PROVIDENCE — So much for jet lag or the California blues.

The Providence College Friars showed no vestiges of last weekend’s disappointing trip to Anaheim last night as they tore into Brown for an easy 86-62 victory at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. PC led by double digits after 12 minutes and never looked back as its size and quickness overwhelmed the Bears most of the way.

PC coach Keno Davis was clearly worried about how his team would respond after losing two of three games at the 76 Classic and then spending all Monday on a flight back to Boston. After the bus ride to PC’s campus, the coach scratched plans for an all-out practice and instead held an optional shooting workout that drew strong attendance.

A stiffer practice came Tuesday but didn’t do much to ease the coach’s nerves.

“Coming into this game I was worried about Brown because they’re a pretty good ballclub and with our travel that’s kind of an opportunity for a team to knock you off,” said Davis. “I’m sure [Brown] came in here understanding that they could step on the court and play with us.”

That happened early on but with the Friars making 10 of their first 18 shots and doing much of the damage inside on the shoulders of Randall Hanke (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Jonathan Kale (13 and 8), the Friars sprinted out to a 28-13 lead. That’s when slinky sophomore Marshon Brooks took over. He scored in a variety of ways, getting to the rim with quick moves and knocking down all three of his 3-pointers in an opening half that saw him score 17 of his game-high 22 points.

The Friars ended the opening half with a 48-25 lead on 60 percent shooting (20-of-33) from the floor. More importantly, they held Brown to 35 percent shooting.

“We were ready to go,” said Brooks. “We had a day off and we were ready to play again. It was a disappointing weekend in California but we’ve put it behind us. We had two more games before exam break and now we have one.”

That one is a big one, the annual intrastate showdown with Rhode Island this Saturday at The Dunk.

PC, which improved to 5-3 on the season, had several positive developments in this game. Brooks gave the Friars a shot in the arm again with his scoring punch and Kale continued his strong inside play as he and Hanke led a 44-29 assault on the backboards. Sharaud Curry controlled the game better than he has all season as he not only scored 14 points with two threes but also dished out eight assists and didn’t turn the ball over in 23 minutes.

Peter Sullivan led Brown (3-4) with 16 points, 12 or which came in the second half. Adrain Williams canned four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points while PC held Matt Mullery in check in the lane as he managed only 11 points.

“They have some very talented players and they got where they wanted to on the floor,” said Bear’s coach Jesse Agel. “I felt like we had a lot of real good opportunities early on but when a talented offensive team like Providence gets it going, you have to match their output with your own. I thought we had some real good opportunities early, but I think we missed some good shots with our right guys.”

Agel said he challenged his team at the half to dig in and contest the Friars’ offense better in the second half. PC won the second 20 minutes, 38-37.

“At halftime I told them the game was going to go one of two ways but I was glad the way it went,” Agel said. “We kept fighting right to the end and some guys did good things. Guys are trying to win minutes out there.”

The Friars not only dug in on defense and held the Bears to 33 percent shooting for the game, they also shared the ball better than they did in the three games in California and didn’t take quick-trigger 3-pointers. PC ended the game making 8-of-20 threes and totaling 19 assists.

“I think they understood that we can shoot the ball,” said Davis. “I don’t think that Brown looked at the stats of the last three games and said ‘Oh, this team can’t shoot.’ They identified us and we shot less threes than we have in the previous games but made more. That’s the quality of shots and guys making the extra pass.”

kmcnamar@projo.com