 snapped a three-game losing streak by beating a ranked team for the first time since March 19, 2018. It was also their first road win over a team in the Top 25 since Feb. 22, 2017.Kamar Baldwin finished with 14 points and Justin Tucker had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (17-5, 5-4). Butler has lost two of its last three home games.The Friars made a lineup change to slow down Butler and it worked perfectly. Defensively, Providence jammed up the middle and still had enough speed on the perimeter to prevent Butler's shooters from getting many open looks.After going 5 of 17 from the field and committing 10 turnovers in the first half, Butler charged back from an eight-point second-half deficit to take a 43-41 lead with 12:02 to play.But the Friars answered with six straight and never trailed again.David Duke's putback finally gave Providence a 58-54 cushion with 2:22 left - and Pipkins closed it out.BIG PICTUREProvidence: Coach Ed Cooley took a gamble by bringing top scorer and rebounder Alpha Diallo off the bench. It paid dividends. With 6-foot-10 Nate Watson and 6-9 Kalif Young playing together, it allowed the Friars to be more physical and turn things around against a team they lost to by 12 just three weeks ago.Butler: The Bulldogs were not themselves Saturday and one reason was the absence of point guard Aaron Thompson. They haven't been the same since Thompson hurt his wrist. Cooley forced the Bulldogs to rely on 2-pointers for most of the game.STAT PACKProvidence: Diallo's streak of 76 consecutive starts came to an end Saturday and he wound up with just three points and four rebounds. ... Duke finished with 10 points. ... Providence had 27-1 scoring advantage off the bench. ... The Friars are 1-4 against ranked teams this season.Butler: Bryce Nze scored 12 points and Sean McDermott had 10 points and seven rebounds. ... The Bulldogs shot 40% from the field and were just 1 of 14 on 3-pointers. ... Butler is 4-2 in games decided by five or fewer points. ... Baldwin now has 1,804 points and has moved past Lynn Michem (1,798) for seventh in school history. He also had two steals, giving him 184 in his career and moving him into fourth all-time - one ahead of A. J. Graves.UP NEXTProvidence: Plays its only home game in this four-game stretch Wednesday against Creighton.Butler: Hopes to even the season series when No. 8 Villanova visits Hinkle Fieldhouse on Wednesday.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Jan 31, 2020Butler coach LaVall Jordan knew exactly what he wanted to say after the Bulldogs' sloppy first half at Georgetown on Tuesday, but injured point guard Aaron Thompson beat him to it.Thompson's halftime message seemed to spark No. 16 Butler to a 69-64 Big East victory as the Bulldogs overcame early foul trouble, 12 first-half turnovers and a 14-point deficit."It's hard to guard turnovers," Jordan told reporters. "But when I get in the locker room and Aaron Thompson's already having the come-to-Jesus talk that I was about to have, it says a lot about our leadership." The Bulldogs (17-4, 5-3 Big East) opened the second half on an 18-3 run to take a four-point lead over the Hoyas and will bring a two-game winning streak into a conference home game against the slumping Providence Friars (11-10, 4-4) on Saturday.The Friars have lost three in a row and four of five, a stretch that began with a 70-58 home loss to Butler on Jan. 10. They have not played since a 64-60 loss at No. 9 Villanova last Saturday.Kamar Baldwin and Sean McDermott, Butler's usual suspects, carried the Bulldogs past Georgetown while Thompson missed his second straight game with a left wrist injury. His status for Saturday's game is unknown.McDermott, a 6-foot-6 wing, had 25 points and tied a career high with seven 3-pointers, often on uncontested looks on the perimeter. Baldwin had 13 points, 12 in the second half, and the pair combined for 26 of the Bulldogs' 37 second-half points.McDermott hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to break a 64-64 tie with 49.9 seconds remaining, and Baldwin hit two free throws 32 seconds left.That came after Baldwin had a season-high 31 points with eight rebounds and five assists when the Bulldogs broke a three-game losing streak in an 89-85 overtime victory over Marquette on Jan. 24."I just kind of pick and choose my spots," said Baldwin, a 6-foot-1 guard who is averaging a team-high 16.0 points to go with 4.3 assists. "Just reading defenses and seeing where I can get to my spots." McDermott, averaging 11.9 points a game, has 41 points the past two games while going 14 of 20 from the field, 9 of 14 from three-point range.Providence has lost to all four ranked teams it has played since opening the Big East season 3-0, and offensive production has been a sticking point. The Friars have shot under 40 percent in each of the past five games, 31.7 percent in each of the losses to both Butler and Villanova. They made 3 of 23 three-point attempts against the Wildcats."It's frustrating to see, because in practice they're going down," said Providence coach Ed Cooley, whose team is last in the Big East with a 40.1 field-goal percentage.Senior Alpha Diallo leads the Friars in scoring (13.3 points) and rebounding (8.0), but he was scoreless against Villanova, going 0 for 6 from the field. Sophomore David Duke (12.7 points) had his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against the Wildcats but was 4 of 16 from the field."We're playing for our lives," Cooley told reporters after the Villanova loss. "At some point we have to be able to win these games." --Field Level Media
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