PROVIDENCE — In a season where so much curiosity is focused on fresh faces, it’s clear that the few remaining older Providence Friars will carry the day this coming season.

Veterans Marshon Brooks and Sharaud Curry, as well as freshman redshirt big man Bilal Dixon, stole the spotlight in the team’s exhibition opener and led the Friars to a 97-74 romp over Merrimack College. Brooks, a long-armed junior, poured in 33 points on 14-of-24 shooting. Curry, a fifth-year senior, struggled with his shot at times yet still finished with 15 points and displayed a slick floor game with six assists. Dixon pounded his way inside to the tune of 16 points and 15 rebounds in 17 minutes.

The game was held at Alumni Hall and while the crowd of 2,017 was about 300 short of a sellout, it was a hearty bunch, especially a vocal student section. The 54-year old building showed its age, however. The warm Halloween day sent indoor temps soaring to an uncomfortable level, sending some fans to the exits early and causing players from both teams to cramp up. The Friars will return to their downtown home at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for a second tune-up next Saturday against Stonehill.

The Friars took advantage of their familiar campus surroundings to wear out a Merrimack team that is picked to dominate Division Two in New England this year. The Warriors played without two starters and still put up 74 points but a huge size disadvantage allowed the Friars to clean up on the glass (68-40) and hold the visitors to 34 percent shooting.

The rebounding and defense sparked PC’s up-tempo offense. Coach Keno Davis is stressing a faster pace and with scorers like Brooks and Curry spearheading the attack, the team can be explosive.

“That’s the pace we want to play at,” said Brooks. “What did we score 97 points? That’s great. We want to run as much as we can. We feel that we’re deep and we have lots of quick, fast guards.”

Curry leads that backcourt speed but freshman Vincent Council (7 assists) pushes the pace hard, too. The Friars racked up 23 team assists. “On the perimeter I like where we’re at,” Davis said. “I think Vincent and Johnnnie (Lacy) give us another dimension that they really haven’t seen here in a while. They are two guys that are lightning fast and they get it and go. Our wings have to learn to run the court. We never really ran last year. We can be an exciting team to watch.”

Davis also gives his players freedom to hoist shots from everywhere. While the Friars missed 20 of their 26 threes, Brooks, Curry, Brian McKenzie and frosh Duke Mondy all look confident from downtown.

“I think I’d like to play for me,” Davis said with a laugh. “(Brooks) asked me where he should be on one set, on the wing or in the corner. I said `where do you want to be?’ When he’s on like that, I want to put him in the position that he’s the most comfortable with. I don’t have any problem with him taking shots because he’s shown he can make them in practice. He’s going to be a big weapon for us offensively.”

Dixon sat out last season as a redshirt although he clearly could’ve helped the team. Now he’s a year older, much stronger and bursting with excitement. He and sophomore Jamine Peterson are ahead of the new frontcourt players at this stage.

“I didn’t really see Keno’s dream last year but I see his plan now,” said Dixon. “I need to play with all the energy I have. It all came out of me today. I was hyped.”

Any flow the first half hoped to reach was ruined by the nearly constant wailing of whistles. The officials clearly planned to call the game close and they made their wishes felt early and often in the opening 20 minutes as seemingly every hand-check, hip bump and other soft fouls were called. The result was PC getting hit with 19 fouls to 14 for Merrimack.

The Warriors stayed in the game in large part due to the fouling. They sank 19 of their 27 free throw tries in the half. The Friars were just 8-of-15 but still led at the break, 48-39.

The lead grew to 59-43 early in the second and a 10-2 run sparked by threes from McKenzie and Curry midway through the half put the game away. Davis said his team needs to adjust to a close official’s whistle but time is running short. PC opens its season in less than two weeks against Bryant University.

FRIAR DRIBBLES: The players were clearly bothered by the steamy temps inside Alumni Hall. “I loved it but it was hot. It was very, very hot. I cramped up at the end,” said Brooks. “This is fine but just once. We need the Dunk back.”…Peterson was held out of the game with a sore thigh. He continues to practice almost daily and has been the team’s top rebounder. “The great thing with Peterson not playing,” said Davis, “was that our young bigs got a lot of minutes. When you put Peterson in the mix those minutes will go way down so it’s good we were able to give them a lot of opportunity.”…Myles Mack, a junior point guard from New Jersey, was at the game as a guest of the Friars.

kmcnamar@projo.com