Providence’s Jonathan Kale, right, goes up for a layup in front of Arkansas’ Steven Hill during the first half of yesterday’s game in San Juan.

AP / Andres Leighton

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — On most nights when he misses seven of the eight shots he takes, Dwain Williams leaves an arena upset. Not last night.

Facing the stiffest challenge of his college career as a point guard, Williams may not have made many shots. But he stood up to some smothering pressure defense and helped the Friars to a convincing 67-51 win over 18th-ranked Arkansas. Williams may be better known for his shooting touch than his point-guard skills — he’s turned the ball over four times in 70 minutes as PC’s starting point guard over the last two games.

Arkansas forces a blistering pace with its full-court press and aggressive man-to-man defense and did force 20 Friar turnovers.

“I know I can’t turn the ball over as the point guard,” said Williams, “but doing it against a team like Arkansas is tough. They press you everywhere.”

Williams had plenty of help handling the ball last night. Geoff McDermott is the ultimate release valve to any pressure because opposing teams stick a big man on him and McDermott can easily navigate the floor. Jeff Xavier, Brian McKenzie and Weyinmi Efejuku each helped handle the press as well.

“Every time we’re bringing the ball up the court, I’m holding my breath with their pressure,” coach Tim Welsh said of Arkansas.

Curry still out

Williams is playing so much because the Friars are without their top point guard and floor leader in junior Sharaud Curry. He is still nursing a broken foot and continues to wear a soft cast to immobilize his foot. The plan is for Curry to have an MRI on his foot as soon as PC returns from Puerto Rico and if all goes well, he’ll have the cast removed and can begin workouts.

The Friars clearly won’t have Curry in the lineup for their home opener, next Saturday, against Harvard, but if the two-year starter can return to practice by then, he could be back for a Nov. 27 date against Maine. The Friars badly need him up-and-running for a key December week that features major tests against Boston College (Dec. 1), Rhode Island (Dec.4) and South Carolina (Dec. 6).

Welsh spoke about Curry’s absence after Thursday’s win over Temple, saying, “We clearly miss our leader and our leading returning scorer.”

Williams played 37 very good minutes against Temple with 17 points and only one turnover, but the Friars lack another proven point guard. Welsh has toyed with using freshman Marshon Brooks at the point but he has yet to play in the Friars’ first two games.

Puerto Rico Tip-Off

The reviews for the inaugural Puerto Rico Tip-Off are positive. The teams are pleased with the arena and format of the event, which is organized by ESPN Regional Television, an arm of the ESPN empire. All the games are televised on either ESPNU or ESPN2, and the plan is to elevate the event over the coming years to a level commensurate with the top in-season tournaments on the college basketball calendar.

“To me, this will be the premier preseason tournament,” said Tom Penders, the former URI coach who brought his Houston team to San Juan. “It’s a beautiful place, a beautiful arena and you get a day off in between games.”

Penders echoed the thoughts of PC’s Welsh when he spoke of the benefits of enjoying an off-day today before the tourney wraps up tomorrow. The coaches also like the fact that traveling to Puerto Rico is so much easier than the long journey to Hawaii or Alaska, two states that have hosted longtime events.

“When they first called, they wanted to have eight goods teams and that appealed to us right away,” said Penders. “It’s like a Maui Classic, Eastern version, but you don’t have to travel way out to Hawaii. And this is a better arena.”

The Coliseo de Puerto Rico is the largest indoor arena in the Caribbean. It opened in 2004 and seats 18,000.

ESPN Regional runs three in-season tournaments with the other two coming next week in Orlando and Los Angeles. The Friars have already signed up to play in the West Coast event next year. The Anaheim Classic will be played on Thanksgiving Day, Friday and Sunday.

kmcnamar@projo.com