Game Notes & Preview: Providence (10-4, 0-1) vs Villanova (10-4, 1-0) 1/5/19

Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI

When: 2:00pm EST

How: FOX (Tim Brando & Donny Marshall)/Fox Sports GO app (where available)/WPRO 99.7 FM & 630AM, TuneIn and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

• Providence and Villanova will meet for the 103rd time ever on Monday. The WIldcats hold the advantage in the all-time series, 63-39. The last meeting was in the championship of the 2018 Big East Tournament where Villanova won, 76-66, in overtime. Providence is 25-20 against Villanova all-time at home. The Friars and Wildcats split the regular season series last season with each team winning on their home court.
• Villanova is 10-4 overall and 1-0 in Big East play this season. The Wildcats’ best non-conference win was on a neutral court against Florida State and they defeated DePaul in their Big East opener last time out. Jay Wright is in his 18th season at the helm of the Villanova 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 opened Big East play with a home loss against Creighton, 79-68, behind a second half 3-point barrage from the Bluejays. Alpha Diallo led the way for Providence with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th career double-double.
• Opening Line: Providence +2.5 vs Villanova 1/5/19

Game Preview

Providence and Villanova will meet for the 103rd time ever on Saturday. The Friars are 25-20 against the Wildcats in Providence. The last meeting between these two teams was in the 2018 Big East Tournament Championship where Villanova defeated Providence, 76-66, in overtime to take the crown on their way to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and second national championship in the last 3 seasons.

Both Providence and Villanova are young teams this season. The Friars lost multi-year starters like Kyron Cartwright, Jalen Lindsey and Rodney Bullock while the Wildcats lost national player of the year Jalen Brunson, NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player Donte DiVincenzo, Big East Tournament MVP Mikal Bridges and Big East Rookie of the Year Omari Spellman. Those four Villanova players were all drafted in June’s NBA Draft.

The Friars and Wildcats had up and down moments during their non-conference schedules as young players replace veterans and each coaching staff continues to figure out how to get the best out of their current rosters. Villanova is coming off a home win in a tight game, 73-68, against DePaul at The Finn on Wednesday night. Providence lost on their home court, something Ed Cooley won’t like to do many more times this season, after Creighton got hot from 3-point range in the second half last Saturday.

The probable starters according to the game notes are:

Providence

• David Duke – #3 – Freshman
• Maliek White – #4 – Junior
• Alpha Diallo – #11 – Junior
• Jimmy Nichols – #10 – Freshman
• Kalif Young – #13 – Junior

Villanova

• Collin Gillespie – #2 – Sophomore
• Phil Booth – #5 – Redshirt Senior
• Eric Paschall – #4 – Redshirt Senior
• Saddiq Bey – #15 – Freshman
• Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree – #21 – Sophomore

The keys to victory for Providence are defend the 3-point line and make 3-point shots. Villanova isn’t an elite 3-point shooting team in terms of percentage, but they score more than 40% of their points from beyond the arc. In short, they are a bit of a volume 3-point shooting team. That’s how Jay Wright wants his team to play. Their pace is slower than normal, though they haven’t actually been as uptempo as many may think in years past. Running shooters off the 3-point line and preventing dribble penetration leading to kickouts will be the best way for Providence to keep Villanova’s offense in check. They don’t have a true center and play small, similar to Creighton.

On the other end of the floor, the Friars will need to take advantage of their possessions in a game that figures to feature around 65 total possessions. Providence hasn’t shot the ball particularly well, but they’ll be able to run some different types of lineups out there against Villanova will an extra shooter or two on the court due to the Wildcat’s lack of size. Look for Isaiah Jackson to be an x-factor in this game if the Friars are going to win.

Prediction: Providence 70 Villanova 69

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Mike Hopkins

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