PROVIDENCE – When Providence College basketball fans sit around and rhapsodize about the good old days, they bring up players with names like Wilkens, Ernst, Walker, Marvin, Ernie D and Billy The Kid.

 When talk turns to memorable games, the conversation usually begins and ends with The Michigan Game. Now we have The Pitt Game.

 Tuesday night’s upset of top-ranked Pittsburgh will be remembered for a long, long time around these parts. Just like the double-overtime upset of Michigan, even if that took place 33 years ago.

 The players, coaches and 11,887 fans who were at The Dunk and thousands more who wished they were will always remember the night the Friars slew Number One. Here are some instant memories courtesy of some of the participants and observers.

 ***Keno Davis knew PC’s fans would embrace his five departing seniors (eight including walk-ons) but he described the prolonged applause the group received as “emotional. An incredible ovation.” Reached on a recruiting trip yesterday, Davis recalled a pre-game speech he gave to his team that turned prophetic.

 “I told them that players don’t get many opportunities to even play a number one team and I think they really embraced that. They played like we had nothing to lose,” he said.

 Davis said the magnitude of the upset began to hit him when he reached his car after the game, opened his phone and discovered 38 new text messages. What may stick longest in Davis’ mind is the player’s reaction as the final seconds ticked off the clock. “It was like they were 16-, 17-year old kids, hugging each other. I think Jeff Xavier was crying. There’s a kid who always wanted to be a Friar.”

 ***From the opening tap, there clearly was more than a little extra buzz in a crowd that came downtown thirsting for a special night. Great crowds can play a starring role in few sports like college basketball and this one certainly helped the Friars to victory.

 PC’s long-time team physician, Dr. Albert Puerini, hosted the most famous fan in the building in famed actor James Woods. It seems Puerini and Woods are music fans who love to catch the blues acts at Chan’s in Woonsocket. Owner John Chan joined them at the game. “Jim was great. He was extremely enthusiastic, jumping up and down,” Puerini said.

 Woods, whose mother, Martha, lives in Warwick, even left his seat to snag a t-shirt that cheerleaders fired into his mid-court section. “Jim grabbed it and a nice young man behind us said `nice catch.’ James opened the shirt up and said he’d sign it and give it to the kid, which I thought was great. He had a blast,” Puerini said.

 ***PC athletic director Bob Driscoll is famously nervous during games. Needless to say, his nerves were frayed in the second half as PC’s 20-point lead shrunk to as few as five with just under a minute to play. Instead of worrying next to his wife and new Big East commissioner John Marinatto, Driscoll left his seat. And the building. “I went outside. Couldn’t take it,” Driscoll said. “I didn’t even want to watch it on TV.”

 Driscoll came in from the cold after a few minutes and knew from the sounds of the crowd that the Friars were still in control. “Our crowd was fantastic. There can’t be many crowds like that in our history,” he said.

 ***No Friar wears his emotion on his sleeve like Jonathan Kale and his 13 points and tough defense on DeJuan Blair were critical in the win. As the Friars raced off to their 18-point halftime lead, the crowd jumped behind the team and the player’s confidence soared. “We knew at halftime that we couldn’t blow this lead. We couldn’t let this one go. This is one we had to get,” said Kale.

 Once Pittsburgh finally began imposing its will on the Friars, defending and rebounding like a potential national champion, PC’s lead shrunk. But this was the Friars’ night and when Sharaud Curry and Brian McKenzie both hit huge pairs of free throws to hold the Panthers at bay, the countdown was on. After a steal by Xavier with 20 seconds left, Pitt coach Jaime Dixon called off the dogs and PC’s party began.

 Kale ran to mid-court, knelt down and kissed the giant Friar emblem. As he stood, he was engulfed by a sea of rushing students. When he fought his way off the floor, Kale hugged a group of friends from his high school, St. Andrews School in Barrington, that included coaches Mike Hart and John O’Shea, Head of School John Martin and guidance director Mike Raffa.

 “We’re blessed to be playing in such a great league where every night you get a challenge and it just so happened that we got the biggest challenge all season on Senior Night,” said Kale. “We knew the only way was to ride off into the sunset. We had to get this win. We had to end it in style.”

kmcnamar@projo.com