Providence was picked third in the preseason Big East poll, just behind Villanova and Creighton, and after a pair of resounding defeats in the season’s first week (79-58 to Indiana and 88-71 to Alabama) they’ve played as well as anyone in the league. They’ve cleaned up some of the defensive issues that plagued them in those two losses, and they have an overtime win at Seton Hall and a double-overtime win against DePaul on their resume since then. And they enter Saturday’s clash with Creighton at 7-3 and 3-1 in the Big East.
In that respect, it’s a typical Ed Cooley team, improving and getting better as the season goes on.