Teams of the Week: Friar Revival

The City of Providence will never be well-regarded for its collective patience.

Friartown expects the most from its beloved PC program.

When Providence stepped foot on the grounds at MSG, they were a 7-6, 0-2 sluggish program with one of the league favorites, St. John's, awaiting them. An SJU program led by Rick Pitino, who has not lost a home Big East game, including last season's Big East Tournament, in its past 14 games.

PC's only high-major win coming in was against a mostly hapless Penn State squad. Heartbreak Hotel was the story of the season. Especially when seeing the missed opportunities in OT losses to Virginia Tech and Butler.

This particular day didn't start so well either. Like, really not well. The Johnnies opened the game leading, 13-0 and 15-2.

Within about the next 12-minute stretch, Providence fought to tie the game at 28 and make this game more of a fight. Despite the Friars' efforts, the Red Storm continued to respond and extend leads. On three different occasions in the first 12 minutes of the second half, SJU went up by double-digits, including a 62-52 lead with under eight minutes to go.

Emerging Estonian Stefan Vaaks sparked what would become a feverish rally by the Friars from there, hitting a deep three that ignited the bench, as part of his 16-point effort. Vaaks saved his best for a four-point play that stunned the Garden with 2:28 to go and gave the Friars a 69-68 lead.

Friars controlled the final 1:57 to hand the Red Storm a 77-71 stunner and prevent a first three-game losing streak to begin Big East play since 2012-13. 

The Five Minute Highlight Reel:

What does it all mean?
Easily the best win of Kim English's Providence career, per Tim Brando. He's not wrong, folks. This win makes Providence a much more confident team going forward. Did you see the moxy from Vaaks? That was another level, NBA Playoff-type control and confidence in the closing segment. The reality is two-fold:

1) Providence is still just 8-6 with a 1-2 Big East record. In their hardest seven games, this is the only win to show. Tons of work to do. At least, a top of the resume road Q1A win is in the vault, which is very difficult to find in the Big East. Next, the Friars host UConn this Wednesday, presenting an amazing opportunity to capitalize on this momentum. Can PC play a consistent 40 minutes against one of the nation's elite teams? One thing is for sure: this is a talented group-

- Jamier Jones received the Big East Freshman of the Week award.
- Jason Edwards is the high-earning veteran star of the show.
- Oswin Erhunmwunse is an elite rim-protecting and capable offensive big.
- We covered Vaaks, but how about all of the experience Jaylin Sellers brings?

This team is built to win now. This win signified the art of the possible. Let's see how the rest of January plays out. A look at the subpar resume to date:

2) The underdiscussed element of Bracket Forecasting is what you do to a team when you hand them a home loss. This loss, for the time being, hurts St. John's and, in turn, makes the Providence win less impressive than it should be. I know it sounds silly and the Johnnies are still #31 in NET; however, at 9-5 overall, SJU is now 54th in resume strength - that's a bubble team at best. The Red Storm is still a Top 25 KenPom-performing team, so for now I am banking on them to play that way the rest of the year. Providence certainly needs SJU to remain an at-large level team, for its own hopes down the line.

UCF

Johnny Dawkins is in his 10th season at UCF and his 18th season overall between the Knights and Stanford. Dawkins has never had an offense this efficient.

Following the Knights' 81-75 national coming-out party this past weekend over Blue Blooded Kansas, perhaps the nation will start taking notice.

The offensive prowess gives UCF an edge to compete for the bulk of the game, but good teams become great when they can close out wins on the margins with a dependable closer. The experience of Orlando's own Riley Kugel and clutch shot-making from Jordan Burks really shone bright in this Sunshine State upset. The Burks' catch & shoot triple snapped a 72-all tie with around 43 seconds to go. Kugel made several key plays in crunch time, and I was impressed by the patience and poise of Themus Fulks. These are all very good signs.

Burks has already attempted more treys than he did at Georgetown or Kentucky. The rhythmic UCF offense, combined with the work he put in this summer, is helping him produce a 41% success rate. Just one key piece to the team shooting an excellent 39% from downtown on the full season.

Offensive rebounding has been elite at Central Florida. No major surprise that Jamichael Stillwell's rebounding machinery translates from the Horizon League to major college hoops. He had seven boards vs. Kansas and is always crashing off UCF's missed shots. The Knights presently have a top-5 O-Reb squad in the country.

What does it all mean?
UCF is just beginning a daunting Big 12 journey as a whole, but what a start to beat one of the six elite teams in the league. With a successful non-conference season behind them, UCF is on an 11-game win streak with a road win at Texas A&M and a home win over Kansas. They currently have six wins in Quad 3, which helps add some substance. The next 17 games will, of course, truly define the ultimate Knight destination. Their Big 12 lineup isn't steep, and optimism should be at an all-time high:

NICHOLLS

One of the great stories in early conference play is unquestionably the Colonels of Nicholls. To fully grasp this, you must understand that the Thibodaux, Louisiana-based school is significantly underfunded in relation to its Southland peers. So it comes as no surprise that Nicholls had to go get checks from Kentucky, Valparaiso, Oklahoma State, Murray State, Creighton, and Tulane. It's representative of what so many have to do to stay afloat in the College Hoops low-budget world. When the Colonels also lost to Eastern Illinois and Pacific, it was a hint that perhaps at 0-8 vs. D1 in non-conference, this team would not be able to survive or compete in the much-improved Southland Conference.

When Incarnate Word entered Stopher Gymnasium on December 6th, Nicholls was 0-7. From that point on, this Nicholls team has been on a clear mission.

Entering the week, Nicholls was 2-0 and looking at a rare three-game week due to the Holiday scheduling. A road trip to TAMUCC, which was riding a nine-game home win streak and went 8-2 overall at home last season, was up first.

Sincere Malone's driving bucket put the Colonels up for good in this really impressive road win over the Islanders.

The most taxing part is the backend of the South Texas road swing, as Nicholls then went to the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg on Wednesday for a matchup with the Vaqueros. Once again, Nicholls was clutch down the stretch in a 71-69 road win. A 12-2 run down the stretch helped build a 10-point cushion, and Nicholls needed it to hang on. The Canadian Jalik Dunkley was a standout in both road games, averaging 19 ppg and had 12 rebounds vs. UTRGV.

Lastly, Nicholls needed to get a home win over ETAMU on Saturday. It felt great to be home, I am sure, as this incredibly refocused team mashed the Lions, 80-58.

How is this season all coming together like this? Hear it from the Colonels:

What does it all mean?
Nicholls has remarkably opened Southland play with a 5-0 record, and a home game Monday vs. Northwestern State is a good opportunity to make it 6-0. At a minimum, they have the attention of many of the league peers. They have yet to face league-favorite McNeese, which comes on January 10th. The recent surge has them squarely at #200 overall in the notorious KenPom ratings. A 64-spot improvement since Southland-play commenced.

SMU

North Carolina walked right into the Boopie Miller Show this past Saturday.

Following a season of bubble flirtation and many missed opportunities to become an at-large level team, SMU firmly is looking like it can handle the load in 2025-26.

The 97-83 clinic over the Tar Heels added to a list of quality wins. The Mustangs have now defeated Mississippi State on the road, Texas A&M on a neutral, and UNC, Butler, and Murray State at home to put some meat on their resume with no bad losses.

Miller was unstoppable on this landmark day for SMU Basketball, which is still new to the ACC, and a win over North Carolina means a substantial amount. Here is more from Miller:

The SMU makeup is far deeper than just Miller's special talents. Fellow Seniors BJ Edwards, Jaron Pierre, and Corey Washington have all played a ridiculous amount of college basketball. This four-pack went for 30+ minutes each in this critical matchup, and then Turkish sensation Samet Yigitoglu and freshman Jaden Toombs mostly platooned in the middle. This SMU roster has age in the right areas (guards and wings) with a ton of potential in the middle, with insurance on the bench (Sam Walters).

Absolute kudos to SMU HC Andy Enfield and his staff for being able to match up pound-for-pound with UNC and simply beat them on the margins.

What does it all mean?
SMU added a quality win to its resume that only continues to reinforce that this Mustangs squad is a tournament-caliber club. As of now, the UNC win is the first Quad 1 win on the season, and the other four good wins rest in Quad 2. The overall resume strength for SMU is Top 20-level good. Currently 20th in SOR, 12th in KPI, and 21st in the NCAA's WAB tool. That means SMU has some cushion for the time being, but they may need it. A trip to Clemson and Duke begins Wednesday. Let's see how high SMU can climb.

NEVADA

Fort Collins trips are not for the faint of heart, and visits to Fresno directly after being in the mountains are sneaky tough. This aptly-named Mountain West conference can produce some of the most challenging trips anywhere in America.

This is what Nevada was staring at as last week began. The big one came first as the Wolf Pack took on the team that had beaten them four times in a row, including eliminating them from the past two Mountain West Tournaments.

Nevada has already impressed this year, coming off a 15-point win over Boise State at home. CSU has been mostly a great surprise this season, but were coming off a MW opener loss to Utah State, 100-58.

The Wolf Pack did not allow the Rams to gain breathing room, and the game was outstanding until about the final five minutes or so when a 17-2 Wolf Pack run stunned the home Rams. Tyler Rolison tied his career-high with 21 points in the effort. Vaughn Weems came up with a career-high of 12 points and added nine boards. It was an all-hands-on-deck effort and led to a Quad 1 win.

The Wolf Pack got back to Reno for a brief prep and New Year's celebration and it was off to the West part of the conference to face a streaky Fresno State team.

Things were not looking good for much of the second half, a real test for the Pack. Nevada was limited to 28% shooting from deep and the ever-dangerous Jake Heidbreder was scorching nets for Fresno State, leading to his 25-point performance. However, when it mattered most - the Pack came up big on the road once again:

STRONGLY CONSIDERED FOR AWARDS

MURRAY STATE - The Racers continue to raise the bar as they joined the win three league games in one calendar week club. The perfect Racers are all the way up to #61 in the Strength of Resume (SOR) metric. The wins over Southern Illinois, at UIC, and a home drubbing of Bradley advanced the Racers to 5-0 in the Valley and alongside Illinois State, appear to be the most dangerous threat right now to position themselves at the top for Arch Madness.

CLEMSON - Opening with two straight on the road is never easy. The Tigers came ready to grind last week and secured both wins at Syracuse and at Pittsburgh to get ahead of the curve at 2-0 in the ACC race. Clemson's defense held the Orange to poor shooting (18-45) and created 15 Orange turnovers. The effort at Pitt was more offensive thanks to Jestin Porter's 21 points.

PORTLAND STATE - This was an adventurous journey, as most are in the wonderful Big Sky Conference. League play began for PSU at Weber State, which is always a dangerous track to Ogden, and playing in altitude. That did not faze Jaylin Henderson, who played all 45 minutes (including OT) in an endurance fest road win, 95-90. Henderson went for 34 points, seven assists, and six boards. A tremendous effort. The Vikings then continued north to Pocatello, Idaho to face the ISU Bengals. It wasn't looking good as PSU trailed by 14 with under 10 minutes to go. A feverish rally got the game into OT. Terri Miller, Jr. helped seal the win as he led the way with 25 points. For the second time in two days, PSU won in OT on the road. Some much-needed rest is ongoing back in Portland now. What a week!

MISSOURI STATE - Another squad joins the three league wins in the same week club here with the Bears. MO State is achieving much MO success thus far in its new conference - Conference USA. They had to open the week with an East Coast visit to fellow newbies' Delaware. The Bears suffocated the Hens in an impressive defensive display, 61-43. That cleared the week for Missouri State to be at home to host UTEP and New Mexico State. The UTEP win was another dominant effort behind Kobi Williams' 20 points and the Bears won by 24. Then, the toughest challenge was NMSU for obvious competitive reasons, but the Bears did benefit from CUSA's bizarre travel pairing, meaning the Aggies flew into Springfield from Miami. After a heated battle, MO State survived it, 89-82, further putting itself on the radar as a contender in its new conference. Kobi Williams hit seven threes on his way to 32 points - an outstanding individual week.

MISSOURI - The Show Me State just keeps showing me things I respect. This one comes from the bigger school, Mizzou. Knocking off the defending National Champs will get you recognized. The Tigers were able to do just that against Florida, 76-74. The Tigers are off to a roaring start in SEC play, despite a few concerning blowouts against Illinois and Kansas last month. Mizzou now has the Q1 it needs to build with and no bad losses at this stage. The perimeter defense did just enough to keep the Gators at a suboptimal shooting percentage (26%) from deep. Full highlights from the big win:

HONORABLE MENTION: REMAINING CONFERENCE AWARDS

BIG TEN: NEBRASKA - The Huskers' win over Michigan State helps the overall foundation, also clobbered New Hampshire earlier in the week. Stacking Quad 1 wins is music to Husker Nation's ears.

HORIZON: WRIGHT STATE - Raiders go 3-0 on the week with key wins over Oakland and Milwaukee, plus a road W at IU Indy. The Torvik data of late really likes the Raiders' chances to emerge from this conference. They are now 3-1 overall and in a three-way tie for first. They are leading the conference with a 57.7% eFG% rate on their possessions and possess the 2nd-best defense in league play, behind only Milwaukee.

MAC: MIAMI-OHIO- The RedHawks are still perfect at 15-0 amazingly. The big test many looked forward to was Akron, but Miami-Ohio just keeps winning. We've given flowers to Brant Byers many times this season, but he earns them here again by making 11 of 12 free throws and pacing the squad with 26. Earlier in the week, this unit had another impressive win at Bowling Green, 93-83.

SEC EXTRA: MISSISSIPPI STATE - Just what the Doctor ordered with a road OT win at Texas to get off to a good start in league play, and it becomes the first Quad 1 win of the season (for now). MSU had a smorgasbord of non-conference results that included five losses; they'll need a strong SEC year to earn their fourth straight NCAA Tournament bid.

MAAC: MERRIMACK - I got a first-hand look at the Warriors to open up the week at Sacred Heart. A game that Merrimack frustrated the Pioneers on its way to an 80-72 road win. Merrimack was just getting warmed up on its way to a really impressive 3-0 week. Serves were held at home against both The Mount and Manhattan, now the Warriors are 5-0 and in charge of the MAAC race.

WAC: UTAH TECH - Leading the WAC! Big road win at ACU, also the Trailblazers held home court in the rivalry vs. Southern Utah. Tanner Davis, a 6-6 local freshman, was flawless in the key 79-64 road win at ACU. Davis had 13 points and five assists, with no turnovers in a quality bench role.

SUN BELT: GEORGIA SOUTHERN - Road wins at Coastal Carolina and ODU. Now the Eagles are the talk of the league at 4-0 in league play. In the four wins to open league play, GSU's offense has been a masterclass at ball protection, turning it over on just 11.2% of its possessions, good for the 11th most secure offense in America over that span. GSU is also getting to the foul line in league play and an eye-popping 52.1% FT rate.

THE AMERICAN: TULANE - A surprising 2-0 week for the Green Wave. First, a road win at East Carolina, then took down a talented Florida Atlantic squad to conclude the week. Per KenPom, Tulane was expected to lose both contests. Tulane is joined by Memphis and Temple as the last remaining unbeaten teams in the AAC. Asher Woods was highly efficient in both wins. Three key steals by Woods helped secure the comeback win over FAU.

CAA: CHARLESTON- Colby Duggan is back! The Cougars' plan to ramp him up behind-the-scenes paid off as C of C knocked off Drexel, then won again at Elon to help hype up Monday's showdown against William & Mary. In the victory at Elon, Jlynn Counter almost triple-doubled: 16 pts/9 rebounds/9 assists. He is playing much better of late.

MAAC EXTRA: SAINT PETER'S- It was quite a busy week in the MAAC and the Peacocks are the surprise 4-0 team in the conference. Another team I got to see a week ago at Fairfield. The Peacocks lived up to their Jersey City reputation, by playing quick guards and attacking on defense. This is a highly motivated group that was picked toward the bottom of the MAAC. The second game of the week was an impressive win over Marist, 69-59. Jaakir Williamson led the Peacocks with 13 points and added six rebounds.

BIG SOUTH: CHARLESTON SOUTHERN- Our second team from Charleston today! I am sensing a theme.. These Bucs are playing so hard and it has created winning basketball. The big win over UNC Asheville clearly had my attention.

SUMMIT: NORTH DAKOTA- The early surprise in the conference is the Fighting Hawks. They entered league play with a 6-10 record that included four home losses. So starting at home didn't mean a whole lot on paper. HC Paul Sather got the guys prepared and major credit is due for knocking off South Dakota State, 90-87 in an OT thriller. UND also got by ORU, 72-61, in the Summit opener. There is renewed hope in Grand Forks thanks to great offensive rebounding and Zach Kraft draining seven triples so far in league play.

SWAC: ARKANSAS PINE BLUFF- Impressive win over Alabama A&M after a 17-day layoff. The Golden Lions open up at 1-0 in SWAC play. Jaquan Scott delivered with 9-10 FT shooting and 24 points to help keep UAPB in control of the game.

MEAC: MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE- The Hawks are the default MEAC team of the week for winning its MEAC opener over Morgan State in convincing fashion, 66-49. All other schools had at least one loss. Cleo Hill's bunch got things going behind a trio of treys from Dorion Staples, who led UMES with 16 points on MEAC Opening Day.

WCC: SAINT MARY'S- Gaels were able to dominate Pepperdine on the road and Portland at home, then got a stiff 1st Half test from Seattle U. In a game where the halftime deficit should've been more, a half-court heave from Dillan Shaw sparked the Gaels entering the 2nd Half. In the 2nd half, the Gaels would outscore the Redhawks, 54-32. A nice 3-0 week to get WCC play rolling, and SMC is now 4-0 in the league.

AMERICA EAST: BRYANT- HC Jamion Christian earned in America East Opening Day win in his Bryant debut at Maine, 56-51. The rock fight consisted of Bryant's defense holding Maine to just two made triples on 18 attempts and forcing 15 turnovers.

SOCON: WOFFORD- HC Kevin Giltner, Jr. achieved a rare feat by winning his first two SoCon games as a head coach, and he won them both on the road. A 79-74 win at Western Carolina was impressive. German launcher, Nils Machowski, was amazing all week, hitting 12 overall three-pointers - eight of which came at The Citadel. He averaged 32 PPG in a scoring onslaught.

ATLANTIC-10: GEORGE WASHINGTON- The Revolutionaries entered league play knowing it was put up or shut up time. GW made substantial commitments to have a successful season, and the non-conference bright highs and lows. Well, GW answered the Week 1 bell in league play by defeating Richmond on the road, 99-85, and handling La Salle at home, 77-55. Clearly, a dangerous team here, and we are all curious to see how they fare in the bigger tests that lie ahead.

PATRIOT: COLGATE- Impressive start to league action as the Raiders are looking to reclaim the league they have owned for most of the past decade. A pair of road wins at Lafayette and Army should go a long way toward the title quest. Jalen Cox went for 29 in the win at the Leopards, but then sat out against Army. Something to monitor this coming week.

SOCON: WEST GEORGIA- Shelton Williams-Dryden is having just an absurd season at UWG and really putting fear into ASUN hearts as the journey moves on. SWD is an elite rebounder, averaging 13.5 RPG in the two impressive wins over Bellarmine and EKU. He also averaged 30 PPG! Just simply doing it all right now.

OVC: TENNESSEE STATE- This Tiger squad continues to scrap, and with a road sweep over Tennessee Tech and Little Rock, I believe the rest of the OVC is on notice. Particularly impressed with the road win at Little Rock. Not easy travel for TSU. They faced a Trojan team that was starting to get confident. Yet, TSU asserted themselves and rode Travis Harper (21/8) and Aaron Nkrumah (22/5 assists) to victory.

IVY LEAGUE: PRINCETON- The Tigers got out there while most of the league rested. They actually had the perfect type of game in the OT win over Vermont. Good competition. Learn by winning. Snap a losing skid. All helped to get Princeton prepped for 14 wars in the Ivy. Jack Stanton stood out with 19 points and five dimes.

BIG WEST: LONG BEACH STATE- LBSU had the task of playing helter-skelter-based Cal Poly coming off their win over UC San Diego. As comical as it may sound, holding CP to 71 possessions isn't easy, and they achieved the pace battle victory. Somewhat cold Mustang shooting also helped a lot. But LBSU got a great night from Petar Majstorovic, the Syracuse transfer, who did a ton of damage on the interior, making 11 2-pt. FG's in his 25-point conquest. A substantially good win here for evolving LBSU.

NEC: LIU- Technically, the loss to Georgia fell at the start of the week, but no harm there. The Sharks are 2-0 now in league play, including winning round 1 of the all-important showdown with Central Connecticut. LIU did have to turn around and fly out to Chicago to handle the CSU Cougars as well. Mission accomplished.

Every league had at least one winner last week once again. We love that.

Cheers!