Tag: New England Sports
Under the bright NCAA Tournament lights here at KeyBank Center, the Providence Friars had Irish eyes smiling on them on St. Patrick’s Day after turning away South Dakota State, 66-57.
Simply put: South Dakota State's high scoring may be a result of facing low defensive effort opponents. Providence has a Justin Minaya. And a Nate Watson. And an Ed Croswell. And an Al Durham.
In terms of culture and identity, the Providence team that cut down the nets as this year’s Big East Tournament regular-season champion bears a striking resemblance to the 2014 Friar group that enjoyed a similar signature moment as the last team left standing at that year’s Big East Tournament.
"I have had some great mentors. I knew if I could take my experience, implement a system, add structure - this team could be successful.” The Rebels first year head coach was right.
In the Big East, all roads lead to one final location: Madison Square Garden. And for the first time ever, the Providence Friars have found themselves on top of the Big East Conference standings heading into New York City.
Rhode Island needs to somehow quickly marshal possession by possession awareness and clean up the poor offense undoing them in A-10 play.
“It felt amazing,” said Priest. “I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to compete this year, so being able to win again is an amazing feeling.”
The Rams came out hot and pushed their lead to double-digits on a Makhel Mitchell dunk that made the score 30-20 URI with six minutes remaining in the first half.
Mike Gaffney spent four decades behind the bench in Rhode Island rinks. He coached at four different schools in Rhode Island.
A bright spot is the play of redshirt sophomore guard Jalen Carey who is exhibiting greater comfort and consistency as the season progresses.
