PROVIDENCE — There’s certainly no place like home for the Providence College Friars these days. After all, the road is a very scary place.

Winning on the road in college basketball is never easy, but over the last few seasons Tim Welsh’s Friars have met with horrific results when they leave the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The latest downer was an 80-53 loss at West Virginia on Saturday that dropped the Friars to 1-8 on the road this season. PC’s only win came against one of the hottest teams in the country, Connecticut, on Jan. 17.

This year’s road woes are a continuation of PC’s problems away from home. Over the last three seasons, PC has won just six of 30 road games and is 5-19 in Big East road contests. The Friars’ final road game this season is Sunday at Cincinnati.

Any college hoops fan knows the challenges a team faces when it invades a rival’s homecourt. Opposing fans breathing down your neck, weather delays, stuffy hotel rooms. The list of obstacles to winning away from home is certainly lengthy, but they’re hurdles good teams find a way to clear.

“It’s always so difficult, but it’s a challenge you have to meet,” said Welsh. “It seems like we’ve seen other teams play really well. West Virginia played at a high level. So did Pitt. St. John’s played one of their better games. I think that’s on us, too, but you have to find a way to get it done.”

While the Friars have lost nine of their last 10 games and four of five at home, they’ve clearly played better at The Dunk. In recent losses to nationally ranked Louisville and Georgetown, the Friars played hard and led for long stretches of the games. But late-game fades killed chances for major upsets.

That wasn’t the case in Morgantown. PC led by one point with eight minutes to play in the first half but the Mountaineers rallied for a 33-27 halftime lead. It was still a six-point game with 14 minutes left, but that’s when the home team rallied and the Friars crumbled. A slew of turnovers (21) and an inability to create any punchout of its halfcourt offense crippled the Friars as WVU raced to the blowout.

“We came out and fought toe-to-toe with West Virginia in the first half, and I thought our defense was really solid, so I thought if we’d just handle the ball better, we’d be there,” Welsh said. “But when you have six assists and 21 turnovers, they drive it at you in transition off your turnovers. It puts too much pressure on your defense.”

PC’s offense has hiccupped in fits and starts for weeks now. Welsh said the last time the Friars have run smoothly for a half came in a 50-point second half against DePaul. Not surprisingly, that was PC’s last victory.

“We’ve tweaked our offense some, but when the defenses have gotten tough, we haven’t responded,” said Welsh. “Without Dwain (Williams, who’s out with an ankle injury), we’ve had to let Weyinmi (Efejuku), Geoff McDermott and X (Jeff Xavier) handle the ball a lot more, and that’s an unnatural position for them.”

PC is on break this week and the team won’t play again until Sunday in Cincinnati. That should give Williams enough to time to heal. Efejuku is also hurting after getting the cornea in his right eye scratched against West Virginia.

“It’s a good week for us to forget about what’s happened the last few weeks,” Welsh said. “We have no school this week and don’t have a game all week, so we can break things down a bit and hopefully heal up a little bit. We’ll get ready for a three-game stretch that’ll determine whether we get to New York or not.”

New York, of course, is the home of the Big East Tournament. Right now, the 4-11 Friars are in 14th place in the conference and not on the invitation list for the annual party at Madison Square Garden. The route to a bid is actually pretty clear. PC ends the regular season at Cincinnati and at home against UConn and Villanova. Win two or three of those games and the Friars should be fine.

PC can also get in if it wins only one game, but things get complicated. First, DePaul cannot win another game, which appears possible. That would leave PC and the Blue Demons tied at 5-13. The teams split two games, so various tie-breakers would come into play. PC would win the tie-breaker if it beats either Cincinnati or UConn but loses out if its win comes against Villanova. Road rage

Providence College is 10-30 on the road in the four seasons since it last posted a winning road record:

kmcnamar@projo.com