PROVIDENCE –– At first blush, Keno Davis couldn’t find a better opponent to end exam break with than Jackson State.

The Tigers came to town last night clutching an atlas and their 1-8 record. This was their 10th consecutive road game to open this season, and Little Rhody was the sixth state they’ve played in. They won’t see their home gym back in Mississippi until Jan. 10.

But after only a handful of trips up and down the Dunkin’ Donuts Center floor, Davis and his Friars were the ones doing the blushing. PC found itself in trouble –– big trouble –– yet still dug deep and pulled out an exciting 85-71 win.

Jackson State hit 10 of its first 12 shots against a paper-thin PC defense as it raced out to a 21-10 lead. The Friars woke up and cut the lead to one late in the half, but the Tigers closed the half on an 11-1 run and led at the break, 43-32.

“It’s disappointing. It’s frustrating, obviously,” Davis said of the sluggish start, especially a defensive effort that saw JSU shoot 62 percent from the floor.

After a halftime “chat” that saw Davis’ ire rise to a level that the Friars’ players say they hadn’t seen from their first-year coach, PC regrouped. Stiffer defense was the key. PC opened the half with runs of 10-2, 15-4 and 24-6 that put it in control. Jackson State’s once-solid ball-handling cracked a bit, and it managed to shoot just 28 percent in the second half.

“In the first half we came out sloppy. I don’t think we gave this team respect,” said PC’s Jeff Xavier, “but in the Big East that’s not going to work for us. We’re going to have to come out every single game with fire and energy. We can’t just bring it 20 minutes a game. We have to bring 40 minutes of effort night in and night out.”

After seeing several Friars sleep-walk through the first half, the group dug in collectively with the game on the line.

“All year we’ve been able to see some signs of strong character out of this team to come back from strong deficits and come back from not playing up to our level and yet not panicking. Just playing really hard until the final buzzer,” said Davis.

The Friars placed six players in double figures, with Weyinmi Efejuku leading the way again with 18 points, 16 in the second half. Geoff McDermott added 13 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, while Xavier had 15 points, Randall Hanke 11 and Jon Kale and Sharaud Curry finished with 10 apiece.

PC won its third straight game to improve to 7-3, with a big date at Boston College looming Saturday afternoon.

Jackson State is blessed with some talented scorers, and it came at PC in a fury out of the gate. Davis said he’s faced coach Tevester Anderson’s teams twice before in his coaching career and knew that a group that’s already lost to the likes of LSU, Illinois and national champion Kansas wouldn’t come into The Dunk with wide eyes.

“I told our team that although Jackson State’s record isn’t a great record because of their schedule, that team runs as well in transition as any team we’ve played this year, if not better,” said Davis. “There was a reason they were getting behind us. That’s what they do. They run and they go after you.”

That strategy made PC’s man-to-man defense look awful. Davis threw a little press at the Tigers, but only when he switched to zone did the Friars begin to get their feet under them.

A letdown at the end of the first half caused all sorts of (loud) concern at the break, but the Friars responded in the second half through their man-to-man defense.

Efejuku appeared listless in 10 first-half minutes (two shots, two points) and PC shot 2-for-11 from the 3-point line. The second half was clearly better. Efejuku continually beat his defender into the lane from the top of the key, and two Xavier threes, as well as one from Curry, proved pivotal in the comeback run.

“I hoped our team didn’t take them lightly, and I don’t think they did,” said Davis. “I think our guys were ready to play, but we were just off. To be able to come back in that second half and get things going on the defensive end and with rebounding shows that we can play. We just know that pretty soon, starting Saturday [at BC], we’ve got to make sure that we play like we did in that second half for 40 minutes. Or else we won’t be coming away with a victory very often.”

kmcnamar@projo.com