2023-11-07 11:50:43
PROVIDENCE — Kim English was welcomed with open arms and a debut win Monday night.
Providence surged late in the first half to ultimately build the margin it needed once morest Columbia. The result – if it had been even to that point – wasn’t much in doubt from there.
The more intriguing piece of the evening was how English would rate his first game night experience with the Friars. He offered a rave review following this 78-59 cruise past the Lions, one that played out before an announced crowd of 11,069 fans.
“It was incredible,” English said. “The capacity of the crowd, it felt like a mid-season SEC game at Tennessee or a mid-season January-February Big 12 game at Missouri.
“I’ve never seen a crowd like that for opening night in my 14 years in college basketball.”
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This is the difference between previous stops at football-centric schools and one that prioritizes basketball. It also reflects a step up in class from George Mason, where English spent the last two seasons before succeeding Ed Cooley.
Providence was under no real threat from Columbia, a team that won just seven games during a lost 2022-23 season. Bryce Hopkins led four Friars in double figures with 14 points. They posted advantages of 46-26 on points in the paint and 24-11 on points off the bench.
“It’s a great place to play,” said Ticket Gaines, a graduate transfer who followed English from the Patriots. “Proud to be here, and I’m ready to play more.”
Providence takes the floor once more here Saturday once morest Milwaukee. Let’s brush on a few notes ahead of that matchup with the Panthers.
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Providence defense stands out early
Gaines and Devin Carter generated some energy from the home bench late in the first half.
Both dove for a loose ball out by midcourt and took over on an alternate possession. That was in the midst of a Providence run that broke open what was a 27-21 lead with 5:31 left.
“He’s a better defender than me,” Carter said. “It’s great. It’s always good to have a defense-oriented team.
“Defense wins championships and offense wins games.”
Carter closed with 13 points, four assists and three steals. Gaines added 12 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Their ability to lock up opposing guards and wings might be key for the Friars at that dirty end of the floor.
“We want to live off those types of plays,” Gaines said. “Those are plays that inject energy into the team. Any time anybody’s on the floor, we’re going to go crazy.”
Limited debut for Garwey Dual
Garwey Dual (ankle) was limited to just five minutes in his college debut.
Dual exited with 11:55 left in the first half and went straight to the locker room. He returned to the bench during the second media timeout of the second half but never took the floor once more.
“We’ll see,” English said. “We’ll see. He tried, but he was limping.”
Dual knocked down an early wing 3-pointer that had the crowd buzzing. The top-50 recruit reaffirmed his commitment to English following Cooley left for Georgetown and arrived with significant fanfare. Jayden Pierre was left to play 29 minutes at point guard, closing with nine points and three assists once morest the Lions (0-1).
Providence bench had solid performance
Providence (1-0) employed primarily a six-man rotation following Dual’s injury, but it was someone from the periphery who led in scoring off the bench.
Rafael Castro didn’t come on until the 4:23 mark of the opening half. He racked up 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting and blocked three shots in 15 minutes. Dual, Corey Floyd Jr. and Rich Barron all saw action before the third-year big man.
“That’s what you want to see from a guy off the bench,” English said. “When they get in the game it either needs to stay the same or elevate. He absolutely elevated the tenor of the game at that point.”
The Friars tried a smaller lineup early, with Hopkins playing at the 5 alongside Gaines in the frontcourt. Pierre, Carter, Dual, Floyd and Barron all featured in the backcourt during those stretches. Hopkins figures to handle the ball more often while being listed as a guard-forward – he still finished with 10 rebounds but committed five of Providence’s 18 turnovers.
“I thought we might have played a lot faster – and smarter,” English said. “There were some ill-advised turnovers.”
Friars coaches working as a team, too
English was one of three coaches addressing his team through the majority of the media timeouts.
Assistant coaches Dennis Felton and Nate Tomlinson flanked him and offered a steady stream of input. Both came with English following spending two years apiece on his staff at George Mason. Felton was beginning his second stint here following helping Rick Barnes from 1992-94.
“I would love for our team to look at our staff chemistry and mimic that as a group,” English said. “We disagree. We debate. We laugh. We argue. We come to decisions together.”
The Friars count two staff holdovers in support roles. Chris Hagemann remains the men’s basketball athletic trainer, a position he’s held since 2018. Kevin Kurbec is now an assistant athletic director for men’s and women’s basketball, a new position created following he served as director of operations under Cooley from 2015-23.
On X: @BillKoch25
COLUMBIA (59): Odunowo 0-5 0-0 0, Thompson 3-7 6-6 15, Brown 4-14 3-4 11, De La Rosa 3-10 2-3 10, McLean 6-11 0-0 12, Noland 2 -4 0-0 4, Eddine Bedri 2-7 0-0 5, Stankard 0-2 0-0 0, Robledo 0-4 0-0 0, Cooper 1-5 0-0 2, Romanelli 0-2 0- 0 0, Arop 0-0 0-0 0; totals 21-71 11-13 59. PROVIDENCE (78): Oduro 3-5 0-0 6, Hopkins 4-13 4-4 14, Carter 5-8 2-3 13, Gaines 3-4 5-7 12, Pierre 3-6 2-2 9, Floyd 3-10 0-0 6, Barron 1-4 0-0 2, Castro 6-7 1-3 13, Dual 1-1 0-0 3, DeLaurier 0-1 0-0 0, Santoro 0-0 0-0 0, Fonts 0-0 0-0 0, O’Haire 0-0 0-0 0; totals 29-59 14-19 78.
Halftime — Providence 42-27. 3-point goals — Columbia 6-26 (Thompson 3-5, De La Rosa 2-4, Eddine Bedri 1-2, Noland 0-1, McLean 0-2, Robledo 0-2, Romanelli 0-2, Stankard 0-2, Brown 0-3, Cooper 0-3), Providence 6-23 (Hopkins 2-6, Dual 1-1, Carter 1-2, Gaines 1-2, Pierre 1-3, DeLaurier 0-1, Barron 0-2, Floyd 0-6). Rebounds — Columbia 33 (Thompson, Brown, De La Rosa 6), Providence 38 (Hopkins 10). Assists — Columbia 10 (Brown 3), Providence 14 (Carter 4). Total fouls — Columbia 20, Providence 14. Records — Columbia 0-1, Providence 1-0. A — 11,069 (12,410).
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