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Game Notes & Preview: Providence (9-3) at Texas (7-3) 12/21/18

Where: Erwin Center – Austin, TX

When: 9:00pm EST

How: ESPN2 (Chuckie Kempf & Robbie Hummel)/WatchESPN app (where available)/WPRO 99.7 FM & 630AM, TuneIn and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

  • Providence and Texas will meet for the 6th time ever on Friday. The Longhorns hold the advantage in the all-time series, 3-2. The last meeting was at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on January 5, 2004 with Texas winning in overtime, 79-77. The Friars are 0-2 all-time at Texas.
  • Providence is 60-3 in non-conference games at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center under Ed Cooley.
  • Texas is 7-3 this season with results over North Carolina and Purdue being the best wins on opposite ends of a 3-game losing skid that featured a neutral court loss to Michigan State and then back-to-back home losses to Radford and VCU. Shaka Smart is in his 4th season at the helm of the Texas 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 will also add preferred walk-on Tommy Dempsey next season, the son of the Binghamton head coach announced via his Twitter on December 19th.
  • The Big East, USA Basketball and Providence announced on December 18th that the 2019 USA Pan American men’s basketball team will be represented solely by Big East players and coached by Ed Cooley.
  • The Friars recovered from a sleepy first half to roll against Albany, 73-43, in their final non-conference game at the Dunk this season. Alpha Diallo led the way with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th-career double-double.
  • Opening Line: Providence +9.5 at Texas 12/21/18

Game Preview

Providence and Texas will meet for the 6th time ever on Friday night. The game will be the 3rd in the series to be played in Austin with the Longhorns winning both of those, and Providence winning 2 of 3 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The last game these two played was an infamous one for Friar fans. Rick Barnes returned to Providence and defeated Tim Welsh’s team in overtime, 79-77, on January 5, 2004. That game featured a long review of a final basket by PJ Tucker that won the game for the Longhorns.

Providence head coach Tim Welsh, left, and Texas head coach Rick Barnes, center rear, watch a replay of the game-winning basket with officials Tim Higgins, center, front, and Robert Donato, right,at the end of over-time play in Providence, R.I., Monday, Jan. 5, 2004. Texas won the game 79-77 after forward P.J. Tucker scored a controversial basket with no time remaining on the clock.(AP Photo/Jim Rogash)

Texas is 7-3 this season with impressive wins over North Carolina and Purdue that sandwiched a 3-game losing streak that included home losses to Radford and VCU. The Longhorns beat Grand Canyon, 98-60, in their most recent out on Saturday and they’ll play one more non-conference game on December 28th against UT-Arlington after they Friars come to town and before starting Big 12 play on January 2nd against Kansas State.

The probable starters according to the game notes are:

Providence
Texas

The keys to victory for Providence are make outside shots and force Texas to shoot from the outside. A great way to win on the road is to get hot from beyond the arc. The Friars will miss A.J. Reeves in that regard, but Maliek White has picked up some of the scoring slack and it would be helpful to have Isaiah Jackson get back into shooting form against the Longhorns. Texas gets a high percentage of their points from beyond the arc, but they don’t make those shots at a very efficient clip. Their team field goal percentage dips from 41.5% against man-to-man to 34.9% when shooting against a zone. Look for Providence to mix in some 1-2-2 press and fall back to a zone. Rebounding will be key in the zone to deal with Texas’ length and size inside.

Prediction: Providence 69 Texas 68

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