Recapping Providence's Win at Georgetown: DC Shines in D.C., An Improved Defensive Effort, Rich Barron Continues to Emerge, Cooley Fatigue Setting In, and UConn Awaits

Providence got what they needed at Georgetown on Tuesday night — a 71-58 victory over the Hoyas to improve their record to 19-11 on the season and 10-9 in the Big East. The Friars overcame a slow start (they led 30-26 at the half after shooting just 40% from the field and 25% from long distance) to take control in the second behind the continued excellence of Devin Carter and one of their best defensive efforts in recent play.

Carter was the catalyst in the second half, scoring 20 of his 24 points after the break, and finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds on the night. He hit a deep early three coming out of the break, got himself going in transition, beat the Georgetown defense on backdoor cuts, and finished them off with a 30-footer late. Carter started the second half by making his first five shots from the field, as the Friars controlled the game from that point forward. 

“Providence has a special player who can impact the game on both ends of the floor,” Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley said after the game. “I would say he would get my vote for (Big East) Player of the Year. I think he has damn near single-handedly carried them to a tournament bid.”

“I thought they had the best player on the floor, and that showed up.”

For all of Carter’s offensive production, his work on the defensive end was equally as important. In Providence’s first meeting with Georgetown, Carter was a big reason why Jayden Epps, the Hoyas’ leading scorer, shot just 9-27 from the field. PC didn’t open with Carter on Epps in the first meeting, but Kim English said the game plan was straightforward in the rematch: Carter covered Epps, while Ticket Gaines tracked their second-best player in Dontrez Styles. 

Epps did most of his damage when PC switched their bigs onto him, but he struggled against Carter once again, shooting 6-19 from the field and 2-7 from deep. Carter made it difficult for Epps to catch the ball off of screens, while Gaines was equally as impressive in slowing Styles (4-10 from the field, 1-5 from three in 40 minutes). 

Rich Barron comes up big on his birthday

English said that he wasn’t sure if Rich Barron would play on Tuesday night, as he was nursing a lower body injury and sat out the team’s shootaround prior to the game. The Friars were fortunate Barron was able to give it a go, as the freshman scored 11 points off the bench and knocked down three more 3-pointers.

The freshman out of Chicago continues to be a bit of a revelation for the Friars. Originally committed to go to George Mason to play for English there, Barron flipped to Providence after English took the head coaching gig. Dating back to last summer, Barron received high praise for his play in practices, but he was thrust into a bigger role than most would have expected after Bryce Hopkins got injured, and he has exceeded expectations.

Last night, Barron hit two critical 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the first half, including one as the halftime buzzer sounded to push a one-point lead to four at the break. Providence had nothing going offensively in the first half. They started the game 2-13 from deep and at one point had made just three of their last 17 shot attempts, but the Barron threes late in that half provided some positive momentum. 

The second half saw him confidently step into a deep three as PC was surging, and then finish on a tough drive over Rowan Brumbaugh in the paint.

In conference games Barron is shooting 42% from beyond the arc, and has turned the ball over just nine times in nearly 300 minutes of playing time.

Tuesday was Barron’s birthday and he certainly made it a memorable one.

A sense of Cooley fatigue is setting in

This might be an unpopular opinion, and certainly a surprising one for a writer looking to draw more readers, but as I prepared to write this article I found myself feeling a sense of Ed Cooley fatigue. 

Of course, it will be interesting to compare how Georgetown and Providence fare on the floor and on the recruiting trail in the coming seasons, but dating back to his first press conference at Georgetown when he said “Divine Providence” brought him to D.C., to his comments following the first matchup in Providence, if Cooley wasn’t trying to provoke Friar fans he certainly found a way to do so unintentionally. 

After the last game he made his now infamous comment about how PC should have given him a bonus check for the crowd in attendance, and told Friar fans to appreciate the great young coach they have, and to stop focusing on him.  

Last night Cooley called the matchup, “A very winnable game. As winnable of a Big East game as we’ve had all year. If there ever was a time for us to get a win, today was it.”

Of course, they lost at Xavier in the final minute (92-91), also blew a 15-point lead against X on Saturday, lost to St. John’s by five two weeks ago, and led against Seton Hall with about two minutes left in January. The Friars were up 16 when Styles hit a meaningless three in the closing seconds to give us the 71-58 final.

Again, I look forward to covering Georgetown and all of the Big East going forward. Just yesterday, I wrote about the Hoyas, but it was in the context of the game, more specifically on why they have struggled to the extent they have this season.

Sure, the soap opera that comes with this budding rivalry and the veiled comments get eyeballs, but I found myself feeling forced to cover that aspect, versus wanting to this morning.

UConn awaits in the season finale

It’s pretty simple, if Providence upsets Connecticut on Saturday night they will very likely punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. That’s easier said than done, of course. 

The second-ranked Huskies are a wagon — 26-3 on the season and winners of 16 of their last 17 Big East games. Over their last two games they beat Seton Hall by 30 and Villanova by 24. They lost to Creighton on Feb. 20, but prior to that they took out then-#4 Marquette, 81-53.

The AMP should be an absolute mob scene with an 8pm Saturday night tip. UConn plays #6 Marquette tonight, who will be without 2023 Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek. 

Providence versus UConn will be quite a way to close out the regular season.

See it again

Highlights from the PC/Georgetown game can be seen here: