Whatever the game needs? That's just what Jayden Pierre and the underclassmen provided Providence in the biggest of moments at Madison Square Garden

Throughout the 2023-24 season, the narratives surrounding Providence have revolved around the greatness of Devin Carter, the terrific play of Josh Oduro, and how the Friars can be especially tough when they get contributions from their role players. 

They need offense out of Ticket tonight.

Gotta get something from Floyd.

This team is so much better when Pierre is aggressive.

Carter has done so much just to get this team to the bubble.

On Thursday night, in front of a sold out Madison Square Garden, playing the number eight team in the country with their NCAA Tournament hopes in the balance, Kim English and his Friars got more than a lift from their role players —the young guys carried PC, at times, in their 78-73 win over Creighton in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.

Yes, Carter and Oduro brought them home in the final two minutes, but it was the underclassmen who swung this game over the first 38.

With the Friars trailing early in the first half, Corey Floyd Jr. buried a pair of 3-pointers to bring them right back into the game. He entered halftime with eight critical points after muscling his way to the rim later in the first half.

Freshman Garwey Dual, who has quietly found his footing in this tournament, blew by Trey Alexander and scored over Big East Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner on a baseline drive. He later scored on a tough tip in traffic. Dual made all three of his shots on the night and Providence finished a +7 during his 13 minutes on the floor.

Fellow freshman Rich Barron sent the Garden into its first frenzy of the night early in the second half by scoring on a tough reverse layup to get things started after the break, and then burying 3-pointers in short succession — scoring all eight points in an 8-2 Friar run that turned a 33-30 PC lead at the break into a 41-32 advantage just two minutes into the half.

At the conclusion of Barron’s spurt, an upset felt very real.

Providence twice pushed its edge to 13 over the next four minutes, first on a Josh Oduro score and free throw after a lob from Jayden Pierre, and moments later when Dual flashed the floater that he went to so often at Southern California Academy a year ago, scoring over the outstretched arm of Kalkbrenner.

But this is college basketball, they are Creighton, and a run was bound to happen.

Bolstered by their efficiency at the free throw line (the Jays started 20-20), Creighton chipped away at the lead, and took their first edge of the second half (64-63) on an Alexander jumper at the 5:34 mark. The shot kicked off a mini-duel between Alexander and Pierre that may one day have served as the coming out party for Providence’s sophomore guard.

Throughout the year, English hasn’t been shy about saying that he thinks Pierre can become an outstanding lead guard, noting that the only thing keeping him from it at this point is his humble nature and propensity to pick his spots while letting others shine.

No one shined brighter over the final five minutes than Pierre.

Pierre and Alexander went back-and-forth, as the lead switched six times in a span of less than two minutes with these guards accounting for every make during that time.

Pierre grabbed an offensive rebound and got to the line to push PC ahead, 65-64. He then countered an Alexander score with a layup, and followed that up by blowing the roof off of MSG with a 3-pointer with 3:40 to go to give the Friars a 70-68 lead.

“Really just trusting the process,” Pierre said of his scoring burst.  “I had to score the points in that situation. I was just really being aggressive, taking what the defense was giving me, and trusting our offense.”

In so many ways, the younger members of the roster got Providence to that point, then the veterans carried them home. They made critical plays when they had to, while Creighton’s vets came up short.

The Jays started the game by making 20 consecutive free throws until Kalkbrenner missed the front end of a 1 and 1 following Pierre’s three.

After Creighton got a stop on the ensuing possession, they found sharpshooting graduate transfer Steven Ashworth open for a transition 3-pointer that just rimmed out. 

Greg McDermott’s club got another crack at tying the game with under two minutes left, when Alexander (an 82% free throw shooter and one of the more clutch scorers in the league) shockingly missed both of his attempts at the free throw line.

Carter then exploded to the rim for a layup (72-68 at 1:39), the Friars got a stop, and Josh Oduro banked home a tough angle shot to make it 74-68 Friars with under a minute to play.

“I'm just glad my teammates, they have the confidence in me to make the plays and make the right reads and everything. So just going off of them, I feed off their energy and they gave me the confidence to get the bucket,” Carter said of his late score.

Creighton had one final gasp after Ashworth converted a traditional 3-point play, but Carter went 4-4 at the stripe down the stretch to seal a monstrous victory for Providence.

Pierre ended his night with 15 points, seven assists (two in the final two minutes), and four rebounds. He attacked Kalkbrenner in drop coverage, and went on his scoring binge with the season on the line.

The Pierre we saw on Thursday night was the one that made him a star at Long Island Lutheran. The Jayden Pierre of LuHi spent the early portions of games setting teammates up, before taking over the scoring when the situation required it. “Whatever the game calls for, that’s what I try to bring to the table” was what Pierre told me back then about his knack for understanding when his team needed him to get it rolling offensively. 

On Thursday night, the game called for someone to slow Creighton’s momentum, and Pierre more than answered.

English was proud of his team’s response in such a big moment, “If you’re not tough in this league, don't even field a team. So, we’re tough, We’ve been tough. You have to be tough to play in this conference.”

The Friars are now one of four teams left still playing in the Big East Tournament.

Providence got big nights from Carter (22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals) and Oduro (17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block) and next takes on third-seeded Marquette in the Big East Tournament semifinals on Friday night. 

Marquette could be without star point guard Tyler Kolek, who has sat out this tournament with an oblique injury, but the tenacity with which they defend on the perimeter will make them a challenging opponent for a team playing its third game in three nights.

Still, Carter and the Friars wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“I think it was a must-win game. We want to keep our tournament dreams alive and we also want to get a Big East championship. So we knew coming into the game that we had another 40 minutes. And that was just the mindset. Just everybody have great energy and discipline and see where it takes us.”