Jayden Pierre and Garwey Dual Steal the Show in Saturday's Win Over Milwaukee

Plus, how the Friars adjusted to Milwaukee throwing them a giant curveball, Josh Oduro's big second half, Devin Carter's early impact, Corey Floyd's high-wire act, and more.

When Providence was picked to finish seventh in the Big East in the preseason, despite returning a pair of all-league players, the vote was likely swayed by the Friars entering the year with a relatively inexperienced head coach, questions about their interior depth, and youth at the game’s most significant position. This season will be the first in some time that Providence has handed the reins to younger point guards.

After the Friars faltered in the 2018-19 campaign, Ed Cooley pinned a large portion of the team’s woes on its point guard play, vowing after they were eliminated from the Big East Tournament to upgrade at the one.

Cooley and his staff leaned on underclassmen at point guard that year, initially starting freshman David Duke (who turned out to be more of a scoring guard) and giving sophomore Makai Ashton-Langford (himself not a great fit for Cooley’s system) a shot at the role later in the season. Both Duke and Ashton-Langford were former top 50 recruits, but the Friar offense never got off the ground that season.

It marked the only year under Cooley that Providence didn’t have an upperclassman running the team. Cooley inherited Big East all-time assist leader Vincent Council, as well as superstar Bryce Cotton, he gave Kris Dunn the keys after two injury-plagued seasons, then rolled with Kyron Cartwright, Luwane Pipkins, Al Durham, and Jared Bynum.

When Kim English was hired last spring, he made the conscious decision to trust a sophomore who played 11 minutes per game last season, as well as a highly touted freshman. Yes, there was a flirtation with Cal-Baptist transfer Taran Armstrong, but that came prior to Garwey Dual re-committing to PC in the spring.

English could have played it safe and brought in a veteran to play alongside Bryce Hopkins and Devin Carter, but chose otherwise. That decision looked like a good one on Saturday night.

While not a brand name, Milwaukee was set to provide a stiff test for the Friars, specifically its young point guards, Dual and sophomore Jayden Pierre.

The Panthers pressed the sixth most of any team in the country last year, and they threw a significant curveball at PC when they dropped back into zone for large portions of the Friars’ 79-69 win on Saturday. Milwaukee played zone on 47 possessions on Saturday. To put that in perspective, they were in zone on 108 possessions throughout all of last season.

“We didn’t think they were going to play that much zone,” Josh Oduro said following the win. “We thought they were going to play man-to-man, so during the week we were really ready for individual matchups and certain plays we were going to run. When the game came around, we kind of had to change some of the things we were looking for.”

Regardless, Pierre and Dual did not simply pass an early-season test on Saturday, they may have been the best players on the floor for PC.

Pierre was in control for most of the night — a game in which Providence jumped out 6-0, never trailed, and answered every time BJ Freeman (33 points in all sorts of ways) challenged. It wasn’t just that Pierre led the team in both points (16) and assists (5), it was the timing of his play. Backdoor lobs and assists in transition when the Panthers pushed, getting to the rim for timely layups, finding Carter for a big three late in the first half, and burying both threes he took in the second half — Pierre did a bit of everything on Saturday.

He scored 12 points over the final 20 minutes on near perfect shooting: 3-4 from the field, 2-2 from three, 4-4 at the free throw line.

Pierre was going to have to be good for the Friars in this one, and he more than answered the bell.

Dual was simply electrifying. After his debut was cut short on Monday night, Saturday provided Friars fans a glimpse into why he has generated such significant buzz over the past 18 months.

Fourteen points, four assists, three steals, two blocks, two rebounds, three made 3-pointers — Saturday was the rare instance in which a freshman matches the hype at this early juncture. His 3-pointers came at critical moments, and his drives to the basket brought the near capacity crowd to its feet.

“He’s a very young player who is improving rapidly,” English said of Dual. “He’s developing nicely.”

Beyond the numbers, there was a poise with which both point guards played that allowed PC to stay in control, despite the heroics of Freeman, the Milwaukee guard who was hitting all sorts of shots, from all sorts of angles, and letting whichever Friar defender that was on him hear all about it.

Providence switched Ticket Gaines off of Freeman early in the second half, then Freeman almost immediately got Carter into foul trouble. That led English to put Dual on him. Dual forced a difficult fadeaway which turned into a thunderous Corey Floyd Jr. one-hand alley oop on the other end that brought the roof down.

The sophomore Floyd enjoyed a solid night — hitting his first 3-point attempt of the game, finishing on a backdoor lob from Pierre late in the first half, and then stuffing home the aforementioned slam.

Oduro continues to round into form for the Friars after missing weeks with a sprained ankle in the preseason. He was limited in the first half due to foul trouble, but had 10 points and six boards after halftime, which helped the graduate transfer finish with his first double double in a PC uniform (13 points, 12 boards).

The first half belonged to Carter, and was swayed by Providence’s massive advantage on the glass. Carter entered halftime with 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists, while knocking down three 3-pointers. Pierre found Carter for a really big shot late in the first half to put the Friars up 13 — a significant lead in a half that was much closer before a late Friar spurt.

Providence enjoyed a 13-3 advantage on the offensive glass in the first half.

This was a solid early season test for the Friars, who next welcome a veteran Wisconsin club to the AMP on Tuesday night.

The Badgers bring positional size and experience, and while Saturday night was an important step forward for the Friar backcourt, English and his staff will have to find a way to unlock Bryce Hopkins.

The junior forward is seemingly still finding his way early in the year, shooting 2-9 on Saturday after a 4-13 performance in the opener against Columbia. Hopkins has still taken 15 free throws and grabbed 18 rebounds through the first two games, but half of his shots have come from beyond the arc (where he was 0-5 on Saturday). Hopkins could do damage against a Wisconsin team that has length, but lacks an ideal matchup for the physical play of the Friar star.

Still, English can’t be too discouraged that his team held off a number of Milwaukee runs in the second half, a half in which Carter and Hopkins combined to shoot 2-11 from the field. Pierre, Dual, and Oduro finished 8-12 over the final 20 minutes, combining for 31 of Providence’s 40 points.

“With our group, the go-to guy on our team is the open man,” English said. “That’s a point of emphasis… just pass to the open man and cut. Let the game give you what it allows.”

On Saturday, the game allowed for Pierre and Dual to show off their ability to make an impact early in the season.