First Round Preview – St. Louis Region
No. 5 Providence vs. No. 12 Pacific
Despite the different levels of play in their two respective leagues, Providence and Pacific come into the NCAA Tournament riding very different streaks. Providence has lost three straight games for the first time all season, including a disappointing first round exit in the Big East Tournament. Pacific, on the contrary, comes into the game with a 15-game winning streak, the second longest in the nation behind Gonzaga, including sweeping through the Big West Tournament.
The Friars are reeling at the wrong time of the season, and leading scorer Ryan Gomes must return to mid-season form if Providence is to advance. Gomes averages 19 points and nine rebounds per game, but has seen his averages fall to 11 and four during the Friars’ late-season swoon. The backcourt of Sheiku Kabba and Donnie McGrath are also important players in the Friars’ success, as the duo combined to average 21 points during the regular season, but both have struggled as has the whole team during the recent slide.
Pacific, meanwhile, heads into its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance on a major hot streak. The Tigers have lost just once in 2004, led by a trio of scorers. Miah Davis directs the offense from the perimeter, averaging 14.7 points per game, while a pair of Europeans dominate the glass for Pacific. Swedish forward Christian Maraker averages 13 points and six boards per game, including 11 games of 15 points or more, while Frenchman Guillaume Yango adds 10 points and six rebounds from the center position by toting a 58 percent shooting percentage from the field for the season.
In the end, this game will likely come down to whether Providence can bounce back from a trio of bad games that spoiled an otherwise successful season. Gomes will need to have a big game for the Friars, and if not the two Tiger big men will likely exploit its height advantage to send Providence home early.
