Bilal Dixon’s Efforts were not enough to keep the Friars in the Game
The Providence Friars (9-6, 1-2) opened up the home portion of their Big East conference play in excruciating fashion, blowing a five point halftime lead and falling to the Louisville Cardinals (11-4, 2-0), 92-70, at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Wednesday night.
Maybe it was the large, energetic crowd that unnerved these young Friars, but several bad shots and three turnovers gave Louisville a 11-0 lead at the first television timeout (15:57). Louisville would stretch the lead to 14-0 on a three point play by Samardo Samuels, but Providence would finally score their first basket at the 14:28 mark on a pretty up-and-under by freshman Vincent Council. Louisville would eventually hold a 19-5 lead with 12:21 left, as Louisville freshman Mike Marra (Smithfield, RI) would hit a three from the right corner, which excited his friends and family, as there were several in attendance.
However, over the next four and a half minutes, the Friars would go on a 17-3 run and find themselves down only 22-21 with 7:44 left after a Bilal Dixon layup. Surprisingly enough, Marshon Brooks and Bilal Dixon keyed this run after struggling over the past several games, and the Dunkin Donuts Center was rocking. The Friars would then grab their first lead, 26-25, after Jamine “Greedy” Peterson scored his only points of the game on a three pointer from the left corner with 6:08 left. The team’s would trade points for the next few minutes, but sparked by Vincent Council’s free throws with 3:08 left, the Friars would conclude an 11-2 run on a Vincent Council free throw with 28 seconds left and the Friars leading 42-34, their largest lead of the game. However, a mysterious call with 1.7 seconds remaining in the half would put Edgar Sosa on the line for a three point play, and the Friars went into the locker room with a 42-37 lead.
Rick Pitino apparently pressed the right buttons during halftime, as his team looked totally different in the second half. Both teams would play the beginning of the second half extremely tight, but with 13 minutes left it was Louisville which held a 57-56 lead. It was here that Tim Higgins and his officiating crew would impose a judgement that may have changed the entire game. With 12:37 remaining and little time on the shot clock, Jared Swopshire threw up a desperation three which sailed over the rim. Terrance Jennings struggled to handle the rebound, and as he gathered to throw up his own desperation shot, it appeared the shot clock buzzer had rang. However, the officials did not blow the play dead and Preston Knowles came in for a tip-in to give Louisville a three point lead. Tim Higgins immediatly ran over to the monitors, and after conferring with the other officials decided that the basket would stand. Boos rang down from even the highest points of the Dunkin Donuts Center, and the momentum seemed to have been sucked out of the building. In the postgame radio show, Joe Hassett had mentioned the fact that ESPN camera angles did not provide a clear angle of Jennings and the shot clock, which led to the long delay and inconclusive video evidence.
Marshon Brooks would hit a layup with 11:35 left to cut the Louisville lead to three at 61-58, but then Louisville would go on a dynamic run to close out the game. Before Marshon Brooks hit a three with 7:08 remaining, Louisville had gone on a 13-0 run and held a 74-61 lead. It would then take the Friars almost another four minutes to score another basket, as Sharaud Curry’s three pointer with 3:29 left cut the Louisville lead to 79-64, but at that point, many considered the game to be over as several thousand fans began their escape from the Dunkin Donuts Center. Garbage time proved to be nothing more than Pitino’s starters exhibiting highlight reel plays, such as a dunk by Edgar Sosa with 1:23 left in which he apparently bounced the ball off the floor before slamming it home. Before that basket, Louisville led 86-70 and there truly was no need for it. The fans remaining booed Pitino for his poor sportsmanship, and Sosa and Providence Coach Keno Davis were exchanging words late in the game over the dunk.
Edgar Sosa led Louisville with 26 points, and Samardo Samuels added 17 points and 9 rebounds. Smithfield’s Mike Marra had 11 points and was 3-5 from downtown for the Cardinals.
Brooks led the Friars with 21 points, while Dixon and Curry each had 12. However, 5 of Curry’s points came in the last 4 minutes, when the game was clearly out of reach. Greedy Peterson had maybe his worst game as a Friar, scoring only 3 points and grabbing only 5 rebounds.
My Reaction:
Whether or not “the call” had anything to do with momentum, the Friars had several opportunities to take Louisville out of their comfort zone. Despite their poor start, the Friars had a chance to go into halftime up eight points, but a defensive collapse and a questionable call later and the Friars are only up five. The Friars then started out the second half with the ball, but a ill-advised three from Sharaud Curry and a quick transition break from Louisville caused Dixon to foul Samuels where he hits two foul shots and in the matter of thirty seconds of including the first half, Louisville is down by 3. At that point, the game is a crap shoot, but it did not need to be that way if Providence had taken care of business early on.
The problem early on came from Brian McKenzie’s inability to become a ball handler. Louisville came hard with their full court press, which placed all the pressure of the press on Sharaud Curry. In Providence’s first possession, Curry struggled to get the ball up the court and was forced into an awful pass. Seconds later, Brian McKenzie fumbled the ball and handed it practically right to the defender. It was not until Vincent Council entered the game that the Friars were really able to beat the press, but even with that the shots still were not falling. Once again, Brian McKenzie failed to show up, scoring zero points after having a great game Sunday at St. John’s. We need more consistency, and it truly might be time to send B-Mac to the bench.
One problem in this game may have been the fact that some of the Friars’ bigger runs were sparked by incredible shots, as guys like Duke Mondy were hitting difficult shots that were not necessarily high-percentage. Therefore, in the second half when they were struggling, guys like Bilal, Greedy, Duke, and even Sharaud are throwing up all of these difficult shots that simply are not good looks. You cannot win when a majority of your shots are highly-contested, tough looks, and veterans like Sharaud should know this by now.
Outside shooting doomed the Friars defense. In the first half while the Friars were coming back, Louisville had missed several open looks from outside. In the second half when they went ahead to stay, all of these open looks were dropping. Unlike most games this season, the offensive damage was done in the half-court set as opposed to transition baskets which had plagued the Friars all year. Friar rotation in their zone was extremely poor, and you cannot continue to run a zone in which your players at times look like they have no idea what they are doing.
Also, you cannot win when two of your best players (Curry and Peterson) combine to go only 5-15 from the floor and only 1-5 from three. They are supposed to be your best players for a reason. The fact that game during the game Assistant Coach Rodell Davis is screaming at Greedy Peterson about his poor game management and shot selection means that the coaching in practice has not been effective, as this is the third straight game Greedy has been cursed out on the bench. Also, itseems that when Curry faces experienced guards who are typically taller than he is, he struggles in every aspect of his game, and tonight seemed to be no exception.
Last night, I was at my cousin’s junior varisty high school basketball game. My grandfather had turned to me and asked, “What do you think is gonna happen tomorrow night.” My response was quite simple. I did not feel that Providence had a realistic chance of winning. However, if they were to play Louisville close, and then struggle in the last five minutes or so, I would be proud of the team. But I told him, it appeared too many things would go wrong for me to be happy with the game. I told him, I dont care if the team cuts a fifty point lead to one point, if you are a decent team you should never be down big in the first place. That, and just simply getting outplayed, where things that would disappoint me about a loss. So yes, we held a halftime lead, and yes, we played Louisville tight for roughly twenty minutes. But against good teams, playing good basketball for only twenty minutes will not result in a win. Ever! And no fan should ever be happy with such a poor effort, despite what Keno Davis tells us during post-game press conferences.
The Friars will stay home and face Rutgers (9-5, 0-2) on Saturday night. Rutgers has been plagued by the injury bug, and is currently on a three game losing streak. This is a game that most Friars fans feel we should be able to win, and I could not agree with them more.
