Friars Lose: (23) Providence 57, Seton Hall 61

Line Score

Stat Leaders

Game Recap

Providence and Seton Hall appeared a bit rusty to start with both teams coming off 11 days since their last games. The game was tied, 10-10, nearly 5 minutes into the action and the Friars went on a 9-0 run to have their largest lead of the night, 19-10, with 11:51 to go. Josh Oduro was perfect from the field in his first 6 attempts but the Pirates hit back, closing that first half on a 15-2 run over the final 8 minutes before the halftime break. Oduro would go on to miss his final 4 shots of the half. The pace of the game definitely favored Seton Hall and Providence was just 1/9 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of action.

The second half opened with both teams a little cold again and a few turnovers. Providence tried to cut into the lead but didn’t get closer than 3 a couple of times before disaster struck. Bryce Hopkins injured his left knee after throwing a lookahead pass to Devin Carter that resulted in a Carter fastbreak score to make it, 37-31, in favor of Seton Hall. It appeared to be an awkward landing on his left leg by Hopkins that was the cause of the injury after getting his feet tangled up with Dre Davis. After the game, Kim English offered thoughts and prayers to Hopkins and his family as they await an MRI result on Thursday. After Hopkins went to the locker room in obvious pain with 14:59 to go in the second half it seemed like the Friars were shell-shocked for awhile as the game sort of cruised along with Seton Hall maintaining 1 or 2 possession leads until Providence clawed back the lead with 6:37 to go in the game behind a Corey Floyd, Jr. alley-oop layup score after Floyd got the steal on the other end. The game was back and forth the next 3 or so minutes before Seton Hall quickly jumped up to a 6-point lead, 59-53, with 1:53 to go while the Friars missed good looks by on an airball 3-pointer by Floyd and two misses by Oduro. Oduro, who had a disastrous second half shooting just 3/11 had several clean looks near the rim in the final minutes including with the Friars down 2 and 8 seconds left. Dylan Addae-Wusu sealed the game at the free throw line and Seton Hall gets out of the Amica Mutual Pavilion with their 2nd straight win on the road against Providence. The Friars are 46-4 in their last 50 home games but just 1-2 against the Pirates in that span.

Providence shot just 37% from the field including 4/17 from beyond the arc. On the plus side, they shot 13/15 from the free throw line, which is one of their better performances at the charity stripe this season. Their defense wasn’t bad overall in this game allowing just 0.88 points per possession, but the offense was bad managing just 0.83 points per possession. All 3 losses this season have had offensive efficiency of 90.2 or worse, while all wins have been 99.8 or better and most well over 107. The only worse offensive night for Providence was in their road loss at Oklahoma in the Big East-Big 12 Challenge.

Next Game

Providence heads on the road for a game in Omaha on Saturday, January 6th, against the Creighton Bluejays. That game at the CHI Health Center tips off at 2pm on Fox Sports 1.

Seton Hall Box Score

Providence Box Score

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Mike Hopkins

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