Big East Season Opener – Game Notes & Preview: Providence (9-2) vs #6 Marquette (9-2) 12/19/2023

📅 Date & Time: Tuesday, December 19, 2023, at 8:30 p.m.

📍 Venue: Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, RI

📺 Broadcast: FS1 with John Fanta and Donny Marshall (Fox Sports App); Radio with John Rooke and Joe Hassett on WPRO-99.7 FM/630 AM (The Varsity Network App & YouTube); FriarTV

🤑 Opening Line: Providence +4.5, Over/Under 142.5

Providence College Friars:

• Record: 9-2
• Recent Performances:
  • Bryce Hopkins notched his 14th career double-double last time out against Sacred Heart with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Hopkins leads the Friars on the season with four double-doubles. Devin Carter (3) is the only other Providence player this season with more than 1.
• Providence vs:
  • Providence is 14-22 all-time against Marquette with a record of 11-20 since the Golden Eagles joined the Big East in 2005-06. The Friars are 9-6 at home against Marquette 4-straight home wins in the series with the last two coming with Marquette ranked in the Top-25 (22nd and 24th, respectively).
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points/Game – Bryce Hopkins, 17.2
  • Rebounds/Game – Bryce Hopkins, 8.3
  • Assists/Game – Devin Carter, 3.0
  • Minutes/Game – Bryce Hopkins, 33.7

Marquette Golden Eagles

• Record: 9-2
• Recent Performances:
  • Marquette ended their non-conference slate with a win over St. Thomas by just 5 points, 84-79.
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points/Game – Kameron Jones, 15.6
  • Rebounds/Game – Oso Ighodaro, 6.2
  • Assists/Game – Tyler Kolek, 5.9
  • Minutes/Game – Tyler Kolek, 30.8

Game Preview:

Providence opens Big East play for the first time in the Kim English era with a tough test against 6th-ranked Marquette at the AMP on Tuesday night. The Friars and Golden Eagles are each coming off lackluster efforts in their final non-conference games with Providence beating Sacred Heart by 14 in a game that was much closer for far too long and Marquette escaping against St. Thomas by just 5 points, allowing 79 points to a team in their 3rd season of Division 1 basketball who had a 7-4 record coming in with losses to Cal Poly (337 in Kenpom) and Green Bay (294 in Kenpom). The Friars were without Devin Carter and Corey Floyd, Jr. who were nursing minor injuries that weren’t serious enough to keep them off the court had the opponent been Marquette instead of the Pioneers of Sacred Heart, per a source with knowledge.

The “national” storyline in this game will be the return of Tyler Kolek to Rhode Island for possibly the final time in his college career. However, the much more interesting one to me is how Providence intends to mix and match their cadre of defensively talented guards and wings on the various weapons that Shaka Smart has on his roster. Smart and English are good friends and I’m sure that beyond the usual film watching coaches do ahead of upcoming matchups there is even a little more familiarity between those two coaches. I’m interested to see how Garwey Dual is used in this one and how he performs against some really talented players at the Big East level. I’m also interested to see how Jayden Pierre handles himself on the offensive end in a game the Friars will need to get good looks and make shots while looking to use their defense to drive the outcome.

The Friars have been a different team at home for much of the season than they have been on the road and on neutral sites. So far they haven’t shown any success against high major opponents beyond the one home opportunity against Wisconsin which felt like one of their best overall performances of the English era. It feels like this could be a game where the shot making finally starts as the juice of Big East play gets some of the players going. Look for Ticket Gaines to have a good game and for Josh Oduro to lead the team in assists tonight.

Score Prediction: Providence 79, Marquette 77 (OT)

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Mike Hopkins

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