10 Things Following a Dominant Win Over Butler and a Perfect December

1. With a dominant 72-52 victory at Butler, a game in which Providence led by 28 at halftime, Ed Cooley’s Friars closed out December in convincing fashion.

PC was 5-3 after a shaky November, but won all six of its December contests, including a 3-0 start in Big East play. Two of those conference wins came on the road, while the third was at home against nationally ranked Marquette.

The numbers are beyond impressive. For the month of December:

• Providence had a 119.9 offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) which ranks in the 99th percentile nationally

• The Friars’ 40.5% offensive rebounding rate was in the 100th percentile. They were in the 91st percentile in fast break points per game (15.3), in the 100th percentile in points in the paint (44.7) per game, in the 94th percentile in assists per game (17.0), and in the 87th in steals per game (8.8). They also ranked in the 97th percentile in free throw attempt rate (44.8%)

2. Defensively, Providence saw its rating improve to 92.3, which was a huge step forward from the 103.6 they closed November with.