Their freshman season was supposed to be a rebuilding year following the departures of a pair of NBA draft picks in Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil. Things certainly looked that way after they started 1-4 in the Big East, and then had a 4-8 conference record with six games left in the regular season.
The Friars closed on a six game winning streak, however, highlighted by a 73-69 thriller at home against Marquette and a last second win at Creighton in which Kyron Cartwright buried a 3-pointer with two seconds to go.
That team’s improbable run to the NCAA tournament ended in a First Four game against USC, after Providence led by as many as 17 points, but saw the Trojans come storming back for a 75-71 victory.