Friars Fried
July 08, 2003 12:05 PM | General
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
March 12, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It took an extra five minutes for West Virginia to end more than 20 years worth of frustration against Providence on the basketball hardwood.
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| West Virginia guard Seldon Jefferson gets by Providence's Derrick Brown in the second half of the Mountaineers' 90-78 win over the Friars. (WVU Sports Communications) |
West Virginia outscored the Friars, 16-4 in overtime to capture a 90-78 victory at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 8, 1997 to end a five-game losing streak against the Friars.
The hex spanned all the way back to 1965 when Joe Mullaney’s No. 4-ranked Providence team bombed the overmatched Mountaineers, 91-67 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Philadelphia.
Twenty six years later in 1991, Providence once again ended West Virginia’s year in postseason play.
Playing host to the Mountaineers in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament, Providence got 21 points from Marvin Saddler to upend WVU, 85-79.
Once again two years later in the 1993 NIT in Providence, the Friars got a late shot from Dickey Simpkins to pull out a 68-67 victory.
Tony Turner and Michael Smith did the damage for Providence, combining to score 32 points and grab 15 rebounds.
West Virginia’s fourth try to defeat Providence was also an unsuccessful one in its first meeting with the Friars as a new member of the Big East conference in 1996.
Derrick Brown scored 18 points and Michael Brown and Ruben Garces added 16 each to help Providence capture a 95-78 victory on Jan. 29, 1996 in the Providence Civic Center.
West Virginia lost once again to the Friars in the Providence Civic Center on Jan. 19, 1997. This time, WVU began the game miserably and trailed 39-23 at halftime. In the second half the Mountaineers outscored Providence, 38-35 in a 74-61 Providence victory.
West Virginia committed a 1997 season-high 27 turnovers and shot 41.9 percent from the field. Part of West Virginia’s ballhandling misfortunes can be attributed to Seldon Jefferson’s ankle injury that forced him to miss the game.
And why West Virginia simmered, Providence talked saying the Mountaineers’ inside players were “weak” and “can’t shoot.”
Coach Pete Gillen’s club was in the midst of another outstanding season, having defeated Wisconsin, Texas, St. John’s and Connecticut heading into its rubber game with the Mountaineers on Feb. 8.
Although the Friars weren’t nationally ranked, it did have a very fine 17-5 record.
West Virginia came into the game with a 13-6 record, having lost a tough 81-70 decision at nationally ranked Villanova four days earlier.
The Mountaineers versatile lineup featured the strong backcourt play of senior Seldon Jefferson and Adrian Pledger, and capable insider workers in Damian Owens, Gordon Malone and Sandro Varejao.
Providence countered with a front court comprised of Derrick Brown, Austin Croshere and Ruben Garces, and a back court made up of Jamel Thomas and God Shammgod.
West Virginia led 35-32 at halftime but couldn’t shake the Friars in the second half.
The Mountaineers shot a sensational 69 percent in the second half (17 of 29), but couldn’t shake the Friars mainly because Providence took 16 more shots.
Jefferson came to life with the Mountaineers holding on to a 48-46 lead, driving for a basket, then hitting four straight threes to give West Virginia a seven-point lead.
Providence responded with a run to tie the game up. West Virginia had a good chance to win the game with the last possession, but the best the Mountaineers could do with the final 21.1 seconds was to get an off-balanced shot by Jarrod West that came up short.
In the extra session West Virginia jumped all over the Friars. The first time Providence had the ball Gordon Malone blocked Ruben Garces’ shot under the basket. The next three times Providence failed to draw iron. West Virginia outscored Providence 16-4 in the extra period to claim a 90-78 victory.
West Virginia finished the game shooting 62.1 percent from the floor and also held a sizeable advantage at the foul line (14-7), though WVU only converted 50 percent of its foul shots.
Jefferson led WVU with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting. “He controlled the game in the second half,” said Croshere. “Up there without him we dominated. Here, with him playing, we struggled.”
Pledger scored 16 and Owens contributed 15.
Varejao played one of his best games of the year, scoring 14 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Malone chipped in with 12 points and added a team-high 7 rebounds.
Croshere scored 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds to lead Providence. Garces produced 18 points and 8 rebounds and Thomas finished with 14.
“We had 23 turnovers,” Gillen said. “You’re not going o win many games in regulation or overtime with that many turnovers, especially against a team as good as West Virginia.”
“I can’t tell you how much this win means to them,” said West Virginia coach Gale Catlett. “To be 8-5 in the Big East this late in the season is a tribute to these guys.”
These two teams met once again a month later in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Providence once again got the upper hand with a 76-69 victory.
The loss cost West Virginia a trip to the NCAA tournament and helped the Friars get in.
Providence used that momentum to defeat Marquette, 81-59 in the first round before upsetting Duke, 98-87 in the second round.
Providence got past UT-Chattanooga in the round of 16 before finally falling in the round of eight in overtime to Arizona, 96-92.
Providence finished the year with a 24-12 record.
Meanwhile, West Virginia regrouped to outlast Bowling Green, 98-95 before pulling out an exciting 76-73 win at N.C. State in the second round. WVU’s season finally ended in Morgantown against Florida State just one game shy of the NIT Final Four.
West Virginia finished the season with a 21-10 record that set the stage for a remarkable 24-9 season that took WVU all the way to the “Sweet 16.”
West Virginia 90, Providence 78
Providence (17-6)
Brown 4-11 2-2 10, Croshere 7-14 4-4 20, Garces 9-12 0-0 18, Shammgod 2-8 0-0 5, Thomas 5-13 1-2 14, Murdock 4-8 0-0 11, Wright 0-3 0-0 0, N’Diaye 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-71 7-8 78.
West Virginia (14-6)
Owens 6-10 3-6 15, Malone 4-7 4-6 12, Varejao 6-8 2-5 14, Pledger 7-11 2-4 16, Jefferson 8-13 1-2 21, D’Alesio 0-0 0-0 0, Ligouri 0-0 0-0 0, West 1-3 1-2 3, Benyon 0-0 0-0 0, Solheim 2-4 1-3 5, Lewin 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 36-58 14-28 90.
Halftime- West Virginia 35-32. Fouled out – Thomas, Croshere (Providence) Rebounds – Providence 38 (Croshere and Garces 8), West Virginia 33 (Malone and Pledger 7). Assists- Providence 17 (Shammgod 9), West Virginia 22 (West 5) Three-Point FGs – Providence 9-24 (Brown 0-3, Croshere 2-5, Shammgod 1-4, Thomas 3-5, Murdock 3-4, Wright 0-2, N’Diaye 0-1); West Virginia 4-11 (Owens 0-2, Jefferson 4-9). Total fouls- Providence 24, West Virginia 12.
Technicals- None.
Attendance – 10,313
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