No. 11/10 Friars Fall To Creighton In BIG EAST Semifinals, 85-58

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The No. 11/10 and No. 1 seed Providence College men's basketball team was defeated by the No. 4-seed Creighton Bluejays, 85-58, on Friday, March 11 in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. Graduate student Al Durham (Lilburn, Ga.) was the Friars' main contributor on offense, finishing with a game-high 21 points. Durham was the only player to reach double figures in the scoring column for the Friars.

FIRST HALF:

Justin Minaya (Harrington Park, N.J.) stole the ball and took it coast-to-coast. Minaya put the Friars on the board first from the free throw line.
At the 17:51 mark, Durham got into the scoring column with a second-chance three-pointer. The Friars held an early 6-2 lead.
With just over 14 minutes to play in the half, Creighton's Alex O'Connell buried a three-pointer from the left wing. The Bluejays took the lead, 9-8.
The Friars endured a scoring drought of nearly three minutes. At the 12:42 mark, Jared Bynum (Largo, Md.) drove to the basket and ended the drought. On the next possession, Durham knocked down his second three pointer. PC led, 13-10.
Ahead of the 10:57 media timeout, Creighton found a rhythm on offense. Alex O'Connell and Rati Andronikashvili contributed back-to-back threes, giving the Bluejays an 18-15 lead.
The teams traded baskets as the half progressed. With less than seven minutes remaining until halftime, the score was level at 25.
Creighton went on a 17-2 scoring run in the final stretch of the half, spearheaded by Arthur Kaluma. The Bluejays took a double-digit lead into halftime, 42-27.
The Friars missed 11 of their final 12 shots of the first half.
Durham (15 points) was the only Friar to reach double figures in the opening 20 minutes. Three players for the Bluejays notched double figures.
Providence shot 10-36 (27.8%) from the field, 2-12 (16.7%) from three, and 5-8 (62.5%) from the free throw line.
Creighton shot 15-29 (51.7%) from the field, 6-12 (50.0%) from three, and 6-7 (85.7%) from the free throw line.

SECOND HALF:

The Friars' offensive struggles carried over into the second half. PC opened the half with consecutive shot clock violations.
Meanwhile, Creighton used a 14-0 run to start the half, earning a commanding 56-27 lead.
Durham scored the Friars' first points of the half at the 15:01 mark.
At the 14:24 mark, Creighton's Trey Alexander added a three-pointer for the Bluejays. PC trailed 60-29.
With less than 12 minutes remaining, Brycen Goodine (New Bedford, Mass.) brought a spark with a three-pointer of his own.
Creighton led 73-46 at the 7:41 media timeout.
In the game's final media timeout, the Bluejays held a 30-point lead, 79-49.

NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS:

Providence finished 20-65 (30.8%) from the field, 3-24 (12.5%) from three, and 15-22 (68.2%) from the free throw line.
Creighton finished 30-57 (52.6%) from the field, 9-23 (39.1%) from three, and 16-20 (80.0%) from the free throw line.
Alex O'Connell led Creighton in scoring with 18 points, including four made three-pointers.
Ryan Hawkins finished with a game-high 12 rebounds for the Bluejays, while Ryan Kalkbrenner added 15 points and nine rebounds.
Tonight marked the Friars' 12th appearance in the BIG EAST Semifinals, where the team has posted a 3-9 all-time record.
Head Coach Ed Cooley is 15-10 all-time at Providence while coaching in Madison Square Garden.
Cooley is 9-9 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament.
The Friars are 67-63 all-time in Madison Square Garden.
In their win over Creighton on February 26, the Friars claimed the program's first BIG EAST regular season title.
The Friars have been ranked for 12-consecutive weeks after entering the polls on December 20, 2021.

WHAT'S NEXT:

The Friars will learn their seed and opponent for the 2022 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, March 13. Selection Sunday will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET and will be televised on CBS.

- GO FRIARS! -

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Team Stats

Al Durham

A.J. Reeves

Alyn Breed

Nate Watson

Players Mentioned

Jared Bynum

Al Durham

Brycen Goodine

Justin Minaya