No. 23-ranked Providence will look for its third consecutive victory when it battles Villanova on Sunday in Philadelphia.
The Friars (16-5, 8-2 Big East), who are 12-0 at home, received 16 points from Bryce Hopkins in a 79-58 win over Butler last Wednesday.
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Clifton Moore and Corey Floyd Jr. added 12 points each and Devin Carter had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jared Bynum also provided a big lift with four points and three assists in 11 minutes after missing the previous four games with an abdominal strain.
“There’s nothing like playing at home,” Providence head coach Ed Cooley said. “It gets better and better every time we’re here. Our players did a great job. When the game settled in, it was great to get Jared Bynum back involved.”
Bynum started 16 games before suffering the injury against then-No. 4 UConn on Jan. 4. Cooley gushed over Bynum’s return and how much his presence helped the team.
“He gave us a spark, and that’s exactly what we needed,” Cooley said. “His presence gave us a ‘settle-me-down’ type of feeling.”
The Friars were dominant on the boards by a 42-24 margin. They also outscored Butler 48-20 in the paint, an area where Cooley always implores his team to gain an advantage.
“I feel like my length was a factor,” said the 6-foot-11 Moore. “To provide that rim protection, my size was really a factor.”
Villanova will aim to move above .500 when it battles Providence.
The Wildcats (10-10, 4-5) haven’t played since Jan. 20 when they earned a 57-49 road win against St. John’s.
Caleb Daniels led the team with 16 points and Brandon Slater added 14 as Villanova found a way to win despite shooting just 36.5 percent.
It was a big win for first-year head coach Kyle Neptune, who has scuffled in replacing Jay Wright, a Hall of Famer. Wright won more than 500 games and two national championships in 21 seasons on the Main Line.
“We’re a young team,” Neptune said. “I thought last game we found a way when we didn’t necessarily play our best. That was a huge step for us. In this game, from start to finish, we were really good defensively. That’s really what we ask our guys to do, to lock in defensively and just bring it. Win, lose, or draw, if we play like that defensively, we’ll be proud of our guys.”
Villanova has been without Justin Moore (Achilles) all season and recently without Jordan Longino with an injured left leg. The short-handed Wildcats also lost highly touted Angelo Brizzi to the transfer portal. Brizzi announced that he’s heading for Davidson.
With the nine-day layoff between games, it’s possible that Longino could return to face Providence.
In the meantime, Villanova has never stopped competing.
“I thought at times you could see guys gassed, and I think in the past maybe we would have given in a little bit,” Neptune said. “We didn’t tonight. Our guys fought through it.”
–Field Level Media
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