Xavier @ Providence preview
Amica Mutual Pavilion
Last Meeting ( Jan 26, 2022 ) Providence 65, Xavier 62
No. 11 Providence will try to take another step toward the first regular-season Big East title in program history when it hosts inconsistent Xavier on Wednesday night.
The Friars (22-3, 12-2) should have some momentum after rallying from a 19-point second-half deficit to stun host Butler 71-70 in overtime on Sunday.
"I don't know why we started so slow," Providence coach Ed Cooley said.
The Friars shot 41.7 percent for the game, which is respectable when considering they missed 18 of their first 21 shots. Perhaps it was a hangover from the tough loss to perennial conference powerhouse Villanova five days earlier, Providence's lone home defeat this season.
Providence also was able to slow down Butler's offense, limiting the Bulldogs to 45 percent shooting after halftime. Butler hit 51.9 percent of its shots in the opening half.
"I thought our defense picked up a little bit of intensity," Cooley said.
A problem for the Friars was the absence of grad transfer Al Durham (13.4 points, 3.2 assists), who sat out because of a sports hernia that has been bothering him for two weeks, Cooley said.
"I didn't think we had a lot of great rhythm" without him, Cooley said, adding, "Hopefully we can get him back because we need him. We're disheveled without him on the floor."
"We definitely missed Al," said center Nate Watson, who scored 22 points Sunday and is averaging 14.2 points. "We call him ‘The Closer.' He makes the free throws at the end. We missed a couple. ... I hope he gets better soon."
Providence will be going for a sweep of the Musketeers after winning 65-62 in Cincinnati on Jan. 26. In that game, Xavier (17-9, 7-8) rallied from a seven-point second-half deficit to take a two-point lead in the final minute, only to lose on Jared Bynum's 3-pointer with one second left.
The Musketeers lost 72-61 at No. 24 UConn on Saturday. They trailed by 17 at halftime and cut the deficit to four with 11 minutes left, but couldn't get closer. Xavier has lost two straight and six of its past nine games.
"It's a long season. It's a marathon," Xavier coach Travis Steele said, despite the fact his team has only four regular-season games left. "You've got to stick together. We're going to stay positive and we're going to get out of this rut."
The Musketeers shot only 38.3 percent overall and 29.4 percent from long range. Steele sometimes has criticized his team's shot selection this year, but not this time.
"I thought we took pretty good shots," he said. "I had no problem with the shots we were getting. I think we've got to finish through contact a little bit better. You can't be looking over at the officials."
Three-point specialist Nate Johnson (knee) sat out a second straight game. The timetable for his return is uncertain. Although he had been struggling, he was 2 of 4 from long distance in his most recent game, a home win against the Huskies on Feb. 11. Steele had expressed hope after that game that Johnson was emerging from his slump.
Other than Adam Kunkel's 3-of-4 performance, the Musketeers were 2 of 13 from beyond the arc Saturday.
--Field Level Media