Providence Basketball: Friars notch 7th straight Ocean State rivalry win
While Rhode Island has lost two straight, Providence basketball recorded a quality victory at home.
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Providence versus Rhode Island didn’t have the hype of UCLA versus Kentucky, Xavier versus Baylor or Gonzaga versus Arizona, but the Ocean State rivalry turned into one of the top games of the day.
The most underrated match-up of an exhilarating Saturday in college hoops ended with the Providence Friars (6-2) earning a quality early season home victory over the Rhode Island Rams (5-3), 63-60, at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
The Friars’ seventh straight win over Rhody wasn’t completed without some late game drama. One year after Ben Bentil finished a lay-up at the buzzer, Jalen Lindsey put together some heroics.
With Rhode Island point guard Jarvis Garrett guarding him, Lindsey recognized a mismatch, attacked the lane with the shot clock winding down and drilled a clutch fallaway jumper with 43 seconds remaining.
That proved to be the go-ahead bucket, as Rhode Island was unable to re-take the lead the rest of the way; E.C. Matthews missed a game-tying three point attempt with less than a second remaining.
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Kyron Cartwright scored 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting for the Friars, while Bullock had a tremendous second half on his way to 17 points. Lindsey was also a key piece on both ends of the floor, as he played excellent on-ball defense and made timely shots on his way to 13 points.
But the reason Providence won this critical early season momentum builder wasn’t because of the play of their new ‘Big Three.’ It was because of their defense. In fact, the defense has been so good, not only Saturday, but through all eight games, that it has actually surprised head coach Ed Cooley.
“I think this year’s team is more fundamentally dialed in,” Cooley said. “I think our guys buy into one another a little bit more with this group, knowing that we need to hang our hat on something. And so far, our defensively ability has actually been surprising me, how dialed in these guys are to scouting and defensive principles.”
The Friars don’t have the talent or the experience like top tier Big East teams, but what they do have is heart, fight and a fantastic coaching staff.
It might sound cliche, but Providence never gives up. They never think they are out of a game and they fight until the very end.
And that’s one of the reasons their defense is so good. In addition to their length (something that clearly bothered Rhode Island in the second half), they don’t take possessions off and they are excellent with their help defense.
Lindsey can match-up against the opposing teams best player. Isaiah Jackson has the length and size to do so as well. Cartwright will pick up the ball handler as soon as he crosses half court. And Emmitt Holt protects the rim.
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Then there’s the job that Cooley has done. Last year, Bullock, Cartwright and Lindsey were all role players. This season, they have taken their games to the next level. Bullock was averaging 22 points coming into this game, Cartwright looks like the perfect point guard and Lindsey is playing with more confidence (three straight games in double figures).
That’s a credit not only to the players and their work ethic, but to Cooley and his player development staff.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island has lost two straight and is almost certain to lose their top-25 ranking on Monday. In addition to a rough week, they still have to face a feisty Old Dominion team at home and a tough Houston team on the road next week.
Rhode Island still has a terrific core so there is no reason to panic this early in the season. However, Matthews has tailed off the last four games. He hasn’t scored in double figures and hasn’t shot the ball well at all.
“This guy got thrown into the deep end of the pool,” Rhode Island head coach Dan Hurley said about Matthews postgame. “He’s going to get better as we go. Right now, physically he’s pretty great. It’s his confidence right now, rhythm, timing and belief.”
To his credit, coming back from a torn ACL is not an easy thing to do for any young man; both mentally and physically. Hurley did say that he expects Matthews to become himself by league play. He knows if Rhode Island is going to win the Atlantic 10, they need more production from their best player and top scorer.
These are two teams that are going to be tough outs in their respective conferences. The jury is still out as to if Providence and Rhode Island are NCAA Tournament teams, but they sure do know how to put on an early season show.
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