Friars Lose: (8) Xavier 85, (23) Providence 74

• Providence went with the starting lineup of Kris Dunn, Junior Lomomba, Ryan Fazekas, Rodney Bullock and Ben Bentil. This was the second straight game Ed Cooley went with that lineup after running it out there for the first 9 games of the season. Providence was sluggish to start this game despite scoring first. The Friars fell into the trap that Xavier’s 1-3-1 zone entices of chucking up 3-pointers. The Friars took 35 shots from beyond the arc and  connected on 12 of them. They attempted 34 triples last time these teams playe at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. In short, Providence was totally outplayed in this game in all facets by a very good Xavier team.
• Rodney Bullock was active in the first half, despite getting an early second foul. Bullock continued his solid play in the second half, finishing with 13 points and 8 rebounds. The narrative all season has been that Providence is successful when Dunn and Bentil get help. Well, they got help from Rodney Bullock, but that wasn’t’ enough against a very good Xavier team on the road.
• Kris Dunn scored 23 points on 5/12 shooting, dished out 6 assists and grabbed 11 rebounds. He also turned it over 4 times. Dunn didn’t play poorly, but his turnovers were a big factor in Xavier extending their lead in the first half. He was initially credited with a steal, which would have been the 200th of his career, but the final stats show a 0 in the steal column for Dunn. He’ll be stuck on 199 for at least another game.
• Ben Bentil managed 17 points before fouling out with 2:25 left in the game. He didn’t have a very good night on the defensive end and shot an uncharacterisit 55.6% from the free throw line. He added 6 rebounds in his 37 minutes.
• Xavier was led by Trevon Bluiett with 23 points. Bluiett also had 6 rebounds. Myles Davis also put up a triple-double with 11 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds. This was his first career triple-double and prior to getting his 10th point, it was his first career double-double. The Musketeers, who scored 52 points in the first half, had their lead get as high as 21 and the game was only close for a few minutes in each half. Providence did go on a run out of the lockeroom and get the Xavier lead down to 7 with 16 minute left in the second half, before Xavier went on a 10-0 run to extend the lead back to double digits. The Friars also went on another run later in the second half and cut the Xavier lead to 6, but Xavier was able to stem that tide and keep the Friars at arm’s length.
• The Friars return to action next Thursday, February 25th against Seton Hall at the Prudential Center at 7:00pm EST. The game will be televised on FS1.

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Mike Hopkins

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