Cooley Uses Unconventional 2nd Half Lineup to Come Back for Friars’ Road Win at Butler

The first 20 minutes at Hinkle Fieldhouse saw a Providence team that was playing the same way they had on the road all season. The story early was turnovers of which the Friars had 6 in the first 9 minutes. Just as they seemed to quiet that issue that other ugly problem that has plagued them on the road came to the forefront: giving up offensive rebounds. Butler led by 7 at the half and Cooley and the Friars were left searching for answers.

Apparently Cooley and his staff decided to sit down 3 starters to begin the second 20 minutes and inserting Ted Bancroft, Junior Lomomba and Paschal Chukwu to go along with Kris Dunn and LaDontae Henton. After about a minute or two of that lineup many fans were calling for Cooley to cut out the nonsense and return to his regular guys. The thing is, he didn’t. The only players that got any minutes in the second half were Tyler Harris and Kyron Cartwright. Both players replaced Junior Lomomba but that only amounted to 3 total minutes and Harris managed 2 turnovers during his 2 second half minutes. After the game Cooley said he “wanted to play the five toughest guys I had.” Cooley, harkening back to last season’s group perhaps, indicated he “wasn’t going to make a sub” and “those guys were going to play until they fell out.”

When you go down the play-by-play of the second half there’s a common theme among scoring plays: LaDontae Henton and Kris Dunn. The pair combined for 31 of Providence’s 37 second half points. Dunn was particularly impressive with 20 of those 31 points. He finished with a career high 25 points on the night to go along with 8 rebounds and 6 assists. He did have 7 turnovers but that number is likely higher because there was more pressure on him to score and initiate all of the offense. Henton finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds on his 23rd birthday.

What you won’t find in the play-by-play or boxscore is the job that the “other guys” did on the defensive end and with hustle plays. Kellen Dunham was Butler’s leading scorer with 18 points but he was held to just 5 points on 1/7 from the field in the second half. Junior Lomomba drew the assignment for much of the half and managed to continue playing Dunham tough even after picking up his 4th foul at the 12:21 mark. “He is a great player, not a good, player, but a great player,” said Ed Cooley of Dunham. Cooley continued by saying that he is “proud [Dunham] is in our league.” Ted Bancroft had a diving save of a ball that ended up in the hands of Kris Dunn who converted the loose ball into a layup that energized the bench and the players on the floor. The little things along with grit and toughness was what won Providence this game. That’s how a team has to play in order to win on the road in this league. “I’m really proud that they answered the bell,” said Cooley of his second half unit. “It was a great team win.” The final score was 66-62 in the end.

The breakout performance has to go to 7’2 freshman Paschal Chuwku who was a huge factor in Providence turning the tide on the glass after being out-rebounded 20-12 in the first half, including allowing 10 offensive rebounds. Chukwu cleaned the glass to the tune of 9 total rebounds, including 5 on the offensive boards. His final offensive rebound may have been the biggest as he grabbed a missed Dunn free throw, got fouled and calmly sunk both free throws to seal the win with 8 seconds left. Chukwu actually scored 4 of Providence’s final 7 points including a put back dunk following another offensive board at the 1:26 mark. “Paschal is growing by the second…I haven’t played him enough. In the second half, he changed the game,” said Cooley after the game.

As for what this means for the 3 starters who played a combined zero second half minutes this may be a bit of a changing of the guard at Center, but I have to think Cooley wants to allow the freshmen Bentil and Lindsey to learn from this experience and earn their minutes back quickly because their development will be a key to any future success this season and beyond.

Providence gets their first road win of the season and returns home to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Saturday following their midwest road trip that started Friday morning in Milwaukee. Ed Cooley said it best after the game: “We’ve been in Indianpolis here for 3.5 days. I love you all, but I’m ready to go home.” The Friars will take on Georgetown this Saturday at 12pm.

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Mike Hopkins

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