Thoughts from the Road: There Can Be Only One; Friars Defeat NJIT

This Thoughts from the Road: Couch Version is brought to you by Fox Sports 1 and was fueled by Lizzie’s leftover stromboli.

• Kris Dunn continues to gorge stat sheets every time he steps on the court. There was a very real possibility of Dunn notching his second career triple-double in Providence’s win over NJIT. In fact, if not for a handcheck foul called on an NJIT defender while Dunn was mid-alley oop pass he would have gotten that 10th assist. Dunn also crept up on a quadruple-double with his 7 steals — 1 off his career high. There has never been a quadruple-double recorded in a game pitting two Division I teams against each other. Dunn had to settle for a measly double-double — the second of the season and 10th of his career. Dunn was all over the court on the defensive end.

Kris Dunn was a magician tonight on offense, but it's damn fun to watch him dominate on D too. #pcbb pic.twitter.com/QOONzgCfPJ

— FʀɪᴀʀTV (@FriarTV) November 24, 2015

• On offense, Dunn showed good patience against NJIT’s zone and was able to attract two defenders before zipping a pass to an open teammate. He also picked his spots and attacked the rim with authority.

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• Among all the impressive and gaudy stats that sit on Dunn’s line of the box score the most impressive one is the lone turnover recorded in 38 minutes, much of them spent with Dunn handling the ball.
• Kevin McNamara has started to continuously write about Dunn’s ability to make the people on the floor with him better and he is spot on with that narrative.

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• Ben Bentil had a good game on the offensive end. He definitely still misses too many shots near the rim but he also hit some nice mid-range jumpers and got to the free throw line eight times, making seven. Bentil led the Friars in scoring in the second half with 15 points and didn’t attempt a single 3-pointer all night in 37 minutes on the floor. Bentil took advantage of a night where Providence had the size advantage inside and smartly operated most of his offense inside 15 feet. He only had 1 block on the night but it was an emphatic one:

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• Rodney Bullock continues to be impressive scoring the ball. He didn’t have a great shooting night — just 5/14 from the field — but he still managed 16 points. Bullock also continues to be relentless on the glass. He grabbed 12 rebounds on the night and 5 of them came on the offensive glass.
• Junior Lomomba has been quietly playing very well to start this season. He has already made more 3-pointers (3) through 4 games than he did in 31 games last season. That isn’t to say his shot looks fantastic or that I think he should be taking five 3-pointers a night but he just seems to be a bit more comfortable on the offensive end. His greatest value is as a defender and Cooley talked about that in his postgame comments. Cooley also referred to Lomomba as a “glue guy” which is the best way to describe what he brings to this Providence team. Lomomba is a veteran player — last night was his 60th career game — that understands his role and works hard everyday. Those are rare guys to find in high major college basketball.
• Ryan Fazekas got the start for the fourth straight game and he has played more than 20 minutes in each outing. Fazekas wasn’t as hot from downtown against NJIT as he was against Brown but the looks were mostly wide open. Fazekas has a real shooter’s mentality and is not shy about shooting the basketball. If Dunn can keep getting the freshman looks as good as he got him against NJIT the shots will fall at a high clip over the course of the season.
• Turnovers were a big story last season because that was one of the flaws pointed out among Dunn’s many positive traits. Through 4 games last season, Dunn had 14 turnovers. This season: 8. As a team the Friars have also been winning the turnover battle, all while taking advantage of their opponent’s miscues by converting them into points. Providence has 37 turnovers on the season and their opponents have 71. The Friars have scored 87 points off those 71 turnovers, while their opponents have scored 45 points off Providence’s 37 turnovers. That +42 in points off turnovers through 4 games is an excellent number.

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Mike Hopkins

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