For Friars fans, Saturday afternoon seemed to be a repeat of Wednesday night at St. John’s. After running up an eleven-point lead in the first half, Providence saw that lead crumble in the second half. The Friars gave up 51 second half points en route to an 81-67 loss.
Once again, Providence got off to a hot start. After Villanova made the game’s first basket, the Friars made the next five. Noah Horchler got things started with a dunk, and then David Duke and Nate Watson each made two shots of their own. Down 11-2 early, Villanova’s offense was sputtering without Collin Gillespie.