Preseason Madness: Providence Dominates at The 2K Sports Classic Championship

Photo Credit: Brad Penner/USA Today Sports

The Providence Friars have reached the championship game of a Preseason tournament but lost that game the past two seasons, but with the amount of depth that they have they were able to put an end to their preseason tourney title drought tonight with a dominating win over Saint Louis.

In the first half, both teams battled back and forth until the 6:05 mark when they got a 23-15 lead off of a three pointer by Jalen Lindsey. The Friars outscored the Billikens 18-6 and they led 41-21 at the half. From there the Friars never looked back. Providence would score 49 points in the 2nd half en route to a 90-63 victory.

To providence coach Ed Cooley he didn’t expect much of a dominant game in such a short turnaround from last night’s game, but it made him more happy that his team came into the arena looking to get better from the night before. “Today was just one of those days where whatever we threw up went in. It wasn’t so much what Saint Louis was doing, as that we played a really good game.

The providence Friars showed everyone how much depth they have and it’s a lot. Every player on the team scored including four players who were in double figures with Rodney Bullock leading the team with 15 points On 4-6 shooting.

Freshman guard Makai Ashton-Langford had his coming out party at The Garden tonight by scoring 11 points and dishing three assists in 19 minutes. Ashton Langford’s performance stands out because it showed how valuable he is on the team when he is on the court. Coach Cooley had nothing but high praise for his impact in tonight’s game. “Makai played seven minutes in the first half yesterday and he had the best plus-minus minutes yesterday, plus 10 when he was in the game. He played seven minutes and then didn’t get back into the game. It’s a credit to him, he came up to me at breakfast this morning, talked about all he wanted to do was win. That’s a very unselfish attitude, that’s the type of guy that’s playing for Providence College and I couldn’t be more proud of how he turned it around today to help us”. Says Cooley,

“Makai played seven minutes in the first half yesterday and he had the best plus-minus minutes yesterday, plus 10 when he was in the game. He played seven minutes and then didn’t get back into the game. It’s a credit to him, he came up to me at breakfast this morning, talked about all he wanted to do was win. That’s a very unselfish attitude, that’s the type of guy that’s playing for Providence College and I couldn’t be more proud of how he turned it around today to help us” Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley on Makai Ashton-Langford's Performance.

Winning the 2K Classic was vital for providence because it’s one of those tournaments that prepares them for conference play and four months from now they hope to win another championship in this building a Big East Tournament Championship.