Game Notes & Preview: Providence (13-9, 3-6) vs Georgetown (14-8, 4-5) 2/6/19

Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI

When: 7:30pm EST

How: FS1 (Dave O’Brien and 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 Georgetown will meet for the 74th time ever on Wednesday. The Hoyas hold the advantage in the all-time series, 45-28. The Friars dropped their game in Washington DC a few weeks ago in double overtime despite having late leads in both regulation and the first overtime.
  • Georgetown is 14-8 overall and 4-5 in Big East play this season. The Hoyas own home wins against Providence and Xavier and have beaten Butler and St. John’s on the road. Three of their five losses in league play have been at home. Patrick Ewing is in his 2nd season at the helm of the Georgetown 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.
  • Providence junior Alpha Diallo is 12 points away from 1,000 in his career. He would become the 50th Providence player to score at least 1,000 points in his career.
  • The Friars dropped their last game, 67-55, at DePaul on Saturday for their second straight loss.
  • Opening Line: Providence -4 vs Georgetown 2/6/19

Game Preview

Providence and Georgetown will meet for the 74th time ever on Wednesday. The Friars are 28-45 against the Hoyas, including a loss on the road a few weeks ago in double overtime. Mac McClung was a hero in that game, as was fellow freshman James Akinjo. The Friars are in desperate need of a win on their home floor. Providence is currently in 9th place in the Big East, a half game ahead of Xavier. The Musketeers have lost 5 straight.

The Hoyas have been vulnerable on defense in Big East play after playing a very soft non-conference schedule. Their Adjusted Defensive Efficiency in league games ranks 7th and they have gotten beat up inside by their opponents, who score 49.9% of their points from 2-point range, the 2nd highest rate in Big East play.

The probable starters according to the game notes are:

Providence
Georgetown

The keys to victory for Providence are to defend the 3-point line and keep Georgetown off the foul line. The Hoyas are second in Big East play in 3-point % at a blistering 40.2%, just 0.4% behind Creighton. They score 37.7% of their points from beyond the arc. Georgetown also gets to the free throw line often, the 2nd best rate in league play. The best at doing this on the roster is Akinjo. He has the 150th best FT rate in the country and has made 81.5% of his team-leading 119 attempts.

Prediction: Providence 70 Georgetown 69

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