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| Hall was one of the few Friars to bring energy |
It's hard to believe the effort Providence showed against Pittsburgh was only a week ago. After back to back lifeless games at Rutgers and West Virginia, Providence is now 0-5 in conference play this season, have lost 16 straight Big East games dating back to last season, and have gone down in 18 of their last 19 conference contests. This span of 19 games began with a 93-63 loss at Marquette and continued tonight with another 93-63 defeat.
If it wasn't embarrassing, when does it become so?
The numbers from Morgantown paint an ugly picture. West Virginia shot just shy of 50% from the field, and still managed to grab 22 of their 37 misses on the night. They either connected on or grabbed 57 of their 72 shots.
Mountaineer forward John Flowers topped his previous career high of 16 points, scoring 24, all while watching a majority of the second half from the bench. He was 10-12 from the field.
Vincent Council, Gerard Coleman and Marshon Brooks combined to shoot 12-46 (26%).
Bilal Dixon, Ray Hall and Ron Giplaye combined to shoot 10-15 (67%) from the field, while the rest of the team went 14-61 (23%).
For the fourth time in five Big East games the Friars shot under 30% from beyond the arc, yet still continue to fire away from deep, averaging 23 three point attempts per game in conference play.
We could go on about the numbers, but Elmore's comment, followed by his repeated pleas to see someone "get angry" for Providence continues to resonate.
A sense of urgency seems to be lacking with this group, as evidenced by the fact that they've trailed by double figures in each of their Big East games this season. At the beginning of the season many had questions as to whether this edition of the Friars was good enough to compete in the Big East this year. Against a pair of top five teams they proved they are good enough to compete, and the last two games showed they are nowhere near good enough not to play with a sense of urgency from the opening tap.
The question for Friar fans has to become, how does a team that should be desperate for a win come out so flat in back to back contests?
Digging Deeper:
- Hard to find a bright spot in this one, but Ray Hall did come in and give Providence a spark for the second game in a row. His nine point, nine rebound (seven offensive) effort might have been the best statistical game of his career. He did it in only nine minutes. I noted in the "Week Ahead" segment last week that while Bilal Dixon has had his ups and downs this season, it might be frustrating to see a team shooting below 30% from three point range hoisting nearly 25 threes a game, while hardly ever looking inside. Hall, Giplaye and Dixon shot 67% from the field tonight, while their teammates went 14-62.
- Upon first glance it appeared as though Kadeem Batts was the one Friar who continued to battle when things began to slip away late in the first half.
- Not a good night for Providence shooting guards. Gerard Coleman, Duke Mondy and Bryce Cotton combined to go 4-24 from the field.
- Marshon Brooks was held below 20 points for the first time since prior to Thanksgiving. The senior has scored in a variety of ways this year, but was especially effective against Rhode Island with his back to the basket. Might Providence try to get him in more of those situations if the outside shooting woes continue for this group? They simply have to generate more offense inside 15 feet.
- The typically sure-handed Vincent Council had four turnovers in the first four minutes of the game.
