Friar point guard Sharaud Curry, right, looks for an open man last night against Jackson State at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Curry had 10 points and 6 assists.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

PROVIDENCE — No matter what coaches preach or do to avoid the dreaded exam-break letdown, they never quite know what they’ll see when the books are put away for another semester.

The Friars wrapped up exams Tuesday but noticeably didn’t come into the Dunkin’ Donuts Center last night with clear heads. Jackson State, a team that fell to 1-9 after an 85-71 loss, is athletic and very hungry and the Tigers jumped all over the Friars out of the gate as they built a 12-point first-half lead. JSU led at the break, 43-32, after shooting a sizzling 62 percent from the field.

PC eventually regrouped and put together an impressive second half but the veteran Friar team considered itself lucky afterward.

“We overlooked them a little bit but they’re a good team,” said senior center Randall Hanke. “I think it’s always tough after exams. You’re up late, trying to do well and it takes a lot out of you. I only had two [tests] but you put in a lot of time.”

PC coach Keno Davis begrudgingly accepted the exam period as an excuse for his team’s slow start.

“I don’t want to use finals week as an excuse to describe our first 20 minutes, because Jackson State is a team that’s picked to be in the NCAA Tournament this year and to win the SWAC. They’ve played an incredible schedule with 14 road games to start off so from watching tape I knew that we had a quality opponent,” he said.

But Davis admits that when he saw the Tigers zipping by his players in the first half for layups and dunks, a mental adjustment was needed. He took care of that at halftime.

“You see at this time of year with finals week that it’s tough on the players,” said Davis. “They really do spend a lot of time working on the studying. To be able to focus on basketball and play at this level is hard. You see that there is not a whole lot of difference between Big East teams and teams from smaller conferences. The difference is getting closer and closer every year.”

Long road for Jackson State

While Jackson State lost eight of its first nine games, they rarely got blown out. The Tigers are in the midst of a season-opening, 14-game road trip that takes them from Baton Rouge, La., to Champaign, Ill., to Tempe, Ariz., and last night to Providence.

Based in Jackson, Miss., the Tigers receive financial guarantees for at least seven of the 14 road games to open the season. No one would say last night what PC paid Jackson State but a check of roughly $50,000 is normal and the Tigers will reap close to $400,000 before they begin playing in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Good news for Friars fans

PC is promoting two fan-friendly events for its next two home games. For Monday’s game against Bryant University, PC is sponsoring a PC Power Pack where fans receive four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for $32. Game time is 7 p.m. On New Year’s Eve, the Friars open Big East play against St. John’s and the game will be part of the City of Providence’s Bright Night. Patrons who purchase a Bright Night wristband for the New Year’s festivities downtown also can receive a free ticket to the Friar game.

kmcnamar@projo.com