New York City- The stat sheet had yet to arrive. Fine, for now the ‘eye’ test revealed enough. Xavier held a 43-29 lead over Providence at the half largely due to defense. The Friars struggled to find any continuity on offense. There were several instances of multiple Friar possessions coming up empty. Providence did not turn the ball over much but each time it resulted in a runout for Xavier. Offensively, Xavier wasn’t too bad highlighted by a 22-10 edge in points in the paint.
The halftime, sheets are here, numbers.
Possessions: Xavier 36, Providence 35
Offensive efficiency: Xavier 119, Providence 83
The final twenty, actually twenty five, minutes gave us a different game. Providence became the aggressor on offense frequently attacking the basket. Providence coach Ed Cooley put his trust in some of the younger players to change the game. "We had no rhythm on offense or defense the first half," Cooley said. "Some of those young guys really responded and gave us a lift." Some of those young guys included Alpha Diallo, a Sophomore, and 17 point (sharing team scoring honors with Senior forward Rodney Bullock) scorer. Nate Watson, a 6-10 Freshman center, answered the call coming off the bench for a 14 point 4 rebound performance.
Providence also did a good job on Trevon Bluiett, 13 points on 2 of 14 shooting. Xavier was led by 6-10 Senior Karem Kanter with 18 points, and interestingly, zero rebounds. Xavier coach Chris Mack noted his team won a number of close games this season. Not on this night. Xavier enjoyed a 17 point lead with 15:20 to play. Mack singled out the Friar defense. "We didn’t turn it over but we missed a lot of shots," Mack said. "But credit them (Providence) for their defensive effort."
Possessions: 75
Offensive efficiency: Providence 100, Xavier 96
Four Factors:
eFG pct: Providence 46, Xavier 40
FT Rate: Providence 31, Xavier 27
OREB pct: Providence 15, Xavier 27
TO rate: Providence 9, Xavier 13
Records: Providence 21-12, Xavier 28-5.
It was Providence’s second straight OT win in the tournament. Last team to turn the trick was Syracuse. The Orange defeated UConn in that famous 6 OT game in 2009. For an encore they defeated West Virginia one night later. In one extra session.
