Florida Frontline Overpowers Providence in San Diego Finale

Ryan Mela provided a lift, but the Friars ultimately didn't have enough to overcome the Gators.

Providence closed out its two-game holiday stint in San Diego with an unenviable task: taking on the tenth-ranked Florida Gators, who were fresh off an upset loss to TCU in the Rady Children’s Invitational.

The Friars entered Friday’s tilt with something to prove of their own after a 104-83 loss to Wisconsin on Thanksgiving night in which they were simply outworked.

PC head coach Kim English made a pair of changes to his starting lineup following the lifeless effort against the Badgers, sending Jason Edwards and Oswin Erhunmwunse to the bench in favor of Corey Floyd Jr. and Cole Hargrove.

English felt better about his team’s effort in what was ultimately a 90-78 loss to the national champions — a team sporting a massive frontline and a remade backcourt.

Even with potential first-round pick Alex Condon sidelined (the seven-footer was held out for “precautionary reasons”), the Gators featured physical center Rueben Chinyelu (13 points, 10 rebounds) and big wing Thomas Haugh (16 points, 12 rebounds, 6 offensive boards) who dominated inside.

Haugh is another future NBA player, and he proved too much for the Friars, despite shooting just 3-9 from the field. He was 9-11 at the free throw line and added five assists.

The Gators’ backcourt of Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland combined to score 40 points on 8-19 shooting from deep. Struggling coming in, Lee enjoyed his best game this season with 20 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

Overall, Florida shot just 42% from the field, but held a 20-4 edge in second-chance points — ultimately proving the difference on Friday.

“I can attribute some of those rebounds today to the size differential. I can’t say the same about last night,” English said. “Wisconsin had 25 points on loose balls, not second chance points. They scored 25 points on loose balls. That’s a tough pill to swallow as a coach.”

It was tough enough for English to swap out a pair of starters.

When asked about an emotionally charged week for his team and altering his starting lineup, English said, “I wanted to really make sure we were focused on us — doing what’s best for us.”

“The day was emotional. Making changes to the lineup is obviously emotional, but I thought our guys, for the most part, really responded,” he said. “I thought they just got some timely offensive rebounds that led to some timely threes that ultimately didn’t allow us to get it any closer.”

With the loss, Providence dropped to 4-4 on the season. They are 1-4 against high major teams and return home for a three-game stint against Fairleigh Dickinson, Rhode Island, and Brown.

We’ll see if Friday’s lineup change was a one-game blip, or a sign of things to come — we’ll also see how this group responds. Neither Erhunmwunse (13 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 5 fouls) or Edwards (25 minutes, 13 points, 4-13 shooting) responded particularly well.

Ryan Mela Steps Up

Ryan Mela had the best performance of any Friar this week with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and a turnover in 29 minutes. With a lot of swirl around this team on Friday, Mela kept Providence in the game through the first half, and generally just battled and produced while at a size disadvantage.

Florida had a tough time keeping him out of the paint, and he finished over their great length.

“He bounced back from our game yesterday, where I just told him he didn’t look like himself,” English said. “He was letting external things get him out of his game. We had a long talk last night and I thought he was great today. He looked more like the Ryan Mela that we’re accustomed to seeing.”

Similar to last season, Mela didn’t grab as many headlines as the portal additions heading into the year, but he’s providing a measure of consistency and stability that this group requires.

His reworked stroke at the free throw line also looks smoother, as he went 7-8 at the stripe on Friday. A year after shooting 57%, Mela is 14-18 this year (77%) and he’s 11-12 on free throws since an 0-2 night at Colorado.

Peteris Pinnis Makes His Case

It wasn’t surprising to see seven-foot, 260-pound freshman Peteris Pinnis see the floor on Friday against the size of Florida. He was more productive than most would have guessed, however.

The Latvian big man had played just five combined minutes in wins over New Hampshire and Penn (scoring two points with a rebound), but he was thrust into more time as Hargrove and Erhunmwunse battled foul trouble and a lack of productivity on Friday — and he responded.

Pinnis grabbed six boards, made his only shot from the field, and came up with two steals in 15 minutes. Providence was a +4 in Pinnis’ minutes, as his length was a factor.

“He gave us really good production — 15 minutes, six rebounds. He executed a ball screen coverage that’s not in our package on the fly. I thought he did a lot of really good things,” English shared. “It’s a testament to him for simply being ready.”

Pinnis is not your typical freshman big man. He’s 21 years old and played against professionals last season. He showed enough on Friday that he has to at least push Hargrove for minutes. Pinnis may be more of a matchup-specific addition to the rotation (as he was against a Florida team that set out to dominate inside), but his play was a bright spot during a tough week.

The Impact of Duncan Powell’s Absence Felt

Friar fans haven’t seen anything close to the best of Georgia Tech transfer Duncan Powell. The 6’8, 235-pound forward was one of the better inside/out scorers in the ACC last season, but he struggled to get looks or make a difference on the glass in his three active games with PC to date.

Powell has missed the past four games, and when asked about his absence, English noted that he thought it was most felt against the Gators.

“It really puts us at a similar predicament to the place we’ve been the last few years when we’ve missed our big physical forward and our backups are a bit smaller and younger. I don’t think that’s hurt us much, until today, truthfully,” he said.

“Wisconsin didn’t get offensive rebounds because of size differential, I think Florida did today… He’s progressing well. Hoping to have him back soon.”

While Mela and freshman Jamier Jones have stepped in ably, Providence would benefit from having a big with Powell’s skill set: size, shooting ability to draw defenders, a measure of post scoring, and experience.

PC is shooting just 32% from beyond the arc as a team, and Powell would figure to open the floor for the likes of Mela, Edwards, and Jaylin Sellers.

The Friars were also without sophomore Daquan Davis and junior Rich Barron again. English shared that Barron is progressing well and had three consecutive practices without any symptoms.