How did Providence basketball stun No. 19 Creighton? They just believed they would

PROVIDENCE — The true beauty of a college basketball season is how quickly the rancid can give way to the sublime.

Providence couldn’t have been much worse than Sunday night at Villanova. It also couldn’t have been much more electric than on this following Wednesday against No. 19 Creighton, a night in which the Friars put themselves firmly back on track for another potential run to the NCAA Tournament.

Devin Carter was special in crunch time yet again. Josh Oduro helped deliver Providence to those final minutes with a chance to knock out the Bluejays. The hosts eventually came good at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, a Big East overtime classic that ultimately left this latest raucous crowd downtown satisfied.

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Carter’s deep 3-pointer late in regulation forced an extra five minutes. Another jumper from the right corner pushed the Friars ahead to stay with 2:29 left. It was sheer determination from there that allowed Providence to close out a 91-87 thriller in front of 12,078 fans.

“It was tough after Villanova,” Providence coach Kim English said. “We had some tough conversations as a program, individually. Devin took it all. He took it on.

“We explained to him why he has to as a leader, as one of our best players. To whom much is given, much is expected, and he just keeps answering the bell.”

That includes something bordering on the ridiculous. Carter pulled up adjacent to the logo at center court with 27 seconds left and rained one down from the rafters. That wiped out a 78-75 deficit, and Creighton couldn’t muster its typical offensive touch through the one last possession in regulation and the bonus period.

“I just shot it,” Carter said. “I thought I was closer than it probably looked. Those are shots that I work on.

“I shoot a lot of shots before practice, after practice — and I shoot deep shots.”

Carter finished 5-for-8 from 3-point range, accounting for the bulk of the damage in an 11-for-26 team performance. The Friars improved to 7-0 this season when connecting on double-digit attempts from deep and 14-1 when scoring 71 or more points. That production came on the heels of a 68-50 defeat against the Wildcats, a setback that left English promising major changes at the offensive end.

“I think we did a really good job of staying together tonight,” Oduro said. “It went into overtime and when I looked around at everyone, one through 15, we were all really excited. Everyone knew we were going to win the game.”

Providence navigated nine ties and 13 lead changes to reach the finish. Jayden Pierre’s reverse layup and Oduro’s power drive down the right broke open what was an 84-83 game inside the last 90 seconds. Carter dropped in both ends of a 1-and-1 with 21.1 seconds to play and the Bluejays went just 3-for-8 from the field in the extra period to lose their grip.

“We had to do anything we could to get the victory,” Carter said. “Overtime game, double-overtime, triple-overtime — we've got to stick together.”

The Friars (15-8, 6-6 Big East) generated some transition offense to build their largest lead in the second half. Providence pitched a 13-0 shutout off turnovers in those 20 minutes and jumped on top by eight with 11:30 to play. It was still a 66-62 advantage after Garwey Dual came up with a steal out high and raced ahead for a two-hand dunk on the break.

“If you get stops, you can really run,” English said. “Transition offense is always a priority, but you have to get stops.”

Creighton (16-7, 7-5) was never done for good thanks to its 14-for-29 shooting from 3-point range. Steven Ashworth’s jumper from the right wing and Trey Alexander’s reverse layup both tied it up inside the final 2:23 of regulation and Ashworth put the Bluejays on top with a cold-blooded 3-pointer from the left wing. The Friars had just 45.5 seconds left to save themselves, and Carter did the honors with one of his deepest college makes to date.

“Everything you do in practice, shootarounds and individual workouts, translates into the games,” Carter said. “It’s just confidence.”

Oduro closed one off his career high with 32 points, and Providence made a concerted effort to find him in ball-screen action early and often. Carter netted 21 of his 28 points after halftime, including six in the extra session. Pierre and Corey Floyd Jr. each chipped in 10 points while the Friars averaged 1.25 per possession and committed just eight turnovers.

“Our ball security got better today,” English said. “Our shot quality got better today. And it’s hard to have great shot quality against Creighton.”

Baylor Scheierman paced Creighton with 20 of his 27 points after halftime. Ashworth added 20 and Alexander closed with 18 — the guard pair was a combined 8-for-12 from 3-point range. Ryan Kalkbrenner totaled just 12 points after dominating his matchup with Oduro in the first meeting — Providence’s veteran center played through a sore ankle in that 69-60 road defeat a month ago.

“You have a tough loss like we had Sunday night in Philadelphia and you have a whale of an opponent waiting for you on Wednesday,” English said. “We look at that as a positive. Proud of the result.”

bkoch@providencejournal.com     

On X: @BillKoch25 

CREIGHTON (87): Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Kalkbrenner 5-10 2-2 12, Alexander 7-16 2-2 18, Ashworth 6-11 2-2 20, Scheierman 11-19 1-2 27, Farabello 2-6 0-0 6, Green 2-2 0-0 4, Traudt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 33-65 7-8 87.

PROVIDENCE (91): Oduro 12-24 7-8 32, Barron 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 10-19 3-4 28, Gaines 2-4 2-2 7, Pierre 4-9 0-0 10, Floyd 4-13 0-0 10, Dual 1-3 0-0 2, Castro 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 34-73 12-14 91.

Halftime — Creighton 33-31. 3-point goals — Creighton 14-29 (Ashworth 6-7, Scheierman 4-10, Alexander 2-5, Farabello 2-5, Kalkbrenner 0-1, Miller 0-1), Providence 11-26 (Carter 5-8, Floyd 2-6, Pierre 2-6, Gaines 1-2, Oduro 1-3, Dual 0-1). Rebounds — Creighton 32 (Scheierman 12), Providence 36 (Oduro 12). Assists — Creighton 20 (Kalkbrenner 7), Providence 15 (Carter 6). Total fouls — Creighton 14, Providence 11.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence basketball beats No. 19 Creighton, 91-87