slides: PC Set to Face Butler in Big East Tournament Opener

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team

 

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The fourth seeded Providence College Friars kick off their Big East tournament on Thursday, March 10 when they play fifth seeded Butler at 2:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York. 

After a rough month of February in which the Friars only won 2 games, the Friars are healthy and have won three straight entering tournament play. 

""For the Friars it's all about energy, Bentil is going to give you a consistent performance every night, the rest of the team relies on the energy of Kris Dunn. If he isn't playing with energy, defensively and offensively, the other guys are going to struggle," said Friars radio analyst Joe Hassett.

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Scouting Butler 

The Friars played Butler twice this season, beating them both times, but it has been awhile. 

The last meeting coming in Mid January at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, which PC won 71-68 and before that the Friars beat Butler 81-73 in the first conference game of the season. 

The Bulldogs got off to a slow start in conference play, losing three of their first four games of the conference season and fell from the 9th ranked team in the country to out of the national rankings all together. 

However, the Bulldogs recovered to go 10-8 in the Big East, 21-9 overall and come into the tournament having won four of their last five, and seven of their last nine, games. 

Butler is led by guard Kellen Dunham and Kelan Martin who each averaged 16 points per game, while forward Rosevelt Jones is tied with Martin in rebounding, each pulling down 6.7 rebounds per game.

In the last 6 meetings, Butler is 1-5 against the Friars.

Good Vibes at The Garden 

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Madison Square Garden PHOTO: Peetlesnumber1/wiki

If you believe confidence carries over from one game to the other, then you have to believe that the Friars can't wait to take the floor at Madison Square Garden on Thursday afternoon. 

Providence played at MSG in their final game of the regular season against St. John's and shot 50% from the field and 43% from three-point land. A further breakdown of those numbers would show that the Friars shot 45% from three in the second half, 48 % from the field in the second half. 

PC hit 13 threes in the game and sharpshooter Jalen Lindsey poured in a career high 30 points, going 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. 

Providence carries a 5-2 record over the last three seasons at Madison Square Garden. 

Bracketology Report 

In the most recent NCAA tournament projection (March 8) from ESPN's Joe Lunardi, the Friars are off the bubble and are seeded 8th in the West region. 

A win or two in the Big East tournament would likely get Providence out of the 8/9 game, where they would have to play a #1 seed in the second round, and potentially back to a 6 or 7 seed which is where they were a couple of weeks ago. 

For comparison, Butler is projected 9th in the Midwest region. 

Game time

So a projected 8 seed in Providence is set to battle a projected 9 seed in Butler in the first round of the Big East tournament. 

Both teams appear to be a lock for the big dance, but both teams know that seeding can be improved. 

"Everybody has to raise their game, coming into March we need to be the best that we can be as a team and right now it's time to get focused," Kris Dunn said . 

PC and Butler can be seen on Fox Sports 1. 

See the Friars Projected Starting Lineup Below 

 

Related Slideshow: Providence College Friars 2015-16 Projected Starting Lineup

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G - Kris Dunn

Considered one of the top players in the country and the best point guard in the country, Kris Dunn passed on going to the NBA and came back to Providence for his redshirt junior season.

Dunn averaged 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds last season, registering eight double-doubles and one triple-double in the process.

Dunn was selected as the preseason Player-of-the-Year during Big East media day.

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G - Junior Lomomba

Junior Lomomba is a glue guy for the Friars and also effective on the defensive end of the floor. 

Last season, Lomomba finished with eight steals and 37 rebounds, averaging 11.1 minutes per game. 

So far in 2015-16, Lomomba is averaging 28 minutes and six points per game. 

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G- Jalen Lindsey

Sophomore Jalen Lindsey, 6'7", played in 33 games, and started 13, for the Friars last seaso.

Lindsey averaged 3.8 points in 18 minutes of play per game. Lindsey shot 33 percent from three-point land during the season.

Lindsey's length can help the Friars on the defensive end as well.

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F - Rodney Bullock

Rodney Bullock, 6'8" from Virginia, is a redshirt sophomore for the Friars but has yet to play a college basketball game. Bullock tore his ACL prior to last season and the year before that he was suspended.

In PC's exhibition game against Stonehill, Bullock had 26 points and 11 rebounds for Providence.

"I was impressed with his court awareness, his ability to post up when he wants was impressive given that he hasn't played a college game," Joe Hassett said.

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F - Ben Bentil

Sophomore Ben Bentil, 6'9" leads the forward group after playing in 34 games last season, starting 23 of them for the Friars. 

Last season, Bentil averaged six points and five rebounds in 21 minutes of play per game. Given that he is the tallest player that the Friars have, his minutes will go up significantly this season.

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6 man - Kyron Cartwright

Kyron Cartwright

Sophomore Kyron Cartwright played in 34 games and started eight for the Friars last season. Carwright averaged 3.5 points in 19 minutes of play time per game.

Cartwright only made four three-pointers all of last season and will look to improve those numbers this season.

 

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