Providence vs. Arizona recap: Friars upset Wildcats in Wooden Legacy

Saturday night was another night for Kris Dunn to display the full range of his talent, as the Providence Friars took on the Arizona Wildcats in the semi-final round of the Wooden Legacy, and after a full forty minutes of play Dunn once again shined as the Friars walked away with a slim victory over the eleventh-ranked Wildcats by a score of 69 to 65.

It was both an odd and interesting game for Providence. Not only were they able to take the game to Arizona, but at times had to do without their best players on the floor.  Kris Dunn, Rodney Bullock, and Ben Bentil all flew incredibly close to being fouled out of the game with each finishing with four fouls.  Despite this, they were still able to provide significant contributions on the night, though in the case of Bullock he was limited to just eight points, though he also grabbed a team leading four rebounds as well.

Bentil was the leading scorer for the Friars, as he finished the night with 21 points. The big story for Providence was, once again, Kris Dunn. Even with his fouls limiting him at times, Dunn still was able to leave an indelible mark on the game.  Dunn finished the night with 19 points, going 7-of-9 shooting and 5-of-8 from the foul line.  He also finished with a game leading eight assists, proving to once again being the main cog in Providence's offense.

As a team the Friars shot 50% from all areas of the floor, 33% from the three point line, and 59% from the foul line.  They were in many ways outmatched by Arizona who won the battle on the boards with 43 rebounds to Providence's 22.  They were also outmatched on the bench with only six points compared to 16 from Arizona's bench.

The Wildcats leading scorer was Ryan Anderson who finished with a game leading 27 points going 11-of-17 shooting on the night .  His efforts were followed up by that of Gabe York who had 10 points, providing the Cats with a secondary option to Anderson's scoring touch.  As a team Arizona shot 47% from all areas of the floor, 21% from the three point line, and 80% from the foul line.

Looking at the stats from this game, Arizona should have won based on their scoring options, but Providence hung tough and were able to get hot in the second half of the game to help pull off the win.  They are off to a great start to begin the season, and Friday's win over a ranked Arizona demonstrated what this team can do going forward.