also a beauty, that you have a tough loss like we had in Philadelphia on Sunday and you have a whale of an opponent waiting for you on Wednesday. We looked at that as a positive. Proud with the result.”
Creighton (16-7, 7-5) dropped its second straight despite 14 of-29 3-point shooting. Baylor Scheierman led the Bluejays with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Steven Ashworth added 20 points, and Trey Alexander finished with 18. But the Bluejays shot just 38% in overtime.
“We've got to stick together," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "We've been in a bunch of these games. ... Been in five of these games in 12 Big East games. When you have a special year you find a way to win most of those. I still think we can have a special year with this group. We just have to find a way to finish. And Providence finished better than we did.”
A 3 by Carter and reverse layup by Jayden Pierre gave the Friars an 86-83 edge with less than two minutes to play in the extra period.
Scheierman was fouled on Creighton’s next possession, but connected on only one of two free throws. Oduro then scored on Providence’s ensuing trip to make it 88-84 with less than a minute remaining.
Kalkbrenner was called for a travel, turning it back over to Providence. The Friars were then able to close it out at the free throw line.
Providence opened the second half by hitting their first seven shots to ignite a 27-17 run and took a 58-50 lead.
Creighton answered, going on its own 12-4 run to tie it at 62. A pair of lead changes later, a 3-pointer by Carter put Providence ahead again, 67-66, with 3:33 to play.
The game was tied again at 75 with under two minutes to play on a reverse layup by Alexander.
That remained the score when Oduro misfired on a layup attempt and Creighton rebounded with less than a minute left.
Coming out of a timeout, Alexander found Steven Ashworth on the wing, who calmly made a 3.
Providence answered on the other end with a triple from Carter to tie it back up at 78.
Ashworth had a look at a fadeaway in the lane, but it came up short and was rebounded by Oduro.
With 1.4 seconds remaining, Providence tried a lob to Rafael Castro, but the ricocheted off the rim and time expired.
BIG PICTURE
This will have a cost for the Bluejays following a narrow loss at Butler last week caused them to drop six spots in the AP poll. They still have road games at Xavier and Butler, and a home matchup against Georgetown to work out any lingering issues before hosting No. 1 UConn on Feb. 20.
UP NEXT
Creighton: At Xavier on Saturday.
Providence: At Butler on Saturday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
