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Jan. 4, 1998 Providence Travels to IonaPROVIDENCE COLLEGE (5-5/0-2) vs. IONA COLLEGE (9-3/2-1) FRIARS VERSUS GAELS...The Friars and Gaels have met just twice in the two school's basketball pasts with each team winning once. The last time the two teams met wasalmost 38 years ago on January 21, 1950 at New Rochelle, New York. PC lost that game, 81-70. FRIAR UPDATE...The Friars lost a heartbreaker at Georgetown on Saturday falling to the Hoya's 58-56. GU's Shernard Long got off a 10-foot running jumper at the buzzer that rolled around the cylinder before falling through for the final basket. Jamel Thomas led the Friars with 22 points, Kendrick Moore added 12 and Llewellyn Cole had 11 in the loss. PC is 2-2 this season in games decided by five or fewere points.
HONORS AND AWARDS...PC's Jamel Thomas was selected CBS' Player of the Game following the December 27th loss at seventh-ranked Purdue. Thomas had 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in the 81-79 loss to the Boilermakers. Thomas leads the Friars with 18.6 ppg and 7.6 rebounds. COMING ATTRACTIONS...Tonight's game is the second of four games in eight days for the Friars. PC lost 58-56 at Georgetown on Saturday in the first game of the four. The remaining schedule:
PROVIDENCE...All-time record: 1087-670 (.619) - Best in New England...Home record: 645-201 (.762)...Civic Center record: 321-120 (.727). PROVIDENCE IN BIG EAST...112-176 in regular season and 125-193 overall in 19 seasons ... Eighth all-time in wins and percentage.
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. PChas lost two games to Top 25 teams this season. After falling 64-58 ot then #11- Utah, PC lost on Saturday at #7-Purdue, 81-79. The Boilermakers were ranked seventh in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Polls
MONTH BY MONTH (1997-98)...2-1 in November...3-3 in December...0-1 in January. HOME COOKING...The Friars are 4-1 at home this season after going 12-3 at home last season. The Friars are 61-16 (.792) record over the last 77 games at the Providence Civic Center (dating back to January 25, 1993). Over the last five full seasons plus five games this year, PC is 68-19 (.782) at the Civic Center. PC is 36-4 (.900) in its last 40 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 321-120 (.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...PC's 58-56 loss to Georgetown (1/3/97) was PC's second consecutive loss by five or less points. The Friars also lost at Purdue on 81-79 loss to Purdue on December 28th. The Friars are 2-2 in games decided by five or less this season. PC is now 16-13 in games decided by five points or less in Pete Gillen's four seasons at PC.
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. 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, one sophomore and five freshman. 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. HOYA TOUGH...Saturday's loss at Georgetown gives the Hoyas a three-game winning streak versus the Friars and Georgetown has now won five of the last six meetings between the two teams. PC's last win at Georgetown came on February 6, 1993, a span of four games.
BOARD GAMES...The Friars versus their opponents on the boards through ten games. PC has been outrebounded in its four of its five losses (Utah, URI, Purdue and Georgetown) by a 167-112 margin. In the Friars other six game, PC has a 235-182 edge on the glass.
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 186 points in ten games for an 18.6 ppg average. He now has 960 career points. Thomas needs just 40 points to become Providence College's 34th 1,000 point scorer.
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 61 of 76 (.803) from the charity stripe. Thomas made 13 of 14 free throws in the game against Rhode Island and was 6-6 versus Georgetown on Saturday. 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. Erron Maxey made his first two starts against Cleveland State and Georgetown. MORE JAMEL....Thomas picked up his third double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds versus Loyola Marymount. That's the sixth double-double of his career DEFENSE... The 33 points that Providence held Brown to 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. Forward Ben Perkins is second in scoring with 10.8 points per game and 5.3 rebounds. Swingman Erron Maxey has started at center the last two games. In 12 minutes per game this season he is averaging 6.8 points and 2.5 rebounds. Guard John Linehan started the first two games where he scored 13 and 10 points respectively while T.J. McKenzie has played in nine of the Friars' first ten games averaging 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.
MAXEY EFFORTS...Freshman Erron Maxey (Lake Elsinore, Cal.) made his first career start against Cleveland State on December 27th. Prior to that he had been a valuable addition to the Friars coming off the bench. In three games this season, he has scored more points than minutes played. 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 against Boston College he had 12 points and, against Loyola Marymount, he scored 19 points in 17 minutes. In the three game span, over 39 minutes, Maxey scored 42 of his 59 points this season. FRIARS IN SEASON OPENERS..... Providence is 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. SLOW BIG EAST STARTS...PC is off to an 0-2 start in the BIG EAST after losing at Georgetown on Saturday, January 3rd. In the first 19 years of the BIG EAST, the Friars have been 0-2 to start the league schedule 14 times. The Friars' worst starts have been 0-6 in 1979-80 and 1991-92. The best start ever was 3-0 in 1988-89. 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. PC is averaging just 14.7 turnovers per game this season. PC VERSUS THE BIG 10...The Friars loss to Purdue (81-79) snapped a two-game PC winning streak against the BIG 10. The Friars had won two in a row against Wisconsin (1995 and 1996). PC is now 10-12 all-time against teams from the BIG 10. 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. THE WRIGHT STUFF...Junior point guard, Corey Wright came to life against Loyola Marymount as he equalled a career high for scoringe with 11 points. Wright also had five steals in that game, a figure he matched in the win over Cleveland State six days later. Wright now has 13 steals in his last four games. BEST THIS SEASON...PC shot a season high 52.1% (25-48) in the win over Cleveland State. Over the past four games, PC has shot 48.6% (106-218). In their first six games, the Friars shot just 39.9% (131-328). Against Loyola Marymount. PC shot 50.8% (31-61) for the game. PC shot 20-for-30 in the second half (.667) and at one point had made 10 shots in a row. TWO IN A ROW...PC followed the Loyola Marymount game with a second strong offensive performance against a good Purdue team. PC shot 49.2% from the floor (30-61), including 62.1% in the second half. PC made a season high 10 three pointers and shot 55.6% in that departmen on 10 of 18 shooting. The Friars' dished out a season high 20 assists in the game. MAKING A PASS...PC guards Kendrick Moore and Corey Wright combined for 13 of the Friars' 20 assists in the loss to Purdue. For Moore, his game high seven were also a career best. Wright dished out six helpers which was a season high for him and equalled his career best. MORE ON MOORE...Junior guard Kendrick Moore has finally shaken the rust from his game. After sitting out last year due to transferring from Missouri, the talented guard took three or four games to get his game together this season. In his last five games, Moore is averaging 11.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. He is shooting 19-for-35 (54.3%) from the floor and six of 13 (46.2%) from the three point line. He has recorded seven assists in two of his last three games. 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.
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