Javon Freeman-Liberty scored 21 points in the first-round win versus Providence.
On paper, at last, the final game of the BIG EAST Tournament’s opening-day tripleheader between No. 6 Providence and No. 11 DePaul didn’t figure to be much of a battle.
The Friars had already swept the season series from the Blue Demons, were solid favorites to make it three straight over DePaul in Wednesday’s opener and were coming at the Demons armed with two of the top four scorers in the league in senior bigman Nate Watson and stellar junior guard David Duke. A pair of BIG EAST Second Team picks, no less.