PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The first Big East win for Providence didn’t come against a bottom team in the conference. Instead, it came against one of the conference leaders in Louisville, who they knocked off by a 72-67 margin on Saturday night. It’s a win that they had been looking for, in a perfect game for them, and it was a result of what the team has been through thus far.
There was a feeling of relief in the locker room after they pulled out a game that got sloppy in the second half. All night long, the Friars never allowed the Cardinals to break the game open. Every time Louisville got up by more than five, it was short-lived as the Friars would respond with a couple of baskets in short succession to cut into the lead. In the second half, the Cardinals never led by more than the four-point halftime margin before the Friars took over in the final minutes, leading twice by seven in the final minute.
Providence knew that like many of Rick Pitino’s teams, this Cardinal team likes to shoot three-pointers and entered the game leading the Big East in made three-point shots. They held Louisville to 4-23 shooting from behind the arc, including 0-12 in the second half.
“We wanted to make them put it on the floor so they couldn’t do that.” said Gerard Coleman, who scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting.
For Coleman, as well as other Friars, this game was perfect in its speed as it went up and down. It wasn’t a game to be a big man, as Providence’s Bilal Dixon had no points and two rebounds in 15 minutes and Louisville’s Terrence Jennings had eight points and two rebounds in 17 minutes and was never a factor. Instead, it was a game for the likes of Coleman, a quick slasher who was a big factor in transition, and Marshon Brooks, who continues to have a terrific season.
“I think he’s a fast kid, one of the fastest kids in the Big East,” Brooks said of Coleman. “When he gets the ball in his hands, he just takes off.”
Coleman had a slow start this season, but has come along since the first couple of weeks. Head coach Keno Davis said he had a couple of his best practices leading up to Saturday’s game, further showing how players play the way they practice. The long and lanky wing is looking more and more like the player many projected him to be, and on Saturday he was very much in his element.
“Everybody knew it was going to be a fast game,” said Coleman. “We play fast anyway, so we just had to control our poise and play as a team, and that’s what happened.”
Brooks had a quiet first half, but exploded in the second half for 20 of his game-high 27 points. He was 6-8 from the field in the second half, including 4-5 from long range. The Friars have gone small at times and played him at the power forward spot, which can bring advantages since he’s much more athletic than most power forwards. They did that in the second half on Saturday. After the Cardinals appeared to scout him well in the first half, his teammates kept him going and it showed with the results.
“I think he’s the best scorer in the Big East, so I knew he was going to come around,” Coleman said of Brooks.
Much has been made of how inexperienced the Friars are. They are certainly more experienced now than at the start of the season, although they’re a ways from being the most experienced team in the Big East. This is still a team that starts one senior and four underclassmen, two of whom have redshirted. Brooks is certainly playing like a great leader and was a very deserving selection to the Wooden Midseason Top 30 list a couple of weeks ago.
Both Davis and his opposite number, Pitino, noted how this team was right there against St. John’s and Pittsburgh early on in Big East play. They lost both games. Davis has cautioned the fan base about this team’s inexperience, but can see them learning from what they have gone through. Still, breaking through with a win was the goal, and doing so could change something for this team.
“When we’re tied up with four minutes left, we believe we can actually win the game,” Brooks said.
Providence broke through on Saturday to finally get their first Big East win. To a man, they talked about how they can’t enjoy it for long because Villanova comes to town on Wednesday, so they know what lies ahead. But they can go into that and future games with what Brooks touched on, and for a young team that previously was seeing its efforts not result in wins, that can make a difference.
