Oduro Lead Providence Over Georgetown
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Andrew Rosario
When #7 Providence (19-12, 10-10 conference) took the floor against #10 Georgetown (9-22, 2-18 conference) it was the third time that Hoyas head coach Ed Cooley would be facing his former Friar team. Providence dominated Georgetown in their two regular meetings during the regular season. Both teams finished the end of the regular season on a down note when they took the floor in the second game of round one of the 2024 Big East Tournament Wednesday night at Madison Sqaure Garden.
Georgetown came into the tournament on a 4-game losing streak while Providence had lost 3 of their last 4. If there was any hope the Hoyas took into the game, it was that in their last loss to St. John’s the previous Saturday afternoon, they made the heavily favored Johnnies work. Providence, on the other hand, wanted to show that their 10 conference wins was no fluke.
Georgetown did not carry any momentum to start the game as Providence jumped out to 20-7 lead after a Davonte Gaines 3-pointer, forcing the Hoyas to call a time-out with 12:55 left in the first half. The closest the Hoyas would come in the first half would be 7-points (28-21) as they would trail by 13 (40-27) as the first half came to an end. Friars guard Devon Carter led the team with 10 points while Georgetown was led by guard Jayden Epps who poured in 19.
The second half was a carbon copy of the first as Providence kept Georgetown at arms length. Don’t let the fact that the Friars only outscored the Hoyas by 5-points in the second half (34-29) as Providence led by as many as 16 with Georgetown only getting within 10 with a little over 4 minutes left in the game that ended 74-56. G’Towns. Epps finished with a game high 26 points but really had no help as only two other players scored in double figures. Friars forward Josh Oduro paced the team with 20.
First year Providence head coach Kim English was quick to praise his team after the win. “Proud of our guys,” he began, “It’s a new season, the mission is to go 1 and 0. Most important game of the tournament settings is to win the first game.”
Providence now moves on to play the #2 ranked Creighton (7pm tonight) who went 23-8 overall and 14-6 in the conference. They split the two games they played in the regular season.
