#10 Providence Falls to #7 Xavier 75-68
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
#10 Providence Falls to #7 Xavier 75-68
'We have to find a way to win at home, we have lost three conference games here and I think we lost three here all of last year. We got to keep our guys positive, keep them moving forward. We have a tough road swing coming up," said PC head coach, Ed Cooley after the game.
The game marked the first time two top ten teams have played at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTToo Little Too Late
Xavier held a 34-26 lead at the half and opened the second on a 12-6 run to go up 46-32, taking control of the game. The Musketeers would eventually lead by as much as 17 with 7:22 left to play in the game.
The Friars would make a run, getting as close as three points, 68-65, with 1:20 left to play, however, on Xavier's following possession J.P. Macura knocked down a transition three to put Xavier back up by 6 points.
PC would not be able to get closer the rest of the way.
Xavier shot 50 percent from the field, 55 percent in the second half, en route to a win.
First Half
A Ben Bentil dunk tied the game at 20 before Xavier closed the first half on a 14-6 run to take a 34-26 lead into the locker room.
Xavier opened up the game with a 7-0 run before the Friars used a 13-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 13-7, with just under 15 minutes to play.
Providence shot 31 percent from the field in the first half and 9 percent from three.
The Leaders
The Friars were led by Ben Bentil who netted 25 points on 8 of 18 shooting from the field, while grabbing 6 rebounds.
Kris Dunn followed up with 16 points on 6 of 15 shooting from the field, while grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists.
Next up
Providence returns to action on Saturday, January 30 when they visit Georgetown. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. and can be seen on Fox Sports 1. PC is undefeated on the road.
Post game reaction and 5 takeaways slideshow coming.
5 Takeaways From PC's 75-68 Loss to Xavier
Rodney Bullock
For the Friars to contend, they need more than just Bentil and Dunn and as the season progressed it appeared Rodney Bullock would be that guy, and still has the ability to do so. However, he has struggled over the last few games.
"We have to get Rodney to play better, he hasn't shot the ball well," said Cooley in his post game press conference.
Bullock went 1 for 9 against Xavier for a total of 3 points. Bullock has only reached double figures in two of PC's last 5 games (Marquette - Xavier) and is shooting a combined 17 of 53 from the field in those games.
Home Court... Advantage?
The Friars are 2-3 at home in the Big East this season while undefeated on the road.
Ed Cooley on home losses:
"We have to find a way to win at home, we have lost three conference games here and I think we lost three here all of last year." Cooley would continue on later in his press conference "I hurt for a loss anytime it's in this building and that's three home losses that we have. I don't want to make it a big deal, but it is a big deal. We got to find a way to get us a home win.
Ben Bentil
Ben Bentil led the Friars with 25 points on 8 of 18 shooting from the field and 7 of 9 from the free throw line.
Bentil also grabbed 6 rebounds, 4 on the offensive end, and had an assist in 39 minutes of action.
Early foul trouble limited his aggressiveness on the defensive end.
Second Chance Points
Ben Bentil led the Friars with 4 offensive rebounds while Ryan Fazekas and Kris Dunn grabbed three each. Overall, PC grabbed 19 offensive boards compared to just 12 for Xavier.
The problem was, the Friars only converted those second chances into 12 points.
Xavier converted their 12 offensive rebounds into 13 points.
Providence lost the overall rebounding battle 41-39.
Shooting
Providence shot 31 % from the field, 20.6 % from three-point land and 81% from the free throw line in the game.
This is PC's second worst shooting performance at home during the Big East season, topped only by the game against Seton Hall in which they shot 30%.
Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil mad 6 and 8 shots respectively, no one else on the team made more than 2 shots.
"You can't have two guys doing the bulk of the scoring and everyone else on the roster have under 2 field goals, you need other guys to step up and make offensive plays," said Ed Cooley after the game.
Xavier stayed in their 1-3-1 zone for most of the game and the Friars were not able to shoot them out of it. PC struggled to create any offense at all in the half court.
