Providence pulls off upset over Texas

Looking for a big nonconference victory before the schedule rolls over to Big East play, the Providence Friars made their way to Austin for a pre-Christmas Clash with the Texas Longhorns Friday evening.

Despite their underdog status heading into the game, the Friars came away with a big victory, pulling off a 71-65 victory and never trailing against the Longhorns.

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Friars did what they needed to do, which is the key to success against power conference teams on the road.

Alpha Diallo led the Friars with 20 points and saw a game-high 38 minutes of action. Makai Ashton-Langford saw significant action for his third straight game, with five points and four rebounds, and showed composure down the stretch.

Texas’ leading scorer Kerwin Roach missed the game with an illness, and the Longhorns offense looked understandably lost, but even with Roach the Longhorns have been a boom or bust team this season.

Matt Coleman led the Longhorns with 13 points.

Providence now has 10 days off before hosting Creighton on New Year’s Eve to open Big East play.