PC point guard Sharaud Curry brings an irreplaceable offensive dimension to the Friars’ play.

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The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — For the second straight season, the Providence College Friars are proving that they can’t play, or win, without Sharaud Curry.

Last season, Curry’s absence with a broken foot was painfully evident in a 15-16 PC season that ultimately cost coach Tim Welsh his job. That Welsh didn’t have his starting point guard all season made his firing unfair in some quarters.

Curry is back now and he’s showing how important he is to the program on a nightly basis. After struggling at times in the season’s opening month as he shook the cobwebs off his game, the 5-foot-10 redshirt junior from Atlanta has stepped up his game. He’s played his best ever since the Big East schedule began and helped lead the Friars to a 3-0 start in the league for only the second time in history.

Curry and the Friars are back in action this afternoon against No. 9 Georgetown. When asked yesterday about his impression of the first-place Friars, Hoya coach John Thompson III did not hesitate.

“They are a veteran team, even if people forget that. They have good players,” said Thompson, “and Curry is back. He was a missing piece last year. He’s another good guard for them. He adds a tremendous presence.”

That presence is exactly what is most important to Providence’s attack. While the Friars own some talented pieces, they frequently can get sidetracked offensively and take bad shots or turn the ball over at inopportune times. Curry acts as a calming influence and takes a load off the other players.

“He does a great job of handling the ball and getting us into our offense,” said guard Weyinmi Efejuku. “It’s kind of like you’re more at ease when he’s out there. When he’s not in, Jeff Xavier comes in and he’s growing into the point-guard position, but that’s not his natural spot.”

Thompson isn’t the only Big East coach who’s noticed how much smoother the Friar offense operates with Curry (14.7 ppg, 4.6 assists in three league games) playing well. After the Friars outlasted Cincinnati in a 87-79 shootout, Bearcat coach Mick Cronin took turns lamenting his team’s futile defensive efforts and praising Curry. He pointed out that the pieces that didn’t quite seem to fit a year ago are now in line.

“It’s our problem here. Our point guard (Cashmere Wright) is out,” Cronin said. “Curry puts guys back in their normal position. Geoff McDermott played point guard last year. It’s a huge difference for them.” Cronin added that Curry’s injury “ruined their season last year. That’s fairly evident.”

In the early part of this season, PC fans had to wonder whether they’d ever see the “old” Curry again. He scored just two points in a season-opening loss to Northeastern and was clearly a step slow in the Friars’ three games at the Anaheim Classic, when he averaged just six points and two assists.

But he’s gradually worked back into shape. Before the Big East opener against St. John’s, Curry happily proclaimed that his foot was pain-free. Those were words he hadn’t spoken in at least 15 months.

Sure enough, he instantly raised his play in the most important games. He scored a season-high 16 points against the Red Storm and followed that up with 13 points and three assists in a grind-it-out victory over DePaul. At Cincinnati, Curry hit three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points and three assists. He also made sure that PC’s main weapon in the game, wing guard Efejuku, had the ball at the right time.

“Sharaud will hit the shot, he’ll dump it down to the big men. He does a lot of good things for us,” Efejuku said.

Friar coach Keno Davis knows how important Curry is. For the second straight game, he resisted the urge to rest his lead guard in the final eight minutes and instead rode him for longer (32 minutes) than he’d like.

“Again we got to a point in the game where I just said that ‘we need him out there,’ ” said Davis. “My assistants wanted to get him a rest, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut and stick him out there. We wanted the ball in his hands.”

That’s a sight that the Friars clearly cannot do without. Tonight

PC at Georgetown,

1 p.m.

kmcnamar@projo.com