01:00 AM EST on Sunday, February 22, 2004

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE -- On the way to nine victories in 12 Big East games, the Providence College Friars have won all sorts of ways.

PC thumped Syracuse and West Virginia, shocked Connecticut and came from behind to beat Seton Hall. Yesterday, against a reeling University of Miami team, the Friars simply took care of business.

PC went up by 12 points in the first half, lost the lead and trailed by one with 10:30 left, but ultimately rallied and won going away, 70-57. The 19th-ranked Friars improved to 17-5 overall and equaled the school's best start in Big East play (9-3).

The Friars have four games left, two on the road and two at home. Next up is a trip to Notre Dame Tuesday. A win over the Irish could set up a Big East championship showdown March 2 at home against Pittsburgh.

As they have done with most of their opponents this season, the Friars wore the Hurricanes down by combining their zone defense and offensive depth. While other

teams have two or three scorers for foes to worry about, the Friars almost always have five on the floor.

Five Friars scored in double figures with Rob Sanders leading the way with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Donnie McGrath hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points. Ryan Gomes and Sheiku Kabba each added 11 and Tuukka Kotti came off the bench and chipped in with 10 points. Marcus Douthit added 6 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks.

"This whole team is dangerous," said Kabba. "If teams double Gomes, we'll all get open looks. Right now, if we keep making the extra pass, all we have to do is knock the shots down. They'll be there."

Miami (13-14, 3-10) lost for the ninth straight game and is in danger of missing the Big East Tournament in its final season in the conference. The Hurricanes received 15 points from Robert Hite and 13 from freshman Guillermo Diaz. Their leading scorer, Darius Rice, missed his second straight game with a sprained foot. Rice said he could've played, but coach Perry Clark said, "I made the decision not to play him. I was worried about a possible setback."

PC's players had six days to listen to coach Tim Welsh's warnings about their own potential setback in what has been the program's best season in 15 years. Welsh said he "hated" the time off and worried about his team's reaction but, overall, he was pleased yesterday.

"That's the way the schedule is and good teams fight their way through that," Welsh said. "We didn't have the crispness we've had the last couple weeks, but we tightened up our defense when we had to."

The Friars started quickly, holding Miami to 35-percent shooting in the first half on the way to a 35-26 lead at the break. Eight Friars scored in the half with Gomes getting things going with an early 3-pointer and Sanders finishing three fastbreaks with dunks. Little-used senior Maris Laksa also played well, hitting a 3-pointer and passing off for two nice assists.

A McGrath 3-pointer opened the second half and gave the Friars a 38-26 lead, but Miami wasn't ready to slink back home to the sun without showing some fight. The Hurricanes put together a 15-2 spurt to grab a 41-40 lead on a 3-pointer by Hite. The lead changed hands three more times over the next four minutes before a McGrath 3-pointer with 10:23 left put the Friars up for good, 49-47.

The shot began a 15-4 run that gave the Friars a 61-51 lead with five minutes left. Miami didn't get closer than eight points the rest of the way. Welsh said the way the Friars regained their composure after losing the lead is another sign of a confident, veteran team. PC now has held Big East foes to 60 points or less in seven of 12 games.

"When a team makes a run at you and a couple guys aren't playing well, we have a lot of versatility and I can try to mix and match guys," he said. "We are tough to guard."

The Friar players say their coach's concerns that they might let a winnable game slip away because of a lack of focus are unfounded. Instead, they seem intent on closing out what has already been a special season.

"We're so close. We have four games left," said Kotti. "We want to win the Big East. That's what we're after."