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Dec. 22, 1997 Friars Host Loyola MarymountPROVIDENCE COLLEGE (3-3) vs. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY (2-7) FRIARS VERSUS LIONS...The Friars and the Lions meet for the second time in two seasons with the Friars leading the series, 1-0. The two teams met in Los Angeles last December 28th with Providence winning, 83-76. Tonight's game is the second of a two-game Providence road trip for the Lions as they played Sunday afternoon at Brown dropping a 70-65 decision. FRIAR UPDATE...PC snapped a three-game losing streak on December 20th with a 71-69 win over Canisius in Buffalo, New York. Ben Perkins led PC with 18 points, Kendrick Moore added 16, Jamel Thomas 15 and Justin Farley had 12 in his first game as a Friar. PC trailed by eight in the second half before going on a 12-0 run over seven minutes to put the Friars ahead to stay. The win was the Friars first on the road this season. JUSTIN TIME...Junior swingman Justin Farley (Indianapolis, Ind.) came off the bench to add a spark to the Friars in the win against Canisius. Farley had 12 points and four rebounds in 26 minutes of playing time in his first game at Providence. The 6-6, 205-pounder transferred to Providence from Evansville last January. DECEMBER SCHEDULE...The Friars close out December with two games after tonight:
ROSTER CHANGES...Sophomore center Ndongo N'Diaye (Dakar, Senegal) and sophomore forward Kofi Pointer (Baltimore, Md.) have decided to transfer at the end of the fall semester (December 19). Neither student-athlete has indicated where they plan to transfer. PROVIDENCE...All-time record: 1085-668 (.619) - Best in New England...Home record: 643-201 (.762)...Civic Center record: 319-120 (.727). PROVIDENCE IN BIG EAST...112-175 in regular season and 125-192 overall in 18 seasons ... Eighth all-time in wins and percentage.
BIG EAST FAXBACK ...(201-947-3918) - Allows you to access PC's short notes (1721); PC's full game notes (1722); PC's statistics (1723) or Box scores (1724)\. Also the BIG EAST is on the Internet at www.bigeast.org
1997-98 (3-3/0-1)...Coached 100th game at PC versus Utah... 1996-97 (24-12/10-8)...Elite Eight...Beat Marquette (81-59)...Defeated #8 Duke (98-87)...Knocked off Tennessee-Chattanooga (71-65)...Lost to eventual champion, #13 Arizona, 96-92 in overtime...Second in the BIG EAST 7...Upset #18 Texas (74-66)...Upset #8 Villanova (91-68)...Recorded 250th career win at St. John's, 72-59...Knocked off #25 Boston College (83-71)... 1995-96 (18-12/9-9)...Third in BIG EAST ...Upset #21 Boston College at Conte Forum (76-75)...Upset #8 Georgetown (84-77) ...Beat St. John's (80-72) in BIG EAST Tournament....1996 NIT versus Fairfield (91-79)...Lost to St. Joseph's (62-82)... 1994-95 (17-13/7-11)...Sixth in BIG EAST...First BIG EAST win 1/4/95 vs. Pittsburgh...Upset #4 Connecticut...Upset #11 Villanova...Upset #20 Syracuse in BIG EAST Quarterfinals 1993-94 (22-8/8-2) First in MCC...NIT Quarterfinalists...Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year...Upset # 19 Cincinnati...Assistant Coach Dream Team II 1992-93 (24-6/12-2) First in MCC... Lost in second round of NCAA...Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year... Head Coach North Team, U.S. Olympic Festival...Upset #17 New Orleans... 1991-92 (15-12/7-3) Second in MCC... 1990-91 (22-10/11-3) First in MCC...MCC Tournament Champions...Lost in second round of NCAA... Upset #11 Nebraska in NCAA Tournament. 1989-90 (28-5/12-2) First in MCC...Second in MCC Tournament...Lost in Sweet 16 of NCAA... Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year...School's most wins ever...Upsets of #25 Loyola-Marymount and #8 Georgetown (NCAA Tournament)... 1988-89 (21-12/7-5) Third in MCC...MCC Tournament Champions...Lost in first round of NCAA... Upset #4 Louisville 1987-88 (26-4/9-1) First in MCC...MCC Tournament Champions...Lost in first round of NCAA... Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year...School's best-ever winning percentage... 1986-87 (19-13/7-5) Third in MCC...MCC Tournament Champions...Lost in second round of NCAA...Beat #14 Missouri in NCAA Tournament. 1985-86 (25-5/10-2) First in MCC...MCC Tournament Champions...Lost in first round of NCAA... Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year.
PROVIDENCE COLLEGE BASKETBALL MONTH BY MONTH (1997-98)...2-1 in November...1-2 in December... HOME COOKING...The Friars are 2-1 at home this season after going 12-3 at home last season. The Friars are 59-16 (.787) record over the last 75 games at the Providence Civic Center (dating back to January 25, 1993). Over the last five full seasons plus three games this year, PC is 66-19 (.776) at the Civic Center. PC is 34-4 (.895) in its last 38 non-conference games in Providence dating back to the start of the 1992-93 season. Two of the losses have come in the NIT (Virginia Tech -1995, St. Joseph's - 1996) and two losses have been to Rhode Island (1992, 1996). CIVIC CENTER RECORD...PC owns a 319-120 (.728) record at the Providence Civic Center since the building opened in 1972. The Friars recorded their 300th win on January 8, 1996 against Canisius (91-63). INJURED LIST...Junior forward Waleed Driscoll (torn ACL - right knee). Could miss the entire 1997-98 season. NAIL BITERS...With the 71-69 win over Canisius on Saturday, the Friars are now 16-11 in games decided by five points or less in Pete Gillen's four seasons at PC. The Friars are 2-0 in games decided by five or less this season. CAPTAINS...Three juniors will serve as the Friars tri-captains this season. Kendrick Moore, Jamel Thomas and Corey Wright were selected as captains prior to the start of the 1997-98 season. FRIARS IN THE NBA...Providence College currently has seven players in the NBA. They are:
PLAYER SIGNING...Sean Connolly, a 6-4, 190-pound guard from Peabody, Massachusetts and Bishop Fenwick High School has signed a national letter of intent to attend Providence College for the 1998-99 school year. FAMOUS RELATIVES...Junior guard/forward Jamel Thomas is the cousin of the Minnesota Timberwolves' Stephon Marbury. WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES...The Friars return just one starter (Jamel Thomas) from last year's Elite Eight and 24-12 team. Gone to graduation are Austin Croshere (Indiana Pacers -12th pick overall), Derrick Brown (CBA - Connecticut Pride), Ruben Garces (recovering from leg surgery) and Jason Murdock (out of basketball). Sophomore guard God Shammgod (Washington Wizards) opted for the NBA Draft where he was selected in the second round by Washington. Those five players accounted for 75.9% of PC's scoring and 68.1% of the Friars rebounding last season. ATTENDANCE MARK...The 1996-97 Friars averaged more fans per game that ever at the Providence Civic Center. PC played 15 home games in front of 165,447 fans for an average of 11,030 per game. The previous best year was 1993-94 when the Friars averaged 10,882 per game. CLASS BY CLASS..This season's Providence College roster features one senior, seven juniors, three sophomores and five freshman. PUTTING ON THE PRESSURE...The Friars were able to pressure Utah into a season high 21 turnovers in the Great Eight meeting on December 2nd. That was a season high for the Friars. The Friars followed that by forcing Rhode Island into 18 turnovers on December 9th. MOORE OFFENSE...Junior guard Kendrick Moore turned in a career high 16 point performance in the win against Canisius. Moore was 6-9 from the floor (2-4 3PT). He also added three assists in playing a career best 35 minutes. The 16 points was Moore's career best at Providence and Missouri. He twice had 15 point games at Missouri. "Silk" transferred to Providence in September of 1996 after two years at Missouri. He sat out last season. FRIAR FIRSTS...PC's loss to URI marked just the first time since the 1980-81 seasons that the Friars had lost two in a row to the Rams....The loss to URI dropped PC to 2-3 on the year marking the first time that the Friars have been below .500 in Pete Gillen's four seasons at Providence. FRIARS VERSUS 1997-98 OPPONENTS: University of Vermont: 3-0 Brown: 82-24 Boston College: 49-37 University of Utah: 1-2 Rhode Island: 59-49 Canisius: 20-5 Loyola-Marymount: 1-0 Purdue: 1-4 Cleveland State: 1-0 Georgetown: 14-29 Iona College: 1-1 Syracuse: 6-33 Pittsburgh: 13-17 St. John's: 30-49 West Virginia: 6-1 Connecticut: 20-29 Seton Hall: 38-32 Miami: 10-7 Rutgers: 4-0 Villanova: 25-38 Notre Dame: 5-3 FRIARS VS. RANKED TEAMS....The Friars finished the 1996-97 season with 3-3 (AP) and 4-3 (USA Today/CNN) records against nationally-ranked teams. PC lost a 64-58 decision to Utah on December 2nd to go 0-1 this season. Utah was ranked 11th by the Associated Press and 10th by USA Today/ESPN
BOARD GAMES...The Friars versus their opponents on the boards through five games.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES....Friars with double-doubles this season:
DOUBLE FIGURES...Junior swingman Jamel Thomas is the lone Friar to score in double figures in every game this season. Thomas has scored 117 points in six games for a 19.5 ppg average. He now has 891 career points. ON THE LINE....Jamel Thomas has shown tremendous improvement at the foul line this season. In his first two seasons, the Brooklyn, New York native was just a .656 free throw shooter (101-154). This season, Thomas has made 47 of 57 (.825) including 30 of his last 35 (.857). Thomas made 13 of 14 free throw in the game against Rhode Island. TEAMWORK....PC rallied from an eight-point deficit in the win against Canisius...and they did it without Jamel Thomas. Thomas was held to just two points in the second half after getting 13 in the first half. The Canisius game marked PC's best offensive output with 71 points. PC also shot a season best 47.5% from the floor while having four players score in double figures. FOR STARTERS.....The Friars entered the 1997-98 season with just two players who had ever started a college basketball game. Jamel Thomas had 33 starts last season and Corey Wright had three in 1996-97. Ben Perkins, John Linehan and Llewellyn Cole all made their first starts in PC's win over Vemont. Kendrick Moore and T.J. McKenzie made their first career starts in the Great Eight Tournament against Utah. YOUTH WILL BE SERVED
The Friars open the 1997-98 season with one of the youngest and most inexperi -enced teams in the nation. The lone senior is a four-year walk-on. Jamel Thomas (33) and Corey Wright (3) are the only returning players to start games last year. Here is a look at the games played by members of this year's team:
PRESEASON HYPE
Junior guard/forward Jamel Thomas is the Friars' top returning player and has already caught the eye of the national media.
JAMEL THOMAS...Wasted little time in picking up where he left off as a sophomore. The 6-6 swingman scored a game high 25 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and had a PC best three assists in PC's win over Vermont. For Thomas it was the fourth double-double of his career. He also set career bests with 12 free throws and 16 free throws attempted. MORE JAMEL....Thomas picked up his second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds versus Brown. That's the fifth double-double of his career and marks the first time he's done it in back-to-back games. The last Friar to have two double-doubles in a row was Austin Croshere who did it against Pitt (25-12) and Rutgers (17-13) on February 15th and 18th respectively. DEFENSE... The 33 points that Providence held Brown on November 25th were the fewest given up by the Friars since December 5, 1992 when PC defeated New Hampshire, 56-27. Brown scored 13 points in the second half. In the 12/5/92 game against UNH, the Wildcats were held to just 12 points in the first half. MAKING THEIR MARKS....PC's four freshman are showing what they can do early in the season. Guard John Linehan has scored 13 and 10 points respectively in PC's first two games. Forward Ben Perkins had a double-double in his first game and added 11 more rebounds the second game. Center T.J. McKenzie sat out the first game with a sprained right wrist. Versus Brown, heplayed just nine minutes and had five rebounds, but no points. Swingman Erron Maxey made the most of his nine minutes against Brown as he scored 11 points with three rebounds. MAXEY EFFORTS...Freshman swingman Erron Maxey (Lake Elsinore, Cal.) has been a valuable addition to the Friars coming off the bench. Versus Brown, in nine minutes, Maxey scored 11 points with three rebounds. Against Boston College, Maxey came in off the bench to spark the Friars. In 13 minutes, the 6-6, 195-pounder had 12 points and five rebounds. In the win against Canisius, Maxey played 17 minutes, scoring two, but adding six rebounds while shutting down Canisius' top scorer, Jamie Cammaert. Maxey is averaging 5.0 per game and 2.7 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game. SWEET LOU...Sophomore Llewellyn Cole (New York, N.Y.) turned in career highs against Boston College in minutes played (31), points (12) and rebounds (9). "Sweet Lou" is averaging 8.2 points per game and 4.3 rebounds. He is 20-37 from the floor for a .541 shooting percentage. He's also nailed three, three-pointers. Lou added to his minutes played career high when he played 35 minutes versus URI. HOME OPENERS....The Friars opened their 71st season of play with a win against Vermont on November 18th. The Friars are now 63-8 overall in season opening games. When that season opening game is at home, PC is 49-3 and the record is 14-5 when the first game occurs on the road. In home openers, the Friars are 66-5 all-time. Providence has now won four season openers in a row. The Friars have now won 13 straight home openers dating back to November 29, 1984 when they lost a 70-67 decision to Assumption at the Civic Center. BIG EAST OPENERS...PC's game against Boston College marked just the fifth time in 19 years that PC opened the BIG EAST schedule at home. With the loss to Boston College, the Friars have now lost eight straight BIG EAST openers. The last time PC won was in December of 1989 when they beat Boston College at home. That was also the last time the Friars opened the league schedule in Providence. PC is now 8-11 overall in home openers and 3-16 overall in season opening games. BOUNCED ON THE BOARDS...PC has struggled in the rebounding department the past two games. Utah outrebounded the Friars by a 49-24 margin and Rhode Island did it at a 45-30 clip. Utah's 49 rebounds were the most against the Friars since Villanova pulled down 51 in December of 1996. Utah's frontline of Hanno Mattola, Alex Jensen and Michael Doleac combined for 25 of the 49 rebounds. URI's Joshua King and Antonio Reynolds-Dean had 21 of URI's 45. Last year, the most anyone outrebounded PC by was 17 as St. John's had a 44-27 edge on January 2nd in a 77-67 PC win. FAST ROOKIE STARTS...John Linehan and Ben Perkins got their Providence College career's off to fast starts in the Friars' opening win over Vermont. Linehan played 36 minutes, scored 13 points , grabbed three rebounds and added two assists in the win. Perkins recorded a double-double in his first game with 10 points and a game high 12 rebounds. The 6-7 forward played 36 minutes and his free throw with 3:11 left in the game put the Friars ahead to stay. TURNING POINT...Providence trailed Canisius, 51-45 with 13:39 left in the second half. At that point, the Friars went on a 12-0 run over a period of 6:56 that put PC ahead, 57-51. Over the final 13:39 of the game, PC outscored Canisius, 26-18 to pull out the win. HOLDING ON TO THE BALL....The Friars made ten turnovers in the first half against Canisius, but just four in the second half. LADIES' DAY...The Providence College women's basketball team will take over the Providence Civic Center on Saturday, February 7th when they host the nationally-ranked University of Connecticut Huskies. PC's women's team will be looking to set a Rhode Island attendance record for a women's athletic event in Rhode Island. The Civic Center holds 12,993 for basketball and there are currently less than 500 tickets remaining for this game. For ticket information, call the Friars' ticket office at (401) 865-GOPC. Members of the media planning on covering the PC-Connecticut women's game should contact Heidi McGuigan for credentials at (401) 865-2201.
BIGGEST LEAD: 37 (67-30/:33 left in second half) vs. BROWN Biggest lead lost: 6 (6-0/18:39 left in first half to 8-9/15:42 left in first half) vs. VERMONT BIGGEST DEFICIT: 18 (56-74/2:39 left in second half) vs. BOSTON COLLEGE Biggest deficit overcome: 8 (37-45/17:42 left in second half) vs. Canisius BIGGEST RUN: 44 (58-14 - 28:09/from 8:42 left in first half to :33 left in second half) vs. BROWN BIGGEST RUN ALLOWED: 18 (14-32 -12:25/from 14:52 left in first half to 2:27 left in first half) vs. BOSTON COLLEGE
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FRIARS RECORD WHEN.... Providence shoots 50% or better from the floor.................................................. 0-0 Providence shoots le ss than 50% from the floor.................................................. 3-3 Providence holds opponent to 50% or less from the floor.................................... 3-2 Providence opponent shoots 50% or better from the floor................................... 1-1 Providence outrebounds opponent...................................................................... 3-1 Opponent out rebounds Providence.................................................................... 0-2 Providence makes 40% of three point tries......................................................... 1-2 Providence makes less than 40% of three point tries.......................................... 2-2 Providence scores 60 or more points.................................................................. 3-1 Providence scores 70 or more points................................................................. 1-0 Providence scores 80 or more points................................................................. 0-0 Opponent held to less than 60 points................................................................. 1-0 Opponent scores 60 or more points.................................................................... 3-2 Opponent scores 70 or more points.................................................................... 0-1 Opponent scores 80 or more points.................................................................... 0-0
SERIES NOTES Streaks: The Friars have won the only meeting between the two schools. That game was played at LMU last December...It's a two-for-one weekend for the Lions as they played Brown on Sunday where they lost, 70-65...LMU started the year with four straight losses... Notes: Loyola Marymount and the Friars have two common opponents on this year's schedule. LMU lost to Utah, 89-50 in November and then lost to Brown on Sunday, . PC lost by six, 64-58 to Utah and defeated Brown, 67-33, in November.
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