Xavier ends PC’s home dominance
No. 20 Friars suffer first defeat at AMP
PROVIDENCE – This time, the Providence Friars didn’t have to contend with a leaky roof on its home turf against Xavier.
On Wednesday night, the leaks were all over the Amica Mutual Pavilion court in the form of porous defense by the home team. Led by the dynamic 1-2 punch of Souley Boum and Colby Jones, the Musketeers became the first team to defeat the Friars at home this season. Boum scored 33 points while Jones got into a steady groove in the second half on his way to pouring in 29 points as Xavier ran past Providence 94-89 before yet another sellout crowd (12,400).
As great as the disappointment was in dropping a rare game at home, the more pressing concern has to do with the Friars and their inability to string together stops – particularly during the second half as Xavier enjoyed a torrid stretch that featured 72-percent efficiency over the final 20 minutes.
To score 89 points in regulation and still walk off the court with the defeat made it easy for coach Ed Cooley as far as pointing the finger at the part of PC’s game that was behind the proverbial 8-ball all night long.
“Our defense has some question marks as we get ready for Saturday,” said Cooley, looking ahead to the regular-season finale against Seton Hall. “You have to give Xavier credit. They made shots against our zone, but we had some breakdowns defensively. When you play in these high-level games like this.”
By winning, Xavier possesses the clear-cut inside track to the No. 2 seed to next week’s Big East Tournament; both the Friars and Musketeers entered Wednesday’s game sporting identical 13-5 records.
The loss means that Providence will be looking at either finishing third or fourth – a development that could result in a tough draw in the Big East’s quarterfinal round.
Cooley described Boum and Jones as the modern-day answer to NBA legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The pair of Xavier teammates combined to shoot 22-of40 from the field and 7-of-12 from three. Both ended up established career highs in single-game scoring as the pair epitomized the fluidity that the Musketeers displayed on the offensive end as the visitors found harmony no matter what defense the Friars employed.
Even when PC trimmed a 22-point deficit to a manageable nine points at the half, courtesy of an 18-5 run, Xavier was still getting decent looks against the zone that Cooley sprung in the hope of cooling off Sean Miller’s group. The ability on the part of the Musketeers to recognize what the Friars were running defensively was another key that helped lead to the season sweep of PC.
“We had a number of guys who were confident and made plays,” said Miller.
The wave of momentum that PC caught during the final five minutes of the first half – after opening the game shooting 4-of-20 and going scoreless for close to nine minutes – continued during the early stages of the second half. When Jared Bynum got into the paint and kicked the ball to Noah Locke in the corner, the Friars found themselves down two (55-53) with a ton of time left (15:18). Locke’s three was part of a 15-point night as all five of PC’s starters ended up scoring in double figures.
After mixing and matching his lineup during the first half, Cooley went with his starters for the vast majority of the second half. The first sub didn’t come until 5:24 remaining. By that point, Xavier had some breathing room at 79-71.
“You’ve got to go with your feeling. We got back into the game, then they hit shot after shot,” said Cooley. “You try to rock and roll with the older guys in those big-time games. Maybe it was bad coaching.”
Bryce Hopkins and Ed Croswell scored co-scoring honors for the Friars – each had 17 points on a night when Providence went down at home because of game-long problems on defense.
“When you lose at home, I felt someone broke in. I felt someone took our toys from under the Christmas tree. I feel someone took our food. I feel someone broke our windows,” said Cooley.