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Big East Tournament 2018 Game Notes & Preview: (5) Providence (21-12, 10-8) vs (2) Villanova (29-4, 14-4) 3/10/18

Where: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

When: 6:30pm EST

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

Current Odds: pcbb1917 Odds Central

Tickets: SeatGeek

Game Notes

  • Providence and Villanova will meet for the 102nd time ever on Saturday. Villanova leads the all-time series, 62-39, which includes a split of the season series in 2017-18 with each team winning on their home court. Providence is 1-10 all-time against Villanova on neutral courts, including a 1-8 record against the Wildcats in the Big East Tournament.
  • Providence is 64-59 all-time at Madison Square Garden including 2 NIT titles (1961 and 1963), 2 Big East Tournament titles (1994 and 2014) and a 4-0 record this season with 2K Classic wins over Washington and Saint Louis in November and their 2 wins in the Big East Tournament this week.
  • Villanova is 29-4 this season with all 4 losses coming during Big East play. The Wildcats, who failed to win the Big East regular season for the first time in this configuration, defeated Marquette in the quarterfinals and then Butler in the semi’s. Villanova is coached by Jay Wright who is in 17th season at the helm of the program. Wright is the longest tenured head coach in the Big East. The Wildcats are led in scoring by junior Jalen Brunson who is averaging 19.0 points/game. Redshirt freshman Omari Spellman leads the team in rebounding at 7.8 rebounds/game.
  • The Friars defeated Xavier in overtime, 75-72, in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament on Friday at MSG.
  • Providence senior forward Rodney Bullock went over 1,000 points in his career against Boston College on November 25th. He became the 48th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points. Bullock is the 17th-fastest Providence player, tied with Eric Murdock, to score his 1,000th point (73 games). Bullock’s current place on the list is 21st with 1,372 points. He is 52 points behind Bob Cooper.
  • Providence senior guard Kyron Cartwright continues his drive up the all-time assist record list at Providence. He began the season tied for 12th with John Linehan (450). Cartwright has 181 assists through 32 games. He has 631 assists in his career, which places him 3rd all-time at Providence. Next on the list in front of Cartwright is Ernie DiGregorio (662). Cartwright recorded his 500th career assist against URI on December 2nd. He is the 7th Providence player to record at least 500 career assists and the 3rd Friar with 600 career assists. Cartwright notched a career-high 15 assists in Providence’s win at St. John’s on December 28th. He recorded his 600th assist in the first half of Providence’s game at Butler on February 17th. Cartwright also surpassed the 1,000 point marker on February 21st against Seton Hall. Cartwright became the 49th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points in a career at Providence and he’s the third player to combine that with at least 600 career assists.
  • Providence officially announced on November 29th that Emmitt Holt would miss the entire 2017-18 season as a redshirt while he continues to recover from abdominal surgery. Holt has been off campus recovering, but is expected to return to school in January. Holt did return to school over the MLK weekend and is back with the team, though he remains out of competition this season.
  • Providence announced on January 11th that former Friar Ernie “Pop” Lewis passed away. Lewis was a key member of Providence’s 1987 Final Four team. You can read the official release and watch a tribute video here.
  • Big East Tournament 2018 Opening Line: (5) Providence +12.5 vs (2) Villanova 3/10/18

Game Preview

Providence and Villanova will meet for the 102nd time ever on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in the finals of the Big East Tournament. The game will tip at 6:30pm and be televised on FOX. Providence and Villanova have met 11 times on neutral courts with the Friars winning just 1 of those meetings.

The Cardiac Cooley’s stormed all the way back from 17 down in their semifinal matchup with Xavier on Thursday to beat the Musketeers in overtime and advance to their second Big East Tournament title game in the last 5 seasons. Villanova has had less stressful wins over Marquette by 24 and Butler by 19.

The probable starters are:

Providence
Villanova

The keys to victory for Providence are to defend the 3-point line and continue to play gritty basketball. Villanova is a very dangerous from beyond the arc. They are 19-2 this season when making 10 or more 3-pointers with both losses coming when their opponent made more than them. The Friars will either need to get hot from beyond the arc to win or they will have to force this game into the mud and hope to out-tough the Wildcats in a low-scoring battle.

Prediction: Providence 70 Villanova 75

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Mike Hopkins

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