What were the key takeaways from Providence's 85-77 exhibition win over Harvard?
Freshman Jamier Jones provided a huge second half lift.
Providence took a step in the right direction in their exhibition finale against Harvard — an 85-77 Friar victory. Playing without starting point guard Corey Floyd Jr., Kim English’s group raced out to a 45-27 halftime lead, before seeing Harvard score 50 second half points and get as close as six in the final two minutes. Ultimately, the Friars countered every time they were pushed in the second half, and the game never truly felt in doubt.
Four Friars scored in double figures, another two had nine points, while Harvard committed 23 turnovers — 15 in the first half alone. The Crimson enjoyed a 42-32 advantage on the glass on a day in which Providence shot 6-24 from beyond the arc and 19-30 at the free throw line.
Jason Edwards led PC with 16 points on 6-15 shooting, and Jaylin Sellers (14 points on 4-14), Jamier Jones (14 on 5-6), and Oswin Erhunmwunse (12 on 5-6) also scored in double figures.
Let’s break down the positives that came out of this one, as well as the trouble spots.
Jamier Jones’ Potential was on Display in the Second Half, Duncan Powell Stays Consistent
On sheer athleticism, Jones is going to have an impact during his freshman season — it’s just a matter of how significant.
The Friars looked to have let up coming out of the halftime break. Harvard’s 50-point second half scoring surge got started early by hitting the offensive glass and beating Providence to 50-50 balls. In fairness, a few of Harvard’s early chances on the offensive glass came due to how badly they missed — scooping up airballs or grabbing long rebounds off bad misses — but they looked to be the harder playing team over the opening six to seven minutes out of the locker room.
Jones and veteran Duncan Powell changed all of that midway through the half, after PC’s lead was cut to seven.
The freshman went the length of the floor for a tough layup, caught a difficult lob from Powell and finished, then Powell pushed the pace and found Erhunmwunse for a score at the rim to restore order.
For all Harvard scored in the second half, PC countered every time the momentum of this one felt tenuous.
Jones was simply outstanding in his second half minutes. He brought a level of force and aggression — getting to the free throw line and throwing down a big two-handed dunk in traffic during his second half spurt. Jones scored his 14 points in just 15 minutes.
Powell has quietly been PC’s most consistent performer through two exhibition games. Following a 17-point, 10-rebound double double at Pitt, Powell made the most of his 26 minutes on Saturday with nine points, eight boards, and two assists on 3-6 shooting from the field and 2-4 beyond the arc. During the exhibition games, Powell shot 6-12 from three — and did so without having the ball in his hands much. He’s a ready shooter who has taken advantage of his opportunities. Powell also finished a fadeaway on a post touch while being fouled.
In Powell, Jones, and sophomore Ryan Mela, PC has three forwards capable of cleaning the glass and pushing the ball without looking for an outlet pass. This should be beneficial on a team looking to run more this year.
Erhunmwunse Bounces Back, while Cole Hargrove Looks Rock Solid
The story of the first half for Providence could have been the performance of Erhunmwunse, who was coming off a rare down performance against Pitt.
By the break, the sophomore center had 10 points and six rebounds, while doing serious damage on the offensive glass. Eight of his 10 points came after offensive rebounds, and he committed just one foul (key for him as a sophomore) in his 11 minutes.
The play of Hargrove will be a sight for sore eyes in Friartown. PC got little production at the center spot beyond Oswin last year.
In both the Pitt exhibition, and again on Saturday afternoon, Hargrove’s impact exceeded his stat line (three points, four rebounds in 16 minutes). He looks to be a solid pick-and-roll defender and was shortchanged two blocks on questionable foul calls. Hargrove is mobile, has good hands, and plays with a bit of an edge (at one point he stared down Harvard’s terrific sophomore Robert Hinton on a drive through the lane).
One of the biggest differences this season from last? Friartown won’t be holding its breath when Erhunmwunse heads to the bench.
Dominating the Turnover Battle
Providence was among the worst teams in the country at turning teams over a season ago, so it was hard not to be encouraged by six different Friars finishing Saturday with two steals.
English was a bit of a broken record last season talking about his team’s inability to win the possession game (turnovers and offensive rebounds). Harvard turned the ball over 23 times in total on Saturday (a whopping 15 in the first half) to PC’s eight. At first blush, it looked as though the Friars were more aggressively playing passing lanes than they were a season ago. We’ll see if that was matchup-specific, or if that’s how they want to play, regardless of opponent, this year.
The Friars didn’t pick up full court as much as they did last weekend against Pitt, but certainly caused some havoc in the first half.
Those were some of the biggest positives on Saturday, but there were still areas to clean up.
Defense lags in the second half
Harvard shot 55% from the floor and scored 50 points in the second half. Could part of that be attributed to the Friars’ losing a bit of focus after taking an 18-point lead in an October tune-up? Potentially, but after a season in which the defense sprung leaks across the board, everyone will be on high alert in terms of how this defense looks in the early going.
As much as teams don’t want to give up offensive rebounds, some of the early offensive boards were a bit of bad luck. There was one at the rim coming off an airball, PC fumbled away a break out opportunity that led to an uncontested Harvard dunk, and a few of their other offensive boards came on shots that caromed hard off the front rim.
Robert Hinton also got it rolling in the second half, making some tough step-back midrange shots that you likely live with as a coaching staff. He’s a terrific sophomore guard with high major ability.
More troubling was that those early offensive boards and some tough midrange looks got Harvard going in a half in which they had 22 points in the paint and scored 1.389 points per possession.
To put that number in perspective, PC’s opponents scored 0.942 points per possession last season and 0.866 in English’s first year — when the Friars were a top 20 defense in the nation.
Missing the Mark from Deep
Providence shot 6-24 (25%) from three and they had all sorts of good looks. They also missed 11 of their 30 attempts at the free throw line.
The Friars were coming off a 36% effort from deep against Pittsburgh (8-26) — a game in which they hit four of their 3-pointers in the opening minutes.
It’s not time to push the panic button on outside shooting just yet. This is a group still figuring out how to get each other comfortable looks, Sellers (2-7 from three) is still working his way back from a season away, while Edwards was 5-10 inside the arc, but 1-5 beyond it yesterday.
Meanwhile, freshman Stefan Vaaks has proven to be a willing shooter, but has yet to find the mark (1-6 yesterday after an 0-5 effort from three at Pitt). He won’t be bashful this season after hitting them at 36% last season in Estonia.
English emphasized that he believes water will meet its level when it comes to this group’s shooting ability.
Providence has been without Rich Barron through two exhibition games (concussion). An already deep rotation may be tough to crack when he returns, but perhaps the junior wing becomes a more viable option if PC struggles to hit open shots once the lights turn on.
Those lights turn on for good shortly, as Providence opens at home against Holy Cross on Nov. 3 before taking on a potentially dangerous Virginia Tech team at Mohegan Sun five days later.
Everyone is ready to see what this team looks like as the calendar flips to November.
Love what we are seeing from Hargrove. So solid in a role that is generally under appreciated (until we didn’t have it last year). His toughness and experience are showing already. I believe he was our first portal signing and looking very on target for a specific need.
Kevin- great analysis of the game. Outside the arc shooting did not look good but it’s too early to tell whether or not it will be problematic during the season. Bright spot is definitely depth. There will be enough talent and athleticism on the bench to support the initial rotation and could help wear down some teams. In my opinion this is going to be a season that will show us how Kim English can use the talent he has to get us to the Big Dance and beyond. Go Friars!