Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI
When: 8:30pm EST
How: FS1 (Dave O’Brien & Andy Katz)/Fox Sports GO (where available)/WPRO 99.7 FM & 630AM, TuneIn and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV
Game Notes
- Providence and Fairleigh Dickinson will meet for the 4th time ever on Tuesday. The Friars hold the advantage in the all-time series, 2-1. The most recent meeting was in November 2011 and was Ed Cooley’s very first win as the head coach at Providence.
- Providence is 56-2 in non-conference games at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center under Ed Cooley.
- Fairleigh Dickinson is 3-2 this season with wins over non-Division 1 teams Queens College and NYIT, as well as Princeton of the Ivy League. The Knights have lost to Rutgers and, in their most recent game, to Lafayette. Greg Herenda is in his 6th season at the helm of the Fairleigh Dickinson program.
- Ed Cooley passed Al McClellan on the all-time wins list for Providence head coaches with the Friars’ win over Iona on November 24th. Cooley is now in 4th place.
- Providence was picked 3rd in the preseason Big East Coaches’ Poll. Junior Alpha Diallo was named to the Preseason First Team All-Big East and David Duke was Preseason co-Freshman of the Year with Villanova’s Jahvon Quinerly.
- Providence announced the signing of 2019 commit Greg Gantt on November 16th. Gantt, a native of North Carolina, is currently the only committed player for Providence next season.
- The Friars defeated Iona on Saturday, 91-79, in the first game of a 3-game home stand. Alpha Diallo led Providence with 23 points and 9 rebounds.
- Opening Line: Providence -17.5 vs Fairleigh Dickinson 11/27/18
Game Preview
Providence and Fairleigh Dickinson will meet for the 4th time ever on Tuesday night. This will be Providence’s first late weeknight tip of the season with the Friars and Knights scheduled to throw the ball up at 8:30pm, though that usually means closer to 8:45pm once the studio talking heads finish up after the earlier game. Providence is coming off a solid win over Iona where the Friars led comfortably most of the way before having to hold off the Gaels comeback attempt. The most notable thing to come out of Saturday’s game was that Ed Cooley appears to have found his rotation. Cooley had been shuttling in body after body and that seemed to impact his team’s offensive rhythm. The key players seem to now be identified as the starting 5 listed below, plus Maliek White, Isaiah Jackson and Nate Watson off the bench with a sprinkling of Emmitt Holt as he continues his slow return from abdominal surgeries.
The Knights lost at home to Lafayette on Sunday and their only win against a fellow Division 1 squad came over Princeton on the road. Greg Herenda’s team was blown out of the gym in the season opener against Rutgers, 90-55, and their other opponents were nearby Division II schools in Queens College and NYIT. The leading scorer is senior guard Darnell Edge, who is averaging 19.2 points/game while shooting 48.0% from 3-point range. Edge led the way for the Knights against Princeton with a career-high 28 points. The other key player for Fairleigh Dickinson is sophomore guard Xzavier Malone-Key who is also a sniper from deep at 48.3%.
The probable starters according to the game notes are:
Providence
- David Duke – #3 – Freshman
- AJ Reeves – #10 – Freshman
- Alpha Diallo – #11 – Junior
- Jimmy Nichols – #10 – Freshman
- Kalif Young – #13 – Junior
Fairleigh Dickinson
- Jahlil Jenkins – #3 – Sophomore
- Darnell Edge – #1 – Senior
- Xzavier Malone-Key – #5 – Sophomore
- Elyjah Williams – #21 – Sophomore
- Mike Holloway, Jr. – #34 – Senior
The keys to victory for Providence are defend the 3-point line and keep Fairleigh Dickinson away from offensive rebounds. Those are the two best things the Knights do on offense. Edge and Malone-Key want to shoot a bunch of 3’s and their big men Holloway and Kaleb Bishop look to get their team second chances off misses. Fairleigh Dickinson can’t stop the Friars from scoring, so limiting the amount of chances the Knights get will lead to a momentum building victory heading into Saturday’s rivalry game against the Rhode Island Rams.
Prediction: Providence 85 Fairleigh Dickinson 70
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