There will be time to talk about Nate Watson’s coming-of-age outing, including the seven points he scored late in the second half as Providence surged, and the physical tone he set against a Xavier club that was having fun at the Friars’ expense early.
We’ll make note of Ed Cooley’s decision to throw Watson’s classmate, freshman Makai Ashton-Langford, into the deep end coming out of the halftime break looking for a spark. Ashton-Langford’s two strips and pair of baskets ignited a Providence team that trailed by 17 at one point.
Rodney Bullock deserves recognition for numerous clutch plays — his two free throws to tie the game with under a minute to go in regulation, game-tying jumpers, and the swooping block of JP Macura to keep the score tied at the end of regulation were as clutch as the senior has ever been.