Since joining the Big East in 2013, one thing has always been certain when Creighton treks out to Rhode Island: a tough, bruising battle against the Friars awaits. That stylistic clash is a big reason the Bluejays are just 4-8 on the road at Providence since joining the league (along with the fact that the Friars have generally been one of the league’s best teams over that span).
The 2025-26 Friars have deviated from that blueprint significantly. They’re the highest-scoring team in the Big East, averaging just shy of 89 points per game. Their defense gives up nearly 85 points per game, which ranks 350th in D1. But those raw totals are deceptive. The Friars play very, very fast, with an adjusted tempo of 72.9 (15th fastest in D1). Their average offensive possession lasts just 15.5 seconds (22nd fastest). With that sort of all gas, no breaks style, point totals are naturally going to be higher.
Tempo-adjusted stats are not nearly as extreme, though the general takeaway is the same: they’re an explosive offensive team with multiple weapons that can score in lots of ways, but their defense doesn’t apply much pressure and struggles to get stops. Providence’s adjusted offensive efficiency is 121.1 (36th nationally, 4th in the Big East), while their adjusted defensive efficiency is 108.7 (150th nationally, worst in the league). That AdjDE would be a season-worst mark for the Friars since KenPom began tracking such numbers in 1996-97.
Defensively, they simply don’t make teams uncomfortable, which manifests itself in several ways. First, Providence allows opponents to shoot 37.8% from three (341st in D1, last in the Big East). Second, they don’t turn opponents over (just 14.6% of possessions, 321st in D1 and well below the average of 17.3%). They also don’t get many live-ball turnovers/steals (8.6% of possessions, 262nd in D1). Both of those numbers have been significantly worse since Big East play started — they’re dead last in the league in both categories, forcing turnovers on just 12.5% of possessions and getting a steal on just 6.1%. Third, they don’t make teams beat them one-on-one, as their opponents have assisted on 57.4% of their field goals (82nd highest in D1). And fourth, they do a poor job of containing dribble penetration, allowing opponents to get a lot of looks in the paint.
Fortunately for the Friars, they have an elite rim protector in Oswin Erhunmwunse. He’s one of the best shot blockers in college hoops, swatting an absurd 11.7% of opponent’s shot attempts while he’s on the floor (11th most nationally). Erhunmwunse cleans up a lot of mistakes and gives them a safety net at the rim…when he can stay on the floor. He averages 6.0 fouls per 40 minutes, and has fouled out of two of their six Big East games so far while having four fouls in three others. As a result, he’s played just 55.1% of their possible minutes. And when he sits, they have very little rim protection — while still struggling to contain dribble penetration.
They also don’t get a lot of offensive rebounds (29.9% of missed shots, 212th in D1), so they’re usually in the hole on extra possession points (second chance points and points off turnovers) compared to their opponents. Combined with the fact that they also don’t draw a ton of fouls, their fate usually rests on simply outscoring their opponent. And at 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the Big East, that hasn’t happened enough to keep them above water. Still, the Friars’ road win at St. John’s is doing a lot of work in propping up their metrics; KenPom has them at #67, and they’re #86 in the NET despite that 1-5 league mark. So, too, is the fact that four of their five Big East losses have been by fewer than six points, and two have come in overtime.
Their explosive offense is led by the Big East’s leading scorer, 6’1” Vanderbilt transfer Jason Edwards, who averages 17.2 points, 3.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 35.3% from three. Edwards can score from everywhere on the floor and often has; he’s had 20 or more points six times, including 32 against Butler, 28 against Virginia Tech and 25 against New Hampshire. Edwards is battling a foot injury, and did not play earlier this week against Villanova after his plantar fasciitis flared up. If he can’t go, or is limited, it lowers Providence’s ceiling somewhat — but without him against Villanova they still scored 82 points, including 1.18 points per possession.
6’5” senior Jaylin Sellers had 24 points in that game, and is second on the team at 15.9 points per game. A physical scorer on the wing, Sellers averages 4.1 rebounds and shoots 40.9% from three (36-of-88) while also drawing 4.3 fouls per 40 minutes. And he’s automatic from the line — he’s made 55-of-62 (88.7%) to lead the Big East.
A pair of freshmen, Jamier Jones and Stefan Vaaks, have both adapted to the college game quickly. The 6’6” Jones averages 11.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and had 15 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals while shooting 5-of-7 from the from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line in their win at St. John’s. Nine of those points came in the final 6:32 of the game. He’s averaging 16.0 points and 4.6 rebounds over his last seven games, and has shot 77.8% (42-54) from the field over that span. Jones missed last weekend’s loss to Xavier with a shoulder injury, though he returned for the Villanova game.
Vaaks is a 6’7” freshman from Estonia, and has hit 46 threes to lead the team. Third in scoring at 14.2 points per game, Vaaks had 21 against Villanova earlier this week and 21 last weekend against Xavier, making three 3’s in both games.
Three returners complete their usual rotation. Senior guard Corey Floyd averages 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 39% from three. Sophomore Ryan Mela averages 7.9 points and 4.8 boards. And then there’s Erhunmwunse. Averaging 7.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, he also has 44 blocks through 17 games (2.6 per game). He doesn’t take a ton of shots, but when he does, he rarely misses (51-of-69, 73.9%).
“Providence is a team like Georgetown — very talented, lost some close games, great win at St. John’s,” Greg McDermott said after their win Tuesday. “We saw a desperate Georgetown team tonight, and we’ll see a desperate Providence team on Friday.”
Tip: 5:30pm
Venue: Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, R.I.
TV: FS1
Announcers: Alex Faust and Emeka Okafor
In Omaha: Cox channel 78 (SD), 1078 (HD); CenturyLink Prism channel 620 (SD), 1620 (HD)
Outside Omaha: FS1 Channel Finder
Satellite: DirecTV channel 219, Dish Network channel 150
Cable Cutters: Available on all major streaming platforms
Streaming on the Fox Sports app and website
Radio: 1620AM, 101.9FM
Announcer: John Bishop
Streaming on 1620TheZone.com and the 1620 The Zone mobile app
Simulcast on SiriusXM channel 388 as well as on the SiriusXM App
Live Stats:
Follow along on Stat Broadcast
Providence lost its final two Big East home games last season and is 0-3 at home in league play this winter. It’s the first time ever the Friars have ever lost five consecutive Big East home contests.
Providence opponents are shooting 37.8% from three-point range, a figure that ranks 352nd of 361 teams in the country. Creighton ranks 22nd in the country per KenPom in points that come from the three-point shot, as it accounts for 39.5% of its offense. Creighton is 5-0 this year when shooting 39% or better from three-point range.
With Tuesday’s OT win, Greg McDermott is now 18-14 in single-overtime games (10-8 at Creighton), 8-3 in double-overtime games (4-1 at Creighton) and 1-0 in triple-overtime games (1-0 at Creighton). McDermott’s first overtime game as a Division I head coach was a 2002 Northern Iowa win over Creighton. His first double-overtime game as a Division I coach was a 2004 victory over Missouri State in the MVC Tournament title game, which clinched his first appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a Division I head coach.
Creighton owns 32 victories since the start of the 2010-11 season after trailing by double-figures at some point, including rallies this season from 10 points down at both Villanova (25-15 on Jan. 7) and Georgetown (36-26 on Jan. 13). This is the fifth time under Greg McDermott that Creighton has had multiple wins after trailing by 10+ points in the same month, joining March of 2012, December of 2014, February of 2018 and November of 2021. Fifteen of those 32 comebacks have come away from home.
Austin Swartz made a career-high eight three-pointers on Jan. 13 vs. Georgetown. Swartz’s performance was tied for fourth-most trifectas in a game in program history. In the last 15 seasons, Swartz is just the third player to score at least 33 points, make eight or more three-pointers and shoot at least 75 percent from the field in the same Big East game. He joins current CU assistant coach Mitch Ballock on March 9, 2019, when he made 12-of-14 shots (including 11-for-13 from 3) to score 39 points vs. DePaul, as well as former Marquette standout Kam Jones vs. DePaul on Feb. 21, 2024 when Jones had 34 points, made 8-of-10 three-pointers and shot 12-for-15 from the field.
Providence leads the all-time series 21-17, including a 12-5 mark in Rhode Island. Since the Jays joined PC in the Big East in 2013, the Friars have won 15-of-28 contests at all sites.
Last season Creighton beat PC twice in the regular-season for just the second time, and first time since 2018-19.
On January 16, 2010, Creighton defeated Wichita State 57-56 for their seventeenth — 17th! — straight win at home in the series. And it featured one of the most bizarre endings you’ll see, as despite trailing by a point with 13.1 seconds left, the Shockers curiously elected not to foul (or the Jays successfully played keep away, depending on your point of view). Either way, instead of having to salt the game away from the line and on defense, CU ran out the clock. The full game, with the Qwest Center video feed and T. Scott’s call on 590AM, is on YouTube.
From Ott’s recap here on WBR:
Justin Carter kept the Jays in the game early with some free throws and some rebounds, even though the rest of the team’s shots weren’t falling. Darryl Ashford started and scored just 2 points, but his long arms at the top of the defense helped alter some Shocker passing lanes. Casey Harriman and Chad Millard continued their emotional efforts, taking charges and setting solid picks and screens, and converting a perfect 4-4 combined from the free throw line.
And while Kenny Lawson recorded another solid line (11 points, 7 rebounds) even though he had some short jumpers rim in and out, P’Allen Stinnett and Cavel Witter rose from the bench to put the Bluejays on their backs offensively when the Jays and the crowd needed it most. They struggled from the field just like everyone else in the game, but Witter and Stinnett kept attacking, kept their heads up. Stinnett finished with 14 points, Witter with 10; it was the first time either players had scored in double figures since the team’s trip to Indiana against Indiana State (Stinnett’s 19 points) and Evansville (Witter’s 12 points). Neither looked good against the Shockers a week before, yet both played integral parts down the stretch during Saturday’s win.
Creighton is favored by 1.5 points in Vegas, though KenPom has it the other way with Providence favored by a point. It figures to be a shootout — but with Creighton having a significant advantage defensively, I think the Jays get this one.
Bluejays 85, Friars 79