Providence has eclipsed the 100-point plateau in each of its last two games. Colorado accomplished the same feat on Saturday against Eastern Washington.
As such, one can wonder how many points might be possible when the Friars (2-1) meet the Buffaloes (2-0) on Friday night in Boulder, Colo., in a nonconference battle between Power Five schools.
Frankly, Colorado head coach Tad Boyle shudders at the thought — mostly because Eastern Washington shot 59.7% from the field against his squad in a 102-97 overtime loss on Saturday.
“We have to have more pride, and our guys have to feel about it the way I feel about it, and our coaching staff feels,” Boyle said. “We have some really good coaches on this staff, some really good offensive coaches. Now defensive coaches, we have to take blame on this, too.
“Our players aren’t guarding, but they’re not guarding because we’re not making them guard.”
The Buffaloes are a young squad that features just three players older than sophomores — juniors Barrington Hargress and Bangot Dak and sixth-year center Elijah Malone.
Sophomore Sebastian Rancik led the team with 24 points on Saturday and his 18.5 points per game are second to freshman Isaiah Johnson (20.5 ppg).
Providence (2-1), which has scored 101 and 106 points in its last two games, is led by Vanderbilt transfer Jason Edwards’ 17.7 points per game. Jaylin Sellers and Stefan Vaaks are each averaging 16.7 points and Corey Floyd Jr. has posted 11.7 points per game.
Vaaks was named the Big East Freshman of the Week on Monday after averaging 18 points in the first two games.
The Friars lost 107-101 in overtime to Virginia Tech on Saturday before routing Penn 106-81 on Tuesday.
“Good bounce-back for our guys on a short turnaround,” said Providence head coach Kim English. “We learned a lot from the film and improved our transition defense.”
Friday night not only marks Providence’s first trip to Boulder, but it’s also the first game between the Friars and Buffaloes.
–Field Level Media
