PROVIDENCE — After playing Providence College is its first two seasons as a Division I school, Bryant University is not going to face the Friars again in 2010-11.

Bryant coach Tim O’Shea said his schedule for next season is finished and the Friars are not included. The only Rhode Island school on the slate will be Brown. O’Shea and PC coach Keno Davis both like to plan their schedules in advance, and they are moving ahead without each other.

O’Shea said he spoke with PC, but no date for another game could be found. He’d like the series to resume, however.

“Believe it or not, I want to honestly thank Providence for giving us a chance to play this game,” O’Shea said after a 96-53 loss to the Friars on Friday. “Taking the long view and trying to establish a Division I identity, it is important for us to have an opportunity to play Providence and Boston College and other traditional New England powers.”

O’Shea said he realizes scheduling needs to work for both schools, however, and it really is PC’s choice who to line up for early-season home games.

“It needs to be in the mutual interests of both schools and we’ll accommodate any date Providence has in future years if we can,” he said. “We’ve agreed to talk every spring and see if there are some dates that can work for both of us. We’re hoping there is a scheduling opportunity for us with URI in the future as well.”

Bryant is playing several other upper-echelon teams this season. The Bulldogs travel to Boston College, St. John’s and Indiana in late December.

Slate gets tougher

PC improved to 2-0 with its win over Bucknell, but now faces an impressive Mercer team on Sunday. Then comes a trip to Alabama to face a Crimson Tide team that was upset by Cornell on Saturday in its season-opener.

Davis is more than happy to lean on the few veterans he has in his lineup, but getting several of the newcomers to chip in with big plays is vital. Marshon Brooks, Sharaud Curry, Brian McKenzie and Jamine Peterson all made the vital plays in the final minutes against Bucknell, but some earlier efforts from freshmen Duke Mondy (two big threes) and Vincent Council (10 points, 4 assists) and the strong board work of Bilal Dixon (9 rebounds) were crucial in PC’s win.

“It’s nice to have Marshon here who can score a lot of points, but he can’t do it alone,” said Davis. “We’re going to need 10, 11 players to be able to (win). We can have different guys step up and have big games for us.”

PC is hoping to use this weekend’s tournament not only to get the season off to a quick start but also to throw all sorts of situations at the newcomers.

“The guys are faster, stronger and just better in college,” said Council. “You have to learn when to pick your spots and really attack when you see a play developing.”

“The best kind of learning experiences are when you win close games,” Davis said. “On the other side of that, you can really learn when you lose a close game, too. You have to give Bucknell a lot of credit. They played a great game and we were lucky to come away with it but we’ve got to be able to improve as a team in close wins. Hopefully, we’re learning every game.”

Top N.E. players

The Friars were expecting several of the top New England high school players Saturday.

The biggest target is Andre Drummond, a 6-foot-10 center at St. Thomas More who is regarded as one of the premier sophomores in the country. Bryon Allen, a teammate of Drummond’s at St. Thomas More, was slated to sign with West Virginia and enroll next fall, but the Mountaineers withdrew their offer. Allen is now looking at other schools, including George Washington and Maryland. PC certainly appears set at the point guard spot for next year, but Allen may opt for another year of prep school and not be ready for college until the fall of 2011.

Also on hand were Tyler Olander and Olivier-Paul Betu of Worcester Academy, Trahson Burrell of St. Thomas More and Kuran Iverson, a 6-7 freshman from Connecticut. Olander, a talented 6-9 junior forward, has emerged as a major focus for PC and URI. Iverson may be the top freshman in New England.

kmcnamar@projo.com