Providence bounces back with 68-47 win over Saint Peter’s

32 points from David Duke and Alpha Diallo helped engineer a bounce back win for the Providence Friars.

After losing to the Northwestern Wildcats earlier in the week, the Friars rebounded with a 68-47 win over the visiting Saint Peter’s Peacocks Saturday afternoon. The win puts PC at 3-1 on the young season and subsequently dropped the Peacocks to 0-2.

Saint Peter’s jumped out in front after Quinn Taylor knocked down a jumper to go up 2-0. From there however, they would never lead again as Diallo laid one up and Nichols would hit a layup on the ensuing fastbreak to give PC a 4-2 lead. It was off to the races from there, as the Friars would hold a lead as large as 21 going into the break. The second half wasn’t much different, as their lead would swell all the way up to 26 after a jumper from Young. They were in full control the whole way, and hardly ever wavered.

Duke was rather good on the afternoon despite a poor shooting day from the field. He went 4-for-12 from the field but made up for it with an 8-for-9 day at the free throw line. The sophomore guard also added four rebounds, all on the defensive side, and had six assists and two steals as well. The six assists for Duke is the second-highest amount he’s had this year behind the eight in the season opener against the Sacred Heart Pioneers, and the two steals are the most he’s had in any game so far, and the first two of the year in general.

Diallo, meanwhile, was much more efficient as he went 7-for-13 from the field to get his 15 points. He also had nine boards on the day, falling just short of a double-double performance. Seven of his rebounds came on the defensive glass, and were the most on either side of the court Saturday. Diallo had two assists but didn’t play a mistake-free game, as he committed a ghastly six turnovers. That mark matches a career-high that he’d set against the DePaul Blue Demons on February 2, against the UMass Minutemen last December 7, and the amount he had against the Villanova Wildcats on February 14, 2018. For his sake, he doesn’t come close to that mark again soon.

The Friars had no other double-figure scorers on the day against Saint Peter’s. They did have three players hit seven points, as Jimmy Nichols Jr., Kalif Young and Emmitt Holt all hit that mark. Maliek White scored six points on the day while Kris Monroe had five, and Luwane Pipkins finished things out with four. Pipkins led the way in assists with seven, as the team finished with 17 on the afternoon. They had 10 steals as a team, with four players — Duke, Pipkins, White and Young — each with two apiece .

Saint Peter’s had just one double-figurer scorer in Matthew Lee, who scored 10 points.

The Friars will turn their attention to Merrimack now, who will come to town on Tuesday.