Providence Makes a Statement in Second Half Comeback Versus Butler
After leaving everything on the floor against Villanova on Tuesday night, it appeared as though the worst fears of Friar fans were coming true on Sunday at Butler — Providence lacked any emotional edge and played their worst half in a while against the Bulldogs.
PC trailed against Butler, 33-20, heading into the locker room. Down Al Durham (sitting with a sports hernia), Providence shot just 7-30 from the field in the first half (23%) while allowing Butler to shoot 52% on the other end.
The beginning of the second half wasn’t much better. The Bulldogs made their first four shots, capped by a Bryce Nze 3-pointer at the 17:42 mark to bump the advantage to 43-24.
Following Nze’s 3-pointer, Providence had to use its final timeout when they couldn’t inbound the ball. Nothing had gone right to that point, and there were no signs of the Friars turning it around.
And wouldn’t you know it, along came the luck/overachieving narratives from certain segments of the media that insist on pouncing on the smallest glimpse of the bottom falling out.
From that point forward — with 17 minutes left in regulation and no timeouts in Cooley’s back pocket —the fate of this one fell squarely on the players on the court.
And from that point on, Providence somehow outscored Butler 40-21 after seemingly everything had gone wrong.
There wasn’t a single turning point in this one. Jared Bynum started coming alive a bit after the timeout.
PC, who had seemingly rimmed out four or five shots prior, finally caught a break when a corner 3-pointer by Justin Minaya bounced high off the rim and then dropped to bring the Friars to within eight at 47-39.
That seemed short-lived, however, when Butler’s Chuck Harris knocked down a three of his own on the next possession.
That’s pretty much how it went for the next three minutes. Butler countered scores by Bynum and Ed Croswell to keep their lead at 11 with under eight minutes to play.
Then the threes really started falling for the Friars.
Bynum hit Noah Horchler for a corner three to make it 54-46 with about 7:30 left.
Providence had nothing going on the next possession, so Bynum hoisted a contested three from NBA range that swished as the shot clock expired. With that shot came an audible gasp from the home crowd, and the Friars were, suddenly, within five with 6:45 to go.
After a pair of Butler free throws on the next possession (they were seemingly in the bonus as soon as the second half started), Horchler came off of a screen for another corner three to make it 56-52.
The team that couldn’t buy a deep shot against Villanova, or for a majority of the day against Butler, had suddenly gone three straight possessions with a 3-pointer.
PC got a dunk from Nate Watson (who Butler had zero answers for throughout) a minute and a half later to make it a two-point game, but on the ensuing possession Bo Hodges finished a traditional three point play to give Butler breathing room.
This one just had the feeling of a game in which Providence would make a run only to come up short after PC’s next possession. Justin Minaya was fouled on a 3-pointer with the Friars down, 59-54, but he missed all three foul shots. Butler answered with a Bryce Golden jumper to go up 61-54 with three minutes on the clock — a shot that felt like a death blow at the time.
Bynum looked to draw contact on a top-of-the-key three on the next possession, but missed. Horchler couldn’t convert the put-back, and Butler had the ball and a seven-point lead with 2:35 left.
Only they didn’t.
Butler threw the ball out of bounds against PC’s press. Providence set up a play for AJ Reeves and the senior, who had been 0-7 from the field, buried a 3-pointer to make it 61-57.
As is often the case with Reeves, once one goes in the second follows in short order. PC got a stop and gave it to Watson in the post, where he was doubled and kicked it out to Reeves. Butler closed hard on Reeves, who threw a head fake, took a dribble to his left, and swished a three to bring PC to within one at 61-60 with 1:36 to go.
Reeves was whistled for a reach on the next possession, and Butler converted both at the line. Bynum had the answer for PC, scoring on a drive six seconds into the shot clock to cut the deficit to one once again.
Then Providence did have a bit of good fortune. Harris just missed on a layup attempt while being fouled with 38 seconds to go and Butler up one. Instead of taking a free throw to push the Bulldogs up four, he split a pair at the line.
Then it was Horchler’s turn to play hero. He knocked down a midrange shot with 23 seconds left to tie the game, then blocked Aaron Thompson at the rim with two seconds remaining.
There would be no separation in the overtime session. Watson scored to tie the game at 66 with 4:12 left in overtime, then made Providence’s second field goal of the overtime session at the 2:08 mark. That shot put PC up, 69-68.
Butler took a one-point lead with a minute to play on a Harris layup over Justin Minaya. Then Bynum countered by getting to the free throw line and making a pair with 39 seconds to go.
The Bulldogs then turned it over on their final two possessions of the game. The first came after Harris stumbled and lost his dribble at the top of the key. Minaya grabbed the loose ball, but a pair of PC misses at the free throw line gave Butler a mulligan.
As was the case against Villanova on Tuesday, Butler had a great look at a 3-pointer late. Only, against Villanova it was a fifth year senior, and All Big East performance, in Collin Gillespie taking the shot.
For Butler it was freshman Jayden Taylor who found himself alone with his team down 71-70 with 13 seconds left. Taylor back rimmed the shot, and a mad scrambled ensued as Horchler grabbed the rebound with nine seconds to go, and Butler couldn’t foul Providence before the final buzzer sounded.
The Friar bench poured onto the court in a wild celebration for a team that overcame the heartbreak of Tuesday’s narrow loss to Villanova and a 19 point deficit to stage one of the great comebacks of the Cooley era.
“I told the guys, ‘The game is long. It’s a long game,” Cooley said afterwards. “It was 16 or 17 minutes left to play and that’s a lifetime in our business. It’s one possession at a time, and I thought our seniors woke up.”
Watson added, “I was never worried. I’ve been in a lot of games. I have trust in my coach and I have faith in my teammates to execute down the stretch, and that’s what we did.”
Bynum scored all 18 of his points in the second half, Horchler finished with a 15 point/11 rebound double double, while Watson was simply unstoppable down low in making 10-15 shots from the field on his way to 22 points.
With the win, Providence improved to 22-3 overall and 12-2 in the Big East. The twelve conference wins ties a program high — which came in 2020 when PC finished 12-6.
They made quite a statement in doing so.
Gritty comeback, but we need Al to reach the ultimate goal