Men's Basketball Game Notes vs. No. 10 Seton Hall

Friars To Play At Seton Hall On February 15: The Friars will play No. 10/10 Seton Hall on Saturday, February 15 at 8:00 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Saturday's game is the 107th meeting all-time between Providence and Seton Hall with the the series tied at 53-53. The Friars are 28-16 at home, 21-31 at Seton Hall and 4-6 in neutral arenas versus the Pirates. In Providence's first meeting with Seton Hall this season, the Pirates defeated the Friars, 73-64, in Newark, N.J. The last time the two teams met in Providence, the Friars defeated Seton Hall, 72-63, on January 15, 2019 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

Friar Tid Bits Entering Saturday's Game:
*Saturday's game will mark the Friars' annual Pink Out. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and to "Stand Up to Cancer." Rhode Island Medical Imaging is serving as the presenting sponsor. Fans will be encouraged to fill out a "Stand Up to Cancer" sign that will allow them to recognize someone in their fight against cancer.
*The Friars are 6-6 in BIG EAST play this season (3-2 at home, 3-4 on the road).
*The Friars' have posted a 2-4 record this season versus ranked teams.
*The Friars have won their last two games versus ranked teams this season.
*The Friars' last win over a top-10 team was a 76-71 victory over No. 3/2 Villanova on 2/14/18 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
*The Friars are a combined 11-5 on Tuesdays (4-1), Saturdays (6-4) and Sundays (1-0). *The Friars are a combined 2-7 on Wednesdays (2-3), Thursdays (0-1) and Fridays (0-3). *The Friars posted a 4-4 mark in Nov., a 4-2 record in Dec., a 3-4 record in Jan. and a 2-2 mark in Feb.
*The Friars are shooting 37.1 percent (94-253) from three-point territory at home (12 games) and 27.1 percent (72-266) in 13 games away from the Dunkin' Donuts Center. *The Friars rank first in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds (13.4)
*The Friars rank third in the BIG EAST in steals (8.3).
*Friar senior Alpha Diallo leads all active BIG EAST players in career rebounding with 429 boards in league regular-season games.

Friars All-Time Versus Top-25 Teams: The Friars have posted a 118-269 (.305) mark all-time versus top-25 teams, including a 2-4 mark this season.

Diallo Leads Team In Scoring And Rebounding: Senior forward Alpha Diallo (New York, N.Y.) is averaging 13.2 points and 8.1 rebounds through 25 games this season. He leads the team in scoring and rebounding. Diallo has posted a double-double in eight of the Friars' 25 games, including a 19-point, 17-rebound effort at St. John's on February 12. The 17 rebounds marked a career-high. He has registered 23 double-doubles in his four seasons at Providence.

Reeves Scores 22 Versus Creighton: Sophomore AJ Reeves (Roxbury, Mass.) scored 22 points after shooting 6-8 from three-point territory in the Friars' 73-56 win over No. 21/22 Creighton on February 5. It marked the third time in his career he registered six or more threes in a game. Reeves is averaging 7.2 points per game.

Duke Scoring And Assisting: Sophomore guard David Duke (Providence, R.I.) ranks second on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and he ranks first in assists (3.5 apg). Duke registered a career day when he scored 36 points in a 78-74 loss at Creighton on January 18. He recorded his BIG EAST career high when he posted eight assists in the Friars' win over Georgetown on December 31.

Duke Milestones In 36-Point Performance At Creighton On Jan. 18:
*Career-high 36 points (12-18 FG, 6-8 3PT FG, 6-7 FT)
*Career-high 3-point effort (six)
*Career-high field goals (12)
*Ninth most points scored in a BE regular-season game ever by a Friar
*Most points scored by a Friar since Ben Bentil scored 42 in 2OT at Marquette (2/10/16)
*First 30-point game by a Friar since Rodney Bullock had 31 vs Sacred Heart (12/22/17)

Pipkins Leads Friars In Road Win At Butler: Graduate student Luwane Pipkins (Chicago, Ill.) scored a game-high 22 points, including a 10-10 performance from the free-throw line in the team's 65-61 win at No. 16/17 Butler on February 1. Pipkins was 6-6 from line in the final 27 seconds of the game to seal the win. He has led the Friars to an 8-2 mark when he registers four or more assists in a game. Pipkins, who is in his first season with the Friars after transferring from UMass, is averaging 8.8 points per game. He leads the league in free-throw shooting at 96 percent (48-50).

Friars Win Two In A Row Vs. Ranked Teams: The Friars' 73-56 win over No. 21/22 Creighton on February 5 was the team's second consecutive win over a ranked squad. The last time the Friars had earned wins in consecutive games versus ranked teams was in 2015-16 when they defeated No. 18/24 Butler (1/19/16) and won at No. 4/4 Villanova (1/24/16).

Friars Play Five Straight Vs. Ranked Teams: From January 18 to February 5, the Friars played five consecutive games versus ranked teams (2-3). It was only the third time in the history of the program that the team had played five consecutive games versus ranked teams.

Diallo Surpassed 1,000 Career Points: Senior Alpha Diallo (New York, N.Y.) has recorded 1,484 career points in 124 games (12.0 ppg). He became the 50th player in Friar history to score 1,000 or more career points. Diallo ranks 19th all-time in scoring at PC.

Watson Scores 16 Points At Xavier: Junior Nate Watson (Portsmouth, Va.) scored a game-high 16 points in the Friars' loss at Xavier on February 8. The junior center is third on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg). He scored 18 points in the Friars' loss to Villanova on January 25. Last season, Watson ranked first on the team in field goal percentage (59 percent), second in scoring (11.7 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.2 rpg).

Breed Signs NLI To Attend Providence: Ed Cooley announced on November 13 that student-athlete Alyn Breed (Powder Springs, Ga.) has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Providence College beginning in September 2020. Breed attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Breed, a 6-foot-3-inch, 185-pound shooting guard, enters his first season at IMG. In 2018-19, he attended McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Ga. Breed, who averaged 14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists last season, helpedlead McEachern to a 32-0 mark with wins over eight nationally ranked high schools. The squad captured the Georgia Class 7A State Championship. The team also won tournament titles at the City of Palms Classic, the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions and the Hoophall Classic. In the summer of 2019, Breed played for the AOT Running Rebels.

Diallo Named Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team: It was announced on October 10 that senior forward Alpha Diallo (New York, N.Y.) was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team. Diallo was a unanimous First Team selection as voted on by the coaches. The senior forward was named Second Team All-BIG EAST in 2018-19.

Ed Cooley Was Inducted Into The Stonehill Hall of Fame On Nov. 1: Providence College men's basketball Head Coach Ed Cooley was inducted into the Stonehill College Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, November 1. Cooley, a product of Central High School in Providence, was a member of the men's basketball program at Stonehill between 1989 and 1994, serving as team captain for three seasons. He finished his career with 795 points, 594 rebounds and over 100 assists in 107 career games. Cooley helped Stonehill to four Northeast-10 Tournament appearances, reaching the semifinals his senior year, when he finished seventh among Northeast-10 Conference leaders with 7.0 rebounds per game.

Ed Cooley And Four Friars Help USA Pan Am Games Team To A Bronze Medal In August: A select team of men's basketball standouts from the BIG EAST Conference represented the United States at the 2019 Pan American Games. Head Coach Ed Cooley served as the head coach of the team and led the squad to a Bronze Medal. Four Friars were members of the team -- Alpha Diallo (New York, N.Y.), David Duke (Providence, R.I.), A.J. Reeves (Roxbury, Ma.) and Nate Watson (Ports- mouth, Va.). It represented the first time a team from a single Division l conference represented the U.S. in the sport of men's basketball in Pan American Games competition. Diallo led the team in scoring (15.0 ppg) and rebounding 5.6 (rpg).

Ed Cooley Ranks Third On The PC All-Time Win List: With the Friars' win versus Butler on March 9, 2019, Ed Cooley recorded his 161st victory as the Friar Head Coach and moved into third place on the all-time win list for PC Head Coaches. The two all-time winningest Friar head coaches are: Joe Mullaney (319-164), and Dave Gavitt (209-84). Cooley has a 175-122 mark in nine seasons as the Friars head coach.

"DG" Patch On Friar Uniforms: In memory of former Friar Head Coach Dave Gavitt the Friars have worn a "DG" patch on their uniforms since the 2011-12 season. Gavitt led PC and Eastern basket- ball into the modern age. In 10 seasons as the head coach of the Friars, Gavitt led PC to 209 wins, including eight consecutive 20-win seasons, five NCAA appearances, three NIT appearances and five New England Coach of the Year honors. He led the Friars to 23 wins over Top-20 teams. His 1973 team made it to Final Four. In 1971, Gavitt was named Director of Athletics at PC, a position he held until 1982 when he resigned to be the director of the BIG EAST Conference. He also was named Head Coach of the 1980 USA Olympic basketball team. He was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Friars In Overtime: The Friars recorded a 1-0 mark in overtime games this season. They have registered a 65-67 mark all-time in overtime games.

Providence College Basketball: The 2019-20 campaign marks the 93rd season of basketball at Providence College. Since the program started in 1926-27, Providence has posted a 1,476-996 mark, good for a .598 winning percentage. The Friars have made the NCAA Tournament 20 times and the National Invitation Tournament on 20 occasions.

-GO FRIARS-

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Players Mentioned

Rodney Bullock

Alpha Diallo

David Duke

Luwane Pipkins

A.J. Reeves

Nate Watson