With its stars sidelined, Providence turns to Rodney Bullock
One of Providence’s stars was on crutches with a sprained ankle. The other was too sick to emerge from the locker room after halftime.
With Ben Bentil and Kris Dunn unavailable for the entire second half Wednesday night, the Friars turned to their third standout to save them.
Sophomore forward Rodney Bullock scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half, helping shorthanded Providence escape with a 66-51 victory over visiting Boston College. Bullock scored seven straight points to steady the Friars after the Eagles had trimmed a 14-point halftime deficit to four midway through the second half.
A big second-half performance from Bullock was badly needed because Dunn and Bentil normally provide so much of Providence’s production. The elite point guard and rapidly improving big man account for 36.3 points, 13.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 4.5 steals per game. Throw in the absence of fourth-leading scorer Ryan Fazekas due to illness, and in the second half the Friars were missing 58.3 percent of their scoring.
Providence committed 11 second-half turnovers as they struggled other scoring options, but good things typically happened when the Friars put the ball in the hands of Bullock and had him attack. The 6-foot-8 forward was the one remaining player on the floor who could consistently create his own shot and do so efficiently, as evidenced by his 8-for-14 shooting.
It also didn’t hurt that Providence was facing an opponent that was neither very good nor very healthy.
Boston College entered Wednesday night on a five-game losing streak that includes setbacks at the hands of UC Irvine, Santa Clara, Penn State and UMass Lowell. Eight members of the Eagles team also were waylaid earlier in the week by norovirus contracted after eating at a Chipotle near campus.
Give Providence credit for surviving against Boston College, but the 15th-ranked Friars (8-1) probably aren’t deep enough to survive shorthanded against better opponents. They have winnable games against Bryant and Rider up next before visiting UMass and starting Big East play against Butler.
Dunn and Fazekas should be healthy once they get some rest and fluids, but Cooley told reporters in Providence that it won’t be clear how long Bentil’s ankle injury will sideline him until he undergoes further testing.
Rest assured Providence would surely love to have him back as soon as possible. While the Friars showed they can win without him and Dunn, it’s certainly not something they want to have to attempt to do often.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
