Win or go home for PC
Friars need to win Big East to reach Tournament
For the Providence Friars, there has been one realistic road to the NCAA Tournament for some time now.
Win the Big East Tournament and PC goes dancing for the sixth time under Ed Cooley’s watch. Anything less than achieving the program’s third postseason conference crown would result in the likelihood of stashing the basketballs in the closet and looking ahead to what could be an interesting offseason.
It doesn’t get any more cut and dry for a Friar group that begins what they hope is a lengthy stay at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night (9 p.m.) against DePaul. Providence is the sixth seed while the Blue Demons are the No. 11 seed.
The winner advances to Thursday’s quarterfinals where third-seeded UConn awaits.
“It’s four games in four days. We’ve got to be fresh, ready to go, and locked in,” said junior guard David Duke. “It’s not an easy thing to do. You’ve got to be tough mentally and physically.”
Instead of using the New York City stage as an opportunity to polish up the resumé for the benefit of the NCAA Selection Committee, the Friars find themselves with zero margin for error. Mixing agonizing defeats with wins over each of the top two seeds in this year’s Big East Tournament (No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Creighton) resulted in a 13-12 record and a sub-.500 mark against league foes (9-10). The only team to sweep Providence home-and-away was St. John’s. The way the bracket shakes out, the Friars would not cross paths with the Red Storm unless the circumstance was Saturday’s Big East finale.
Save for Jimmy Nichols, the Friars are in the clear when it comes to health concerns – something that not every Big East team can claim. Providence just ran into one of the league’s walking wounded this past Saturday with Villanova seeking to get by with injuries hindering the Wildcats’ starting backcourt.
“I think there’s opportunity. You’ve got some teams that are nicked up and other teams that are a little bit young,” said Cooley. “I’ve got some worries and anxieties, but I’m confident we’ll survive and advance one game at a time.”
One thing the Friars have avoided is a short stay in Gotham. In the six years leading up to last year’s abrupt cancellation, Providence reached the Big East Tournament semifinals four times and made two appearances in the championship game.
“We talk about Madison Square Garden a lot. It starts in the preseason when we say the ultimate goal is to win a regular-season championship and then compete for a conference championship,” said Cooley. “Whether it’s a non-conference game, a Big East game, or a conference tournament game, we’ll show clips. Our players have a lot of confidence based on how we speak about [the Garden]. It’s something we try to build up throughout the year so that it’s not so new to them.”
Only three players on the current roster – Duke, Nate Watson, A.J. Reeves – can claim they’ve played a game at MSG while wearing a Friar uniform. Watson was a freshman when Providence made a memorable threegame Big East run in 2018. Each contest went to overtime with the last one going Villanova’s way with the Big East Tournament title on the line.
“It was a crazy experience,” said Watson. “The way I felt in every game [in 2018], I want to feel that way this coming tournament. I’m excited to go down there and get these four wins.”
First things first as PC must get past a DePaul team that it went 2-0 against. One of those wins required to work two overtime periods while the second came with starting point guard Charlie Moore absent for the Blue Demons.
The mission couldn’t be any clearer. For the Friars, it’s about surviving and keep on advancing. Anything less than four wins and the spotlight automatically shifts to next season.
“We were planning to make a run last year,” said Watson, referring to the six-game winning streak that Providence tucked into its suitcases before last year’s Big East Tournament. “We’ve got something to prove now.”