12 Things Following Providence's Win Over UConn
1. Remember the Friar defense that allowed Rider, Northeastern, and Stonehill to combine to make 28 three pointers on 47% shooting from beyond the arc in the first three games of the season?
Through five league games, Providence is holding opponents to .230 shooting from distance (the best mark in the Big East) after Connecticut went 5-22 from distance against them on Wednesday night.
PC is third in the conference in steals and rebounds per game in Big East play.
“We knuckled up today. It was a knuckle up game,” Ed Cooley said. “This wasn’t a game if you were young and immature and emotional — you weren’t going to be able to play in this game. This today was a tough — this was a big boy game today. You couldn’t be a baby in this game. If it was, you were going to get a bottle and sit down.”
2. Ed Croswell had a trio of big defensive plays in the second half against Connecticut that really turned the game midway through the second half. After pinning a layup attempt against the glass, he read a pick and roll perfectly and came up with a steal that resulted in a Noah Locke transition three in a one possession game. He then wouldn’t budge when being posted by Adama Sanogo, which led to a UConn miss and a PC breakout that was capped by a hard-charging Croswell on the other end.
“I think Ed Croswell is a relentless competitor. His motor, his toughness, his IQ,” Cooley gushed following Wednesday’s win. “Ed and I shared a Tweet last night from everybody who’s never coached. He and I have something personal that we shared, and I thought Ed stepped up to the plate. He’s been one of our more consistent players.”
3. Saturday’s game against St. John’s will feature the player averaging the most points (19.6) and second most rebounds (10.8) in Big East games, PC’s Bryce Hopkins, against a center that is second in points (18.6) and tops on the glass (11.8) in Joel Soriano.
Croswell is third in boards at 9.2 a game in conference play.
4. “We try to take it to our defenders. If we have a mismatch we try to create contact, and I feel like we did that tonight.”
That was Bryce Hopkins following his monster night against UConn in which he went for 27 points and made 13-15 at the free throw line. Over the past month, Hopkins has been his most assertive when Providence has needed it, taking 10 free throws against Seton Hall, 18 versus Marquette, and 15 more on Wednesday.
Hopkins is taking over 10 free throws a game over his last five contests, and his 6.6 free throw attempts per game ranks first in the Big East.
Hopkins is followed by three players averaging 5.5 free throws a game — Soriano, Xavier’s Souley Boum, and Devin Carter.
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