Providence basketball falls to Marquette in Big East semifinals. Will Friars reach Big Dance?

NEW YORK — Not even the latest special performance from Devin Carter could save his team this time.

Providence College is out of the Big East Tournament and now begins a nervous wait to see if its name will be called on Selection Sunday.

Marquette is back in the championship game here after a worthy display of resolve. Kam Jones played the role of closer as the Golden Eagles outlasted the Friars, 79-68, at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

Connecticut awaits in the Saturday title game at 6:30 p.m. after bouncing St. John’s, 95-90, in the early semifinal. Providence and the Red Storm will have more in common than losing here on an electric Friday night. Both are hovering near the back end of the NCAA Tournament field, and these last two chances to make an impression both fell just shy.

“I hate that our fate is out of our hands,” Providence coach Kim English said. “We’ve got a little less than 48 hours to wait and see what our next destination is.”

The Friars started the second half with a spark but were quickly countered by Marquette, which was playing without Cumberland native Tyler Kolek (oblique) for the fifth straight game. PC faced a 15-point deficit with 13:29 to play after a Ben Gold corner 3-pointer. Providence was without a point over a 4:47 span and seemed to be fading.

That’s when Carter sprung to life, shrugging off a sore left calf and drilling a corner 3-pointer that broke the ice. He scored 17 of the next 30 points for the Friars, including the front end of a 1-and-1 chance at the line to make it a 68-66 game. That was the last of his game-high 27 points, as Carter finally went dry over the last 3:39.

“The first half I didn’t really do too much to help my team try to get a victory,” Carter said. “I just looked myself in the mirror second half. We had a talk in the locker room, and I just had to be more aggressive.”

Jones was the headliner when it mattered most. His tough hook in the lane restored a two-possession advantage and he scored again at the rim with 1:36 left. Jayden Pierre followed with a turnover and Chase Ross banked in an acrobatic layup off the left baseline to deliver the knockout.

“It was a heck of an effort by Providence,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “I thought they played with tremendous desperation.”

The Golden Eagles broke free midway through the first half. They turned a two-point lead into a 35-18 gulf behind three double-figure scorers. Jones and David Joplin both splashed 3-pointers and Jones dropped off a pass to Oso Ighodaro for a dunk that provided an emphatic cap to the burst with 4:11 left.

“Some of that stuff was self-inflicted,” English said. “Some of that stuff was my fault — some things we did differently to try to throw a wrench in and slow them down.”

More: Bracketology: Fight for last No. 1 seed down to Tennessee, North Carolina, Arizona

Providence endured an early field-goal drought of 4:54 before a Josh Oduro 3-pointer offered a lift. The Friars rattled off their next six points in the paint — they had just two in the opening 8:18. Pierre’s quick driving layup made it 18-16 and another sellout crowd in this building was rocking.

“It is tough to get going when you’re not getting stops,” English said. “The game rewards teams that get stops, because then they can play in transition.”

Pierre was the only other Providence player to crack double figures, totaling 16 points. The supporting that flourished in the previous evening’s upset of Creighton went largely quiet in this one. Josh Oduro collected nine points and 10 rebounds before fouling out and Corey Floyd Jr. chipped in with nine points off the bench.

“Marquette may be the best in our league in changing what they do in pick-and-roll,” English said. “They switch. They hard show. They stay home sometimes. It keeps you off balance.”

More: Providence Friars guard Devin Carter is the Big East Player of the Year

Marquette (25-8) was certain to be in the 68-team field before traveling here, and now it could qualify as one of its top eight seeds. Jones finished with 23 points and Ighodaro added 20 in a team-high 39 minutes. The Friars (21-13) enjoy no such certainty and will be tuned into the 6 p.m. national broadcast to learn whether or not there will be a next step.

“I highly doubt the selection committee is sliding teams in and out based on the fanatical media frenzy,” English said. “I think there are more and more bracketologists on social media just to get more fans to follow them.

“I think it’s much more realistic to look at the eight or nine teams and their resumés and see the amount of Quad 1 wins that all those bubble teams have. To see the amount of Quad 3 and 4 losses — I'm going to say that one more time. I think that the selection committee is going to look at Quad 3 and 4 losses and decide what teams are in this field or not.”

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

PROVIDENCE (68): Oduro 2-4 4-6 9, Barron 1-3 0-0 3, Carter 7-14 10-12 27, Gaines 0-9 2-3 2, Pierre 6-16 2-2 16, Floyd 3-7 3-3 9, Dual 1-2 0-0 2, Castro 0-0 0-2 0; totals 20-55 21-28 68. MARQUETTE (79): Ighodaro 7-17 6-6 20, Joplin 3-6 4-5 12, K.Jones 9-17 3-4 23, Mitchell 3-7 3-4 10, Ross 2-4 2-3 7, Lowery 1-3 0-0 3, Gold 1-2 1-2 4, Norman 0-1 0-0 0; totals 26-57 19-24 79.

Halftime — Marquette 42-31. 3-point goals — Providence 7-31 (Carter 3-8, Pierre 2-8, Oduro 1-1, Barron 1-3, Floyd 0-3, Gaines 0-8), Marquette 8-15 (Joplin 2-2, K.Jones 2-5, Gold 1-1, Lowery 1-2, Mitchell 1-2, Ross 1-3). Fouled out — Oduro. Rebounds — Providence 33 (Oduro, Gaines 10), Marquette 32 (Mitchell 8). Assists — Providence 8 (Carter 3), Marquette 14 (K.Jones 5). Total fouls — Providence 22, Marquette 20. A — 19,812 (19,812).

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence loses to Marquette, 79-68, in Big East Tournament