Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Pitt (Exhibition) on October 19, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
Men's Basketball
at Pitt (Exhibition)
2:00 p.m.
Providence College Athletics
Saturday, January 7
Providence, R.I.
7:30 PM EST
Providence College
67
vs
72
Louisville *
No. 9/8 Cardinals Edge Friars, 72-67
1/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Jan. 7, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Freshman Andre McGee scored four of his season-high 12 points in the final 1:22 and No. 9 Louisville beat Providence 72-67 Saturday night, the Cardinals' first win as a member of the Big East.
The game was a return for Rick Pitino, who led Providence to the Final Four in 1987 before leaving for two stints in the NBA surrounding a run at Kentucky where he won a national championship in 1996.
The fans at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, it was the Providence Civic Center when Pitino coached here, gave the former coach a standing ovation when he was introduced, but that was long forgotten by the time McGee came up big as the Cardinals (12-2, 1-1) scored the game's final six points.
Freshman Weyinmi Efejuku had a season-high 19 points for the Friars (7-6, 0-2), including the free throw that capped a 12-2 run and gave Providence a 67-66 lead with 1:43 to play.
McGee then scored on a drive with 1:22 left to give Louisville the lead for good. After a missed layup by Sharaud Curry of Providence, McGee, a 5-foot-11 guard, again went strong to the basket and was fouled as he scored with 50 seconds to play. He missed the free throw to complete the three-point play, but Donnie McGrath of the Friars missed a 3 to tie with 16 seconds left.
Terrance Farley and Chad Millard each added a free throw in the final 13 seconds for the final margin.
David Padgett had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Louisville, while Taquan Dean had 14 points.
McGrath had 14 points for the Friars and Randall Hanke added 11.
Neither team was able to generate any consistent offense in a game that featured the clutch-and-grab style of defense that was prevalent in the Big East in Pitino's first go-around.
Padgett and Juan Palacios both fouled out for Lousiville and freshmen Geoff McDermott, who had nine points and 10 rebounds, fouled out for the Friars.
Pitino had a 42-23 record in his two seasons at Providence, including 25-9 his last season when the Friars rode some hot 3-point shooting in the NCAA tournament to the Final Four.
This was the first time the schools met since a 71-55 Louisville victory on Jan. 27, 1981 that evened the series 4-4.
The Friars dropped to 0-3 at home this season against Top Ten teams having lost to Florida and Memphis in December. Florida is coached by Billy Donovan, one of the three 3-point specialist on Pitino's Final Four team.
Providence broke out new silver uniforms for the occasion, replacing their white home uniforms.
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Forward/Guard
/ Men's Basketball2018-2019 Men's Basketball Highlight Video
Saturday, April 13
