WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With two games left in the regular season, the post-season hopes of Providence College men's basketball team are still very much in question.
Last night's 71-56 loss to Georgetown left Providence with a 13-12 record, with games remaining at Connecticut and at home versus Seton Hall. PC needs one more win to assure itself of at least a .500 record, a mark that should clinch a berth in The National Invitation Tournament, which regularly offers Big East teams with a .500 record a spot in its field.
While the Friars have yet to clinch a spot in the Big East Tournament, they are in great shape to play in New York. Winning that tourney is PC's only chance of landing an NCAA tourney berth. It looks as if the Friars will finish anywhere between third or fifth in the East Division.
After last night's loss, the Friars sit in fourth place. The fourth-place team in the East matches up with the West's fifth-place finisher. Georgetown currently holds that spot.
The Friars and Hoyas were paired in the first round of last year's Big East tourney, with Georgetown winning a 68-67 thriller on a last second shot.
The win last night was a big one for Georgetown on several fronts. Now 13-11 and 5-8 in the conference, the Hoyas are locked in a battle with Rutgers and West Virginia to avoid last place in the West. The team that finishes seventh will not qualify for the conference tournament in New York.
The victory gave the Hoyas some breathing room. With five league wins, the Hoyas are now two games ahead of Rutgers, which lost to Seton Hall last night. Rutgers finishes with a home game against Notre Dame and away games at St. John's and Syracuse. The Hoyas will host Syracuse, travel to West Virginia and end the regular season with a home game against Notre Dame.
Georgetown could be hard-pressed to finish at or above. 500. The Hoyas were extended an N.I.T. berth after last year's 19-11 season but declined the invite. That marked the first season since 1973-74, John Thompson
's second year as head coach, that the Hoyas didn't play in a national post-season tournament.
Losing their grip
A recent spate of unsteady ballhandling has hampered PC freshman guard Donnie McGrath
and cost him his lead in the Big East's assist-turnover rankings. McGrath had led conference guards in that category most of this season, but he totaled nine assists and 17 turnovers in PC's three entering last night. McGrath struggled against Georgetown's scrambling defense, racking up five turnovers against just one assist. The Friars totaled a season-high 25 turnovers.
"We needed to be stronger with the ball," said McGrath. "We were sloppy the whole night, and that just can't continue. We have to clean that up."
Here and there
The Friars are 9-1 when junior guard Sheiku Kabba
scores 10 or more points in a game. Last night he scored six points, snapping his best streak of the season. Kabba averaged 21.5 points and 3.5 steals on 71 percent shooting from the field in PC's wins over Miami and Villanova last week. . . . A moment of silence was observed before the game in honor of the 97 people who died in last week's fire at The Station in West Warwick. The story has received significant coverage in the Washington press. . . . The crowd of 6,716 was the smallest to see the Hoyas play in a Big East game this season.
