PROVIDENCE – As Chris Mack made his final preparations Friday for his team’s visit to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, he took a moment to send Ed Cooley a text message.
First Mack complained about the bitter cold that’s enveloped the capital city. Then he offered a bit of praise to his Big East brother.
“Ed is one of the best coaches in the country in getting what we call layups plays,” Mack said. “They run offense that gets shots right at the rim.”
It’s that type of honest praise that’s defined the Big East through its five seasons of existence as a 10-team, basketball-first conference. Life in the league isn’t easy. Close games are seemingly everywhere and the league is loaded. Three teams began Saturday in the top 10 of the RPI, with Xavier leading the way at two. Eight of the 10 Big East teams were in the top 61.
Providence was 61st but that number will jump thanks to the 81-72 upset win over Xavier. It is opportunities like this one that now define the league and give teams a chance to forget about tough losses like PC’s overtime defeat against Marquette on Wednesday.
“It’s been an emotional week, the ups and downs of the Big East. It’s a great conference,” Cooley said. “Life in the Big East. It’s a monster.”
Cooley said he urged his players to forget about the Marquette loss and just focus in on the Xavier scouting report. The veteran team did just that and delivered one of its most complete games of the season.
“Every game is personal and our players felt we gave a game away (Wednesday),” Cooley said. “We were edgy today, which is good. That’s the way we want to play.”
PC will have nearly a week off before it plays again next Friday at DePaul. Cooley is hoping the rest can get his team healthier and pocketing a win over Xavier will certainly make the time off more enjoyable.
“It’s a great league, a tough league. I couldn’t be more proud of the Big East,” Cooley said. “Every night you have an opportunity. When you have a great RPI team that comes into your building, if you can get a win like that, it’s great. That’s what it’s about.”
The Friars are now 4-1 against Xavier in Providence. That’s not the case on the road, however, and Cooley knows the challenge of facing Mack again on Feb. 28 will be a daunting one.
“We have to play them again on Senior Night (at Xavier). I’m pretty sure they’ll remember this one,” he said.
JACKSON EMERGES
Isaiah Jackson began the season in the starting lineup after a strong, consistent preseason. He fell out of the starting five after long stretches of shaky play but has returned in a big way of late.
After scoring a season-high 19 points in the loss to Marquette, the junior from Florida made all eight of his free throws, scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds, notched three assists and helped defend Xavier stars Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura.
“I’m used to that role, come off the bench and provide energy for the team,” Jackson said. “Whatever I can do to help the team, that’s what I try to do.”
With Jackson, Rodney Bullock, Jalen Lindsey and Alpha Diallo, the Friars have four similar-sized players who offer matchup problems for opponents. At least that’s what happened against the Musketeers on Saturday.
“That’s part of our recruiting,” Cooley said. “We want versatile guys that can play multiple positions. For games like this if you can put five guys on the floor who are 6-6, 6-7, they’re all interchangeable pieces."
BLUIETT STRUGGLES
Xavier’s Bluiett came in averaging 19.8 points a game and is one of the favorites for Big East Player of the Year honors. PC played both zone and man-to-man in the game yet always knew where the senior scorer was on the floor. Bluiett scored 12 first half points with two 3-point shots but was a shockingly quiet 0-of-4 in the second half and did not score a point after halftime.
“I thought he forced some things,” Mack said. “He drove into spots that weren’t open and looked out of sorts. He’s played in over 100 games in his career and had very few nights like this. He’s aware he didn’t play very well.”
Mack went on to say “credit the opponent. They knew where he was when they were in zone and whoever took the personal charge of guarding him got up in him.”
After watching Marquette’s Markus Howard string up a record 52 points on Wednesday, Cooley made sure to emphasize to his team that Bluiett was capable of a scoring explosion as well.
“I think he’s one of the best scorers in college basketball,” Cooley said. “Our guys were on high alert, attentive to detail. Maybe it just wasn’t his day today. We were just fortunate that he didn’t have a day where he was really, really comfortable.”