Providence was a popular dark-horse candidate to contend for the Big East title before the season started. And why not? They had an elite scorer, a great point guard, some nice complimentary pieces among their returning players, a respected coach, and a highly-touted recruiting class — and they were coming off a surprising 9-9 record in the Big East the year before, including a 7-2 mark over the second half of the season.
Then injuries, defections and other assorted nonsense sent their season into a skid. First, heralded freshmen Rodney Bullock and Brandon Austin were suspended for the entire season for violating the school’s code of conduct, and then Austin — a consensus Top 50 recruit expected to help lead the Friars back to glory — opted to transfer. Next, star point guard Kris Dunn suffered his second shoulder injury in as many years, sidelining him for the entire year.
It’s left Providence with a rotation of essentially six players, which has forced them to ride those six awfully hard. Superstar Bryce Cotton ranks second in the Big East in scoring (20.2), leads the league in assists per contest (5.8), and is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.68). He’s also played 94.1% of possible minutes he could play this year, third-most in the country, which is an average of 39.3 minutes a game. For comparison, three years ago Creighton fans on the Bluejay Underground nearly had an ulcer when Antoine Young averaged 35.7 minutes a game — and Cotton is playing nearly four more minutes a night than Young did that year.
He’s not alone, at least. LaDontae Henton plays 36.6 minutes a game, or 87.6% of the possible minutes he could play. A 6’6″ junior, Henton is no stranger to huge minutes, having averaged 34.2 as a sophomore and 37.2 as a freshman. His numbers are down across the board, both on average and on a game-by-game basis, from his career marks — he’s averaging one fewer rebound a game, and 0.5 fewer points. Those aren’t huge drops, but what jumps out to me is that he had 11 double-doubles last year, and 9 as a freshman — but just one this year. He’s been within one rebound or one bucket of a double-double just twice, for what it’s worth. That said, he remains a really solid contributor, averaging 12.8 points and 7.4 rebounds a game.
Second-leading scorer Tyler Harris, a 6’9″ sophomore, averages 13.4 points and 5.1 rebounds a game while playing 32.5 minutes a game. A transfer from NC State, Harris has been a productive player for the Friars in his first year in Providence but has also been prone to foul trouble in his first taste of Big East play — he fouled out against Georgetown, and had four against St. John’s. When he’s been on the floor, he’s performed admirably, scoring 16 points with 9 rebounds against #23 UMASS, 22 points and 9 rebounds against Seton Hall, and 18 points against St. John’s.
Kadeem Batts, a 6’9″, 245 pound senior, holds down the middle for the Friars and has surprisingly attempted more shots in the paint (169) than Cotton (155), though that’s probably a result of cleaning up missed shots at the rim. He’s a good, but not great, scorer, averaging 12.8 points with a game-high of 22 achieved twice this year. Batts plays the fewest number of minutes of Providence’s starters, averaging 29.8 minutes a game.
Rounding out the starting five is Josh Fortune, a 6’5″ sophomore who averages 6.3 points and 2.6 rebounds a game. That’s pretty much it in terms of players that contribute meaningful minutes, statistical or otherwise — Carson Desrosiers, a transfer from Wake Forest, is their sixth man, and he averages 4.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in 19.4 minutes a game. No one else averages more than six minutes a game, and even that’s deceiving. In their double-overtime win over St. John’s, two additional players saw the court (Lee Goldsbrough with five minutes, Brice Kofane with two), while both Cotton and Fortune played the entire game without a rest — all 50 minutes — and Henton and Harris played 46 and 44, respectively. The game before that, against Georgetown, Goldsbrough and Kofane combined to play 90 seconds, while Cotton again played every second — all 40 minutes; Fortune played 39, and Henton played 37.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention their free-throw shooting, because it’s fantastic. They lead the nation at the line, making 317-396, or 80.1%. Cotton shoots 87% (100-115), Batts shoots 74.4% (61-82), Harris is 84.1% (58-69), Henton is 83.3% (55-66) and Fortune is 80% (12-15). Against St. John’s, they made 30 of 36 tries, and 24 of 25 in regulation. There isn’t anyone in their rotation you can foul and reasonably hope for a miss — Batts is the worst, and he makes three-fourths of his shots — which is a huge asset in a tight game.
Even though the Friars pulled out the double-OT win over St. John’s Thursday night with just six players, they claim not to be running on fumes. Will they be able to keep up with the Jays’ fast-paced offense for 40 minutes? I have my doubts. Cotton is a terrific scorer, Henton and Harris are nice complimentary pieces, and Batts and Fortune would be solid players in smaller roles. Tasked with chasing Creighton’s plethora of shooters around the court, it will be very interesting to see if Providence’s home court advantage — long one of the toughest in the Big East — will be enough to compensate.
About the Friars: Eight of the Friars’ 17 games this season have been decided by four points or less, and they’ve posted a 5-3 mark in the those eight games … Four of those eight games have gone into overtime (including two double overtime games) … Bryce Cotton scored 21 points in the Friars’ double overtime win at St. John’s on Thursday night, marking the 11th time this season that he has scored 20 or more points in a game and the 39th time in his career he that has accomplished the feat. Here’s the craziest stat you’ll read this week, though: Cotton has scored 20 or more points in 35 percent of the games in his collegiate career … The Friars have posted a 103-236 (.304) mark all-time versus top-25 teams … The Friars average 71.8 points per game while shooting 41.3 percent from the floor, 33.2 percent from three-point range and a nation-best 79.7 percent at the line.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton has started 4-0 on the road this season with victories at Saint Joseph’s, Long Beach State, Seton Hall and DePaul, but they haven’t started 5-0 on the road since 1942-43. They began 4-0 on the road last year, also, but lost their fifth road game at Wichita State on January 19 … Creighton is 21-8 in true road games the past three years, and 33-12 when you also include neutral site games … Creighton has won each of its last three road games by double-figures, and last won four consecutive road games, all by double-digits, in 1964-65 … Ethan Wragge owns 992 career points, but just 26 two-point field goals. Only one player since 1997 has scored 1,000 career points with fewer than career 40 two-pointers, Butler’s Bruce Horan (2003-06), who finished his career with 1,018 career points and just 12 two-pointers, thanks to 314 treys and 52 free throws … Creighton has won its sixth game in conference play in 18 of the previous 19 seasons.
The RUN-DMD Show: For the second straight week and fifth time overall, Doug McDermott was named Big East Player of the Week on January 13th after averaging 26.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists as Creighton posted wins over DePaul and Xavier last week. He’s now been named a league Newcomer or Player of the Week in 25 of 58 weeks since enrolling at Creighton.
McDermott was also named National Player of the Week by the USBWA, NBCSports.com and CBSSports.
Out of Context Ron Swanson Quote: “I like saying ‘No,’ it lowers their enthusiasm.”
The Last Time They Played: On November 25, 2000, Creighton defeated Providence 63-51 in the Energia Systems Thanksgiving Tournament in Kansas City. The Jays trailed 33-26 at the half, but held the Friars to just 18 second-half points including an eight-minute stretch without a field goal. Meanwhile, Kyle Korver scored 11 of his 17 points after the break, and for the game the sophomore made 5-9 three-pointers. Ben Walker struggled horribly from the field, shooting just 2-12 overall and 0-5 from three-point range, but in classic Walker fashion dominated in other areas and finished with a double-double thanks to going 6-8 at the line. His 10 points and 10 rebounds, six of which came in the second half comeback, were key to the win.
The Series: Creighton and Providence have met 10 times, with the Friars emerging victorious six times. The Jays have just one win at Providence in five tries, a 68-64 win in February of 1970.
Gratuitous Linkage: Bryce Cotton damn near had a triple-double in the Friars’ double-OT win over St. John’s, scoring 21 points, and adding 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Here’s the Providence Journal’s recap of that win, including some comments on the heavy minutes their players are being asked to play.
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On January 18, 2003, Creighton defeated Southern Illinois 85-76 in front of 10,184 fans at the Civic Auditorium, one of the most fondly-remembered games of the Altman Era or any era, honestly. We looked back at that game as part of our “Bluejay Rewind” series this past summer, complete with highlights.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
The Bottom Line: Bryce Cotton proves hard to stop early and often, but eventually the Jays’ superior depth and fast pace wear down the Friars.
Creighton 80, Providence 68