Ben Bentil's huge game leads Providence over Butler, into Big East semis

NEW YORK — Coming into the season, Providence knew what they had with Kris Dunn, the reigning Big East Player of the Year and a likely top pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. But after that, the big question was who could step up to replace graduating senior LaDontae Henton as Dunn’s running mate.

The answer – all season, and especially at the Big East Tournament Thursday afternoon – was Ben Bentil.

The sophomore forward dropped 38 on Butler, leading the Friars to a 74-60 win and into the conference semifinals for the third consecutive year. With two more games like this, Bentil will be able to add some more hardware to his list of 2016 accolades, which already include a Big East scoring title (22.9 points per game in conference play), the league’s Most Improved Player award and unanimous selection to the All-Big East First Team.

“From the beginning of the season coach told me I’m going to be a match-up nightmare,” said Bentil after the game. “I let that sink in. I did. I tried to take advantage of whoever was on me, I tried to make the best out of it.”

The 38 points (four shy of his season-high, which came in double overtime at Marquette), were indeed achieved by taking advantage of every match-up variation Butler tried to throw at him. Bentil was balanced in his efficiency, going 5-of-9 from behind the arc and 11-of-15 inside of it. He was balanced in distribution, scoring 15 in the first half and 23 in the second. He was also complimentary of his fellow Friars – particularly Dunn – for putting him on a hot streak.

“Playing with a great teammate like Chris, he will get you the ball in the right spot,” said Bentil. “When you have a hot hand, he’ll make the sure ball is in your hand. It’s all on my teammates.”

“It was simple,” said Dunn when asked about feeding Bentil the ball. “Don’t shy away from it. If you see somebody has a hot hand, try to get him the ball in the best spot that he can score in.”

“Congrats to Ben. He did an amazing job.”

Dunn – now a two-time Big East Player of the Year - was plenty effective himself against the Bulldogs, with 15 points, seven assists and a pair of highlight reel dunks.

Bentil’s big game despite Butler’s commitment to trying anything to slow him down.

“We were trying to double and trap him,” said Bulldogs coach Chris Holtmann after the game. “We weren’t early enough on some of our traps. But he scored through our traps some, too. And when he’s shooting it, he got a couple of threes in the zone, but a lot of them were in man.”

“So listen, he’s a good player. He’s going to play in the NBA. They are going to have two guys here that are going to play in the NBA hopefully soon.”

Providence was rolling early, Bentil’s strong start staking the Friars to a 32-20 lead with 4:52 left in the first frame. With the Bulldogs on the edge of getting run out of the Garden, sharpshooter Kellen Dunham knocked down threes on consecutive possessions while the defense smothered, eventually closing the gap to 32-30 at the half. That run continued into the second half, a pair of Kelan Martin baskets putting the Bulldogs up three until Dunn free throw finally ended the Friar drought. Bentil and Dunn solved the Bulldogs defense from that point on, putting the jets on and pulling away over the course of the second half.

It was the fourth straight win for the Friars, who slipped from a 14-1 record and No. 8 ranking in early January to just 19-9 before the current streak of victories. They’re safely in the tournament and now just playing for seed and their second Big East Tournament title in three years. Last year they lost to Villanova in the semifinals when a buzzer-beater missed at the end of regulation. The Friars will get the top-seeded Wildcats again on Friday night.

Butler is still winless in Big East Tournament play, dropping to 0-3 since entering the league. They’re probably on the right side of the bubble, with wins over Cincinnati, Purdue and Seton Hall (twice) with no terrible losses, but there could be some nerves on Selection Sunday.