Big East Tournament 2017 Game Notes & Preview: (3) Providence (20-11, 10-8) vs (6) Creighton (23-8, 10-8) 3/9/17

Where: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

When: 9:30pm EST

How: FS1 (Gus Johnson & Bill Raftery with Lisa Byington)/Fox Sports GO (Where Available)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

• Providence and Creighton will meet for the 20th time ever on Thursday. The Friars lead the all-time series, 13-6. The Friars split their two regular season games with the Bluejays with each team winning on the other’s home floor. Providence is 1-0 all-time against Creighton in the Big East Tournament and that lone victory was in the 2014 championship game that began Providence’s current streak of three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Providence went 4-7 this season on the road against a 15-3 record at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Providence was 6-3 at home and 4-5 on the road in Big East play. The Friars are also 1-1 on neutral courts.
• Providence finished 3rd in the Big East standings largely due to Creighton losing against Marquette on Saturday and the Friars defeating St. John’s.
• Creighton  is 23-8 this season, including a 10-8 Big East record. The Bluejays went 1-1 to close out the regular season with a win over St. John’s last Tuesday and a loss on Saturday at Marquette. Creighton was picked to finish 3rd in the preseason Big East Coaches’ Poll. The Bluejays are led by Greg McDermott, who is in his 7th season at the helm of the Creighton program. Junior Marcus Foster leads the Bluejays in scoring at 18.5 points/game, which ranks him second in the Big East. Freshman Justin Patton leads the team in rebounding,  averaging 6.3 rebounds/game, which ranks sixth in the Big East.
• Kyron Cartwright is currently 4th in the nation in assists/game and Assist Rate. His 6.81 assists/game leads the Big East and trails Eric Garcia‘s 6.85 (Wofford), Austin Luke‘s 7.1 assists/game (Belmont) and Lonzo Ball‘s 7.8 assists/game (UCLA). Cartwright is the 4th Providence player under Ed Cooley to lead the Big East in assists. The previous three were Kris Dunn (2014-15), Bryce Cotton (2013-14) and Vincent Council (2011-12). Cartwright’s 42.3% Assist Rate trails Jawun Evans‘ 44.0% (Oklahoma St), Maurice Watson’s 46.6% (Creighton) and Cassius Winston‘s 48.2% (Michigan State), per Kenpom.com. The previous best Assist Rate by a Providence player since 2003-04  is Dunn’s 50.0% in the 2014-15 season. Dunn led the nation that year in Assist Rate. Cartwright was named a Second Team All-Big East performer on Sunday and he was named the Big East’s Most Improved Player on Monday. Cartwright now ranks ranks 9th all-time in assists in a season at Providence, 11th in season assist average & 13th in career assists.
• Rodney Bullock was also named to the Big East Second Team All-Conference squad on Sunday.
• Opening Line: (3) Providence +2 vs (6) Creighton 3/9/17

Current Big East Tournament Bracket

Game Preview

Providence and Creighton will meet for the third time this season with each team having won on the other’s home court. The Friars and Bluejays have only met one other time in the Big East Tournament with that meeting coming in the 2014 championship game in which Providence upset the Doug McDermott-led Bluejays. Both teams are thought to be securely in the NCAA Tournament so a loss for either Providence or Creighton shouldn’t drop them out but a win would certainly bolster the winner’s resume. Providence needed late-game heroics from Kyron Cartwright to sink the game-winning 3-pointer in Omaha in the game’s final seconds in the last meeting on February 22nd. Cartwright has been phenomenal for Providence during their current 6-game win streak.

The probable starters according to the game notes are:

Providence

• Kyron Cartwright – #24 – Junior
• Alpha Diallo – #11 – Freshman
• Jalen Lindsey – #21 – Junior
• Rodney Bullock – #5 – Junior
• Emmitt Holt – #15 – Junior

Creighton

• Isaiah Zierden – #21 – Senior
• Marcus Foster – #0 – Junior
• Khyri Thomas – #2 – Sophomore
• Cole Huff – #13 – Senior
• Justin Patton – #23 – Freshman

The keys to victory for Providence are to control Marcus Foster and Justin Patton and make their free throws. The Friars did a good job last time out in Omaha of keeping Foster at bay and Patton dealt with foul trouble much of that game. Emmitt Holt and Kalif Young will again have a big job of marking Patton and look for Alpha Diallo, Jalen Lindsey and Isaiah Jackson to all help out on Foster. Ed Cooley also may look to mix in some zone defense, especially if he has his own guys dealing with foul trouble.

Lindsey had a hot-shooting game at MSG on Saturday in the Friars’ season finale against St. John’s. If Lindsey can make some 3-pointers early it will open things up for Kyron Cartwright to get into the lane to make Providence’s offense more dynamic. Free throws in tight postseason games are must makes and the Friars have managed to do enough in that regard, especially down the stretch of game during this winnning streak, to finish off teams. They’ll need to take advantage of free throw opportunities because that’s an area they could have an advantage over Creighton.

Prediction: (3) Providence 72 6) Creighton 70

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Mike Hopkins

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