There wasn’t a lot with an evening game and a deadline for the Sunday paper. Plus, there’s a fast turnaround to get ready for Louisville.
You know, during the game, I kept marveling at how well Providence was playing. I’ve seen about 5 of their games this season, but this was one of their best — definitely the best on the road. Of course, 5 isn’t a particularly large sample size. Plus, I could have been a little delusional because of my biases for Pitt. Turns out others had the same view.
The Friars played as well as they have all season on the road (including a win at Connecticut) considering the atmosphere in the Petersen Events Center but still came up short.
Pittsburgh — and especially the Pete — is just not a fun place for the Friars to visit.
Pittsburgh improved to 22-3 on the season and stayed atop the Big East with a 10-1 record. PC is now 0-4 at The Pete and 3-17 all-time at Pittsburgh.
Hill and Curry led the Friars with 20 points apiece. PC is now 15-8 overall but at 5-5 and stuck in the middle of a muddled pack of Big East teams.
The article, though, also calls the intentional foul call “debatable.” Right. Great quote, though, from Gray about the style of this game.
“This is the Big East, so referees traditionally allow a lot of contact. I like it though, because if I get pushed on one end, it means I can push back that much harder on the other end. It’s the kind of game that I enjoy playing and where I excel.”
Just don’t go over the back.
With Gray’s 22 point outburst, naturally a lot of attention comes to the big guy.
“I was really working hard for post position and getting it pretty close to the basket,” Gray said. “My guys did a great job of feeding me the ball.”
Gray sat for only 2:47 of the final 16 minutes, and part of that came when he landed hard on his back following an intentional foul by Providence freshman Ray Hall on a layup with 2:37 to play.
“I was frustrated from having to sit out the whole first half,” Gray said. “That was my fault. I made some stupid mistakes. I thought maybe I could convince him a little bit. I sat for a few minutes, and it worked out well. Obviously, I was still a little hot from picking up my third foul. I could have very easily right away picked up my fourth foul.”
Gray picked up his fourth foul with 22 seconds to play, with Pitt ahead, 71-66.
“He fought through it and played very well,” Dixon said of Gray. “It was good to see.”
It was a great bit of camera work early in the second half when Gray picked up his third foul. You could see him shouting/pleading back to Coach Dixon not to take him out. Where Gray pointed to his own head indicating he would be smart.
Naturally Dixon, after the game, suggested he wasn’t going to pull Gray at that point. Providence decided that with its size inside, the main focus would be on limiting the action on the perimeter. Which they did, limiting 3-point shot opportunities and holding Pitt to only 5-13 shooting from outside. Not every team, though, has the size Providence does to try that.
“It was pick your poison,” Welsh said. “Very rarely do you see a team shoot 43 percent from the 3-point line. That number can hurt you. I’ve seen teams try to zone them and they’re very efficient with the zone. We’ve played them with the zone over the last few years. They’ve always attacked our zone well. I don’t like leaving Gray loose. I wanted to have a body on him. What our problem was they have now surrounded him with great shooters, which makes it tough.”
Pitt shot 46 percent from the field. Antonio Graves and Mike Cook joined Gray in double figures with 13 and 11 points. Providence center Herbert Hill and point guard Sharaud Curry led the Friars with 20 points apiece.
It’s interesting, that Pitt and Providence have similar correlation with certain stats. The eFG% was a wash, and while Providence actually beat Pitt on the offensive glass, that advantage was negated by the number of turnovers for Providence — and their inability to make free throws.
Gray’s back may be sore, but it should be alright come Monday. Ron Cook continues his series on lauding individual Pitt players with one for Gray. Seriously, get Smizik in there for some backhanded compliments and nit-picking questioning of tactics. Just so I have something to get annoyed over.
