Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Late Night Madness on October 4, 2025 at TBA
Men's Basketball
vs Late Night Madness
TBA
Providence College Athletics
Sunday, January 30
Providence, R.I.
12:30 PM
Providence College
18-2,8-1Big East
65
vs
63
Marquette University
15-7,7-4Big East
1
2
F
Marquette
29
34
63
Providence
23
42
65
Photo by: Ryan Feeney
No. 17/17 Men’s Basketball Holds Off No. 22/RV Marquette, 65-63
1/30/2022 3:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Nate Watson led the way for the Friars with a game-high 17 points.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The No. 17/17 Providence College men's basketball team defeated the No. 22/RV Marquette Golden Eagles, 65-63, on Sunday, January 30 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. With the win, the Friars improved to 18-2 overall for the first time since the 1976-77 season and 8-1 in BIG EAST play for the first time in program history. It was the team's second win of the week over a ranked team (defeated Xavier on Wednesday, 65-62) and fourth win of the season against a ranked opponent (4-0). Today's win marked the Friars' 600th all-time win at the Dunkin' Donuts Center (600-235). It also marked Head Coach Ed Cooley's 100th BIG EAST victory (100-90). Graduate student Nate Watson (Portsmouth, Va.) led the way for the Friars with a game-high 17 points. Graduate student Noah Horchler (Melbourne Beach, Fla.) recorded a double-double, with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Graduate student Justin Minaya (Harrington Park, N.J.) played a pivotal role on both ends of the floor, finishing with 14 points and six rebounds.
"The crowd helped us win today," Head Coach Ed Cooley said. "That was an incredible basketball game, but the crowd willed our men to win. It is a credit to our city and state that after having such a storm yesterday they could get the arena ready to play and our fans braved the elements. I can't thank them enough."
FIRST HALF:
- Watson opened the game for the Friars with an emphatic second-chance dunk.
- Marquette's Tyler Kolek got off to a hot start from three-point territory, knocking down his first two attempts from beyond the arc.
- The Golden Eagles held the Friars scoreless over a three-minute stretch early in the game. Jared Bynum (Largo, Md.) finished a contested layup to end the drought at the 13-minute mark. Marquette led 15-9.
- Each team endured some shooting struggles as the half progressed. Marquette maintained the lead.
- With the Friars trailing, Minaya and Horchler had three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Marquette led 21-17.
- At the 3:09 mark, Bynum stole the ball and A.J. Reeves (Roxbury, Mass.) finished off the play with a three-pointer. PC narrowed the gap to two points, trailing 23-21.
- Marquette's Darryl Morsell recorded five steals in the first half. The Friars had 10 turnovers as a team.
- The Golden Eagles led by six at halftime, 29-23.
- Providence shot 9-27 (33.3%) from the field, 4-13 (30.8%) from three, and 1-2 (50.0%) from the free throw line.
- Marquette shot 13-32 (40.6%) from the field, 3-13 (23.1) from three, and did not attempt any free throws.
SECOND HALF:
- Marquette had a strong start to the half and extended their lead to nine. At the 17:52 mark, Reeves answered with his second three-pointer of the game.
- Marquette led by four, 37-33, at the first timeout of the half.
- At the 12:40 mark, Ed Croswell (Philadelphia, Pa.) converted a second-chance layup to cap off a 6-0 scoring run. Marquette's lead dwindled to one, 40-39.
- With 11:40 remaining, Al Durham (Lilburn, Ga.) knocked down a timely three-pointer to get into the scoring column. The game was knotted at 42.
- Minaya added a three-pointer of his own at the 8:03 mark. At the 7:17 media timeout, Marquette had a small lead, 51-49.
- With 5:30 left, Durham took the ball coast-to-coast to tie the game at 53. Shortly after, another basket by Durham gave the Friars their first lead of the second half, 55-54.
- There were several lead changes as the teams traded baskets in the final stretch.
- With 0:43 remaining, Watson drew contact on a dunk and completed the three-point play. The Friars regained the lead, 64-62.
- At the 0:26 mark, a missed free throw by Justin Lewis squandered a chance for the Golden Eagles to tie the game.
- Marquette used a timeout with 0:14 to play. The Friars led by two points, 65-63.
- Minaya played a crucial role as the Friars stopped the Golden Eagles on their final possession.
- "When you look at what Minaya has brought to the team, he now has so much more confidence offensively," Cooley described.
NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS:
- Providence finished 23-60 (38.3%) from the field, 8-26 (30.8%) from three, and 11-16 (68.8%) from the free throw line.
- Marquette finished 23-55 (41.8%) from the field, 5-19 (26.3%) from three, and 12-15 (80.0%) from the free throw line.
- Four players finished in double-figures for the Friars, in Durham (11), Horchler (11), Minaya (14), and Watson (17).
- Darryl Morsell led the way for the Golden Eagles with 14 points, as well as a game-high six steals. Tyler Kolek and Justin Lewis each added 13 points for Marquette.
- Today's game had 10 lead changes and was tied six times.
- The Friars controlled the boards in the game, out-rebounding the Golden Eagles by nine and recording 22 second-chance points.
- The Friars have been ranked for six consecutive weeks after entering the polls on December 20, 2021.
- The Friars improved to 4-0 over ranked opponents this season.
- "In that locker room, there is a lot of love and character," Cooley added. "This is one of the closest, if not the closest team that I have ever coached."
- Attendance – 12,157
WHAT'S NEXT:
- The #17/17 Friars travel to take on the St. John's Red Storm on Tuesday, February 1 at Carnesecca Arena in Jamaica, N.Y. Tip-off is set for 9:00 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
- St. John's holds a 55-64 all-time edge versus the Friars. On January 8, a second half surge led the then No. 16/17 Friars past the Red Storm, 83-73, in Providence, R.I.
-GO FRIARS!-
Team Stats
Marq
PROV
FG%
.418
.383
3FG%
.263
.308
FT%
.800
.688
RB
31
40
TO
9
13
STL
11
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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