Friars Fall Hard at West Virginia 93-63

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Friday, January 14, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

That was unfortunate. On one of the few nights where Providence gets to play on national television, the Friars were off their game. PC dropped a lopsided affair at West Virginia 93-63.

It has been a rough start to the Big East season for the Friars. Five games in they’re (0-5) in conference play. And while they were not competitive last night, that hasn’t been the case thus far.

Providence gave two top five teams in Syracuse and Pitt all that they could handle and had a chance to upset both teams. Last night, they just didn’t have it.

You may think that I am being redundant in this space when I continue to emphasize the need for better defense. That was the case again last night. The 93 points given up to the Mountaineers speaks for itself. Even former Friar great Joe Hassett said on the radio broadcast last night that while PC’s defense has shown improvement from last season to this season, that has not been the case in league play. Hassett said the Friars defense will have to improve if PC is going to win in the Big East.

But defense wasn’t the only problem last night. PC shot just 31% from the floor (24-77). They were 28% from three (5-18). It was simply one of those nights where not a lot of things went right.

Marshon Brooks (13) and Vincent Council (11) were the only two Friars to reach double figures. John Flowers (24) was one of five Mountaineers in double figures. Flowers also had 6 rebounds, 5 blocks, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Providence has now lost 15 consecutive Big East regular season games dating back to last season. It’s 16 straight losses if you include the loss to Seton Hall in last year’s Big East Tournament.

Providence (11-7, 0-5 BE) has an excellent chance to snap that skid and pick up its first Big East win of the year Sunday at noon in Tampa. The Friars visit South Florida (6-12, 0-5 Big East) who is also winless in conference play.