Pacific-Providence Preview

March 18, 2004

From the Associated Press

GAME: No. 12 Pacific (24-7) vs. No. 5 Providence (20-8).
REGIONAL: St. Louis, First Round.
TIME: Friday, 7:25 p.m. EST.
SITE: Kemper Arena; Kansas City, Mo.

Providence would like nothing more than to give its coach his first NCAA tournament win. The Friars will need to start playing better to accomplish that goal when they face surging Pacific.

The Friars, who were once ranked 12th in the nation, dropped to No. 20 and squandered a chance to capture the Big East title following home losses to Pittsburgh and Boston College at the end of the regular season.

Providence then lost to Villanova in its conference tournament opener last week.

Coach Tim Welsh, in his third year with the Friars, is 0-2 in NCAA tournament games, suffering first-round losses with Iona in 1998 and Providence in 2001.

This season under Walsh, Providence tied a school record by going 11-5 in conference play. However, the Friars have lost their last three following a season-high six-game win streak, which included victories over defending national champion Syracuse, Villanova and Boston College.

"Defense has been our staple," Welsh said after the loss to Villanova. "The last three games, it's let us down. We had a soft interior defense. It's hard to understand. We've got to get better.

"We've got a week to get better."

Providence's success this season has been in large part due to the rapid development of junior forward Ryan Gomes, who averaged a team-high 18.6 points and 9.3 rebounds. Gomes was named to the All-Big East first team.

Providence is 5-1 all-time against Big West opponents, but has not played a team from the conference since 1977.

If the Friars could have hand-picked their first-round opponent, the Tigers likely would not have been their choice.

Pacific enters its sixth NCCA tourney on a 15-game win streak and has won 19 of 20. The Tigers went 17-1 en route to a share of the Big West title, and beat Cal State Northridge for the tournament championship.

Bob Thomason was named the league's coach of the year after Pacific tied a school record with 24 wins. Thomason turned around a team that lost nine of its last 10 games and finished 12-16 last season.

Senior guard Miah Davis, the conference player of the year, made a pair of clutch free throws in the championship game, finishing with 11 points.

"You have to feel comfortable, confident and relaxed in a situation like that," said Davis, who shot 85.1 percent from the free-throw line this season. "I was feeling kind of happy. I had a grin on my face. I laugh at the line."

This is the first meeting between Providence and Pacific.

PROBABLE STARTERS: Pacific - F Tom Cockle (6.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg), F Christian Maraker (13.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg), C Guillaume Yango (10.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg), G David Doubley (8.2 ppg, 3.2 apg), G Davis (14.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg). Providence - F Gomes (18.6 ppg, 9.3 rpg), F Rob Sanders (11.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg), C Shieku Kabba (10.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg), G Donnie McGrath (10.3 ppg, 3.5 apg), G Marcus Douthit (5.8 rpg, 2.2 apg).

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Pacific - Automatic bid, Big West Conference champion. Providence - At-large berth.

ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Pacific - 2-6, 5 years. Providence - 14-15, 14 years.

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Nebraska on November 7, 2026 at TBA

Providence College Athletics

Related News

Related Videos