Men's Basketball Game Notes vs. St. John's

Friars To Play St. John's On February 6: The Friars will host St. John's on Saturday, February 6 at 2:00 p.m. on FS1. St. John's holds a 62-54 edge in the series with Providence. The teams have met every year since the 1969-70 season. The Friars hold a 28-23 edge at home, while St. John's has a 33-20 edge in New York, and PC has posted a 6-6 mark versus the Red Storm on neutral courts. In the first meeting between the two teams last season, the Friars earned a 63-58 win in Providence on January 15, 2020. In the second meeting last season in New York, the Red Storm posted an 80-69 win over the Friars on February 12, 2020.

Friar Tid Bits Entering Saturday's Game:
*The Friars are 4-1 in their last five games versus St. John's, including a 3-0 mark in Providence.
*Ed Cooley has posted a 12-6 mark all-time versus St. John's as a head coach.
*Three of the Friars' seven league losses have been by a combined four points (Creighton 67-65; at Xavier 74-73 and at Georgetown 73-72.
*The Friars have had four games postponed due to opponents having COVID issues (Xavier on Dec. 12, UConn on Dec. 17, DePaul on Dec. 17 and Georgetown Jan. 16).
*The Friars are 1-2 this season vs. Power 5 teams with a win versus TCU (Big 12) and losses to Indiana (Big 10) and Alabama (SEC).
*The Friars are 5-2 this season at Alumni Hall, 3-5 on the road and 1-2 in neutral site games.
*The Friars were picked third of 11 teams in the Preseason BIG EAST Coaches' Poll.
*Sophomore guard Jared Bynum suffered a lower body injury on Jan. 2 vs. Creighton. He has missed the last seven games since the injury. His status is day-to-day. The Friars have posted a 2-5 mark in the seven games he has missed.
*David Duke was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Jan. 11 - he has been named to the league honor roll three times this season and he has earned one player of the week honor
*David Duke needs 64 points to reach 1,000 for his career..
*Nate Watson (310 pts) and David Duke (323 pts) have scored 49 percent (633 pts) of the team's 1,281 points this season. Nine other players have combined to score 648 points.
*David Duke had a season high of 31 points vs. Marquette on Jan. 27. It was his second 30-point game this season.
*Nate Watson registered a career-high 29 points in the Friars' win at No. 11 Creighton on Jan. 20.
*Nate Watson was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Jan. 25. He has earned that honor four times this season.
*Ed Cooley earned his 275th win as a head coach (282-200) in a win over Davidson on Dec. 1.
*Nate Watson scored his 1,000th career point on Dec. 20 versus Seton Hall. He now has 1,166 career points.
*Ed Cooley is wearing a towel on his shoulder this season to honor his mentor, longtime Georgetown Head Coach and former Friar, John Thompson '64.

Reeves Named To BIG EAST Honor Roll: Junior AJ Reeves (Roxbury, Mass.) averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in two games last week. For his efforts, he was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on February 1. Reeves shot 44 percent from the field (12-27), including 40 percent (8-20) from three-point territory. He also was 9-9 from the free throw line. He scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds in the Friars' OT win over Marquette on January 27. On January 29, he scored 28 points, grabbed five rebounds and had five assists in the Friars' loss at Georgetown. Reeves was 6-12 from three in the game.

Breed Notches A Double-Double At Villanova: Freshman Alyn Breed (Powder Springs, Ga.) had a game and career highs in points (18) and rebounds (11) in the Friars' loss at Villanova on January 23. It was Breed's first career double-double.

Watson Leading The Friars In Rebounding: Senior Nate Watson (Portsmouth, Va.) is leading the Friars in rebounding (6.8 rpg). He also ranks second on the team in scoring (17.2 ppg). In 18 games this season, he has recorded four double-doubles and five games with 20 or more points. Watson is shooting 61 percent (125-206) from the field.

Duke First On The Team In Scoring And Assists, Second In Rebounding: Junior David Duke (Providence, R.I.) leads the Friars in scoring (17.9 ppg). He also leads the team in assists (5.0 apg). He also is second on the team in rebounding (6.0 rpg). Duke is shooting 40 percent (107-266) from the field, including 42 percent (38-91) from behind the arc.

Duke Registers His Second 30-Point Game Of The Season: Junior David Duke (Providence, R.I.) scored a season-high 31 points in the Friars' win over Marquette on January 27. He was 10-22 from the field, including 4-8 from three. He also scored 30 points while shooting 11-18 from the field, including 7-9 from three-point territory in the Friars' loss at Xavier on January 10. Duke has posted three 30-point efforts in his career.

Duke Played 48 Minutes Vs. DePaul: Junior David Duke (Providence, R.I.) played 48 of the 50 minutes in the Friars' double overtime win over DePaul on December 27. It was the most minutes played by a Friar in a single game since Bryce Cotton played 50 minutes in a double overtime win over Marquette on March 4, 2014. Duke is first in the conference in minutes played at 37.6 mpg.

Nate Watson Registers His 1,000th Career Points: Senior Nate Watson (Portsmouth, Va.) scored his 1,000th career point on December 20 in the Friars' win at Seton Hall. He became the 51st Friar all-time to register 1,000 career points. In 110 career games, Watson has registered 1,188 points (10.4 ppg).

Duke Named BIG EAST Player of the Week On Dec. 14: It was announced on December 14 that junior guard David Duke (Providence, R.I.) was named BIG EAST Player of the Week. Duke, who was named Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team, earned the league Player of the Week accolades for the first time in his career. In the Friars' only game of week, Duke led the Friars with 28 points and seven assists in the team's 79-70 win at TCU on December 9. It marked Duke's second consecutive game with 28 points. Duke was 11-19 from the field, including 5-8 from three-point territory in the win.

Duke Named To Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team: Junior David Duke (Providence, R.I.) averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three games in the Maui Invitational and was named to the Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team on December 2 .

Ed Cooley Wearing A Towel In-Game To Honor John Thompson: Friar Head Coach Ed Cooley will wear a towel on his shoulder each game to honor the late John Thompson. Thompson was a 1964 graduate of Providence College. "Coach Thompson was a friend and a mentor to me. The things he did for a coach like me were tremendous. I owe him this appreciation." - Ed Cooley.

Friars At Alumni Hall: The Friars opened the season on Wednesday, November 25 at Alumni Hall versus Fairfield. The game marked the Friars' first regular-season contest at Alumni Hall since the squad opened the season on November 10, 2017 with an 84-55 win over Houston Baptist. Prior to that, the team's last game at Alumni Hall was on March 1, 1972 when Providence defeated St John's 73-65. The Friars played their home games at Alumni Hall from 1955-72. The Friars have compiled a 184-31 mark (.856) in the arena over 19 seasons. Over the last 48 seasons, the squad has posted a 587-235 record (.714) at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Downtown Providence.

Friars Picked Third Of 11 Teams In Preseason BIG EAST Coaches' Poll: It was announced on October 28 during the BIG EAST Virtual Media Day that the Friars were selected to finish third of 11 in teams in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Friars, who return three starters from last season, finished 2019-20 with a 19-12 overall mark and a team record 12 wins in BIG EAST play. The Friars entered the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament as hot as any team in the country. The team had won six straight and eight of 10 games to close the regular season with a NET ranking of 37. The squad finished fourth in league standings and was set to play fifth-seeded Butler on March 12 in the BIG EAST Tournament. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the BIG EAST and NCAA Tournaments were cancelled. The Friars were projected to be a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Duke And Watson Earn BIG EAST Preseason Honors: It was announced on October 28 that junior guard David Duke (Providence, R.I.) and senior center Nate Watson (Portsmouth, Va.) were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Teams. Duke was named to the First Team and Watson earned Second Team honors. Duke had a strong sophomore season as he improved in each significant statistical category from his freshman season. His points per game improved from 7.1 in 2019 to 12.0 in 2020. His rebounding also improved from 2.6 rpg to 4.0 rpg. His shooting took a dramatic rise with his field goal percentage (.387 to .409), three-point field goal percentage (.297 to .420) and free-throw percentage (.689 to .793) all making improvements from freshman through sophomore seasons. In 2019-20, he finished fourth in the league in three-point shooting (42.0 percent) and steals per game (1.5). He also finished first on the team in three-point shooting (42-100, .420) and assists (97, 3.1 apg). Duke also was second on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg). He recorded a career-best game at Creighton on January 18, 2020 when he scored 36 points and was 6-8 from three-point territory. In 2019-20, Watson finished fourth on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg). He led the squad and ranked ninth in the league in field goal percentage at 51.1 percent. He reached double figures in scoring in 11 of the 27 games he played. Watson also was third on the team in rebounding at 4.6 boards per game.

Geeter And Castro Each Sign A NLI To Attend Providence In 2021-22: Providence College men's basketball coach Ed Cooley announced today (Nov. 13) that student-athletes Legend Geeter (River Rouge, Mich.) and Rafael Castro (Dover, N.J.) each have signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Providence College beginning in September 2021. Geeter, a 6-foot-8-inch, 220-pound forward, is in his senior year at River Rouge High School. He is coached by LaMonta Stone at River Rouge. Last season, Geeter averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks per game while helping lead River Rouge to a 20-1 mark. For his efforts, he earned The Detroit News Division 1 First Team All-State honors. River Rouge, which has won more state titles (14) than any other program in Michigan, was ranked No. 1 in the state and looking to capture the state title in 2020 when the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Geeter is a 2021 candidate for Mr. Basketball, which is an annual award given out each year to the top player in the state. Former Friar LaDontae Henton of Lansing was a runner up for Mr. Basketball honors in 2011. Geeter played AAU basketball for The Family, which is where former Friars Henton and Junior Lomomba also played. He is ranked as the 48th best power forward in the county and the fifth best in Michigan by 247Sports.com. Rivals.com has Geeter ranked as the 37th power best forward in the nation. Castro, a 6-foot-10-inch, 200-pound forward attends Dover High School. As a junior at Dover, he averaged 20.3 points, 16.3 rebounds, 4.7 blocks, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals. He is coached by Billy Connors. Castro played for the Dominican Republic at the 2019 CentroBasket U17 Championship. He averaged 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds while helping the team to a fourth-place finish. Castro played AAU ball for Team Rio University. He is ranked as the 30th best power forward in the country and the third best player in New Jersey, according to 247Sports.com. Rivals.com ranked Castro as the 136th best player in the country and the No. 23 power forward.

Friars All-Time Versus Top-25 Teams: The Friars have posted a 122-271 (.310) mark all-time versus top-25 teams, including a 1-2 mark this season.

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 190- 131 mark in 10 seasons as the Friars head coach.

Friars Are 68-5 In Non-Conference Home Games Under Ed Cooley: The Friars have posted a 68-5 mark in 10 seasons under Ed Cooley in non-conference home games.

Friars In Overtime: The Friars recorded a 3-0 mark in overtime games this season. They have registered a 68-67 mark all-time in overtime games.

"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 basketball 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.

Providence College Basketball: The 2020-21 campaign marks the 94th season of basketball at Providence College. Since the program started in 1926-27, Providence has posted a 1,491-1,004 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

Alyn Breed

Jared Bynum

David Duke

Nate Watson

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