The Bahamas were no paradise on this trip for the Providence College men’s basketball team.
The Friars came up empty in three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis, including on Friday morning.
No. 14 Indiana used a quick start to the second half and some efficient offense to pull away from Providence at Imperial Arena. The Hoosiers raced to an 89-73 victory, dooming the Friars to last place in the eight-team field.
Indiana expanded what was a five-point lead late in the first half thanks to a 19-7 run. It started in a 35-30 game with 3:36 left before the break and stretched to a 54-37 margin with 17:40 to play in the second half. Providence never came within two possessions the rest of the way thanks to its inability to generate defensive stops.
“It’s a harsh truth, but it is a truth,” Providence coach Kim English said. “We obviously haven’t done a good enough job getting our guys to understand exactly what we expect — what our standard is — in certain areas on defense.
“Obviously, when we came here the talent level was higher than it was in our first five games. We crumbled.”
The Hoosiers sizzled at 53.3% from the field, including 17-for-27 shooting over the final 20 minutes. They piled up an adjusted 1.344 points per possession according to KenPom.com, the most allowed by the Friars in 43 games under English. Mackenzie Mgbako led with a game-high 25 points and Malik Reneau added 21 on 8-for-9 shooting.
“You have to work hard, but you also have to work smart — how you navigate screens, what you do in a zone,” English said. “Working hard is one thing.
“Yes, I think we worked hard in spots. But it’s working hard and smart — hard and tough together.”
Providence played a 29th straight game without Bryce Hopkins (left knee), and it remains in search of defensive adjustments in his absence against quality opponents. The Friars have played their 16 worst defensive games under English in terms of adjusted points per possession without Hopkins on the floor. They’re allowing an adjusted 100.5 points per 100 possessions through eight games in 2024-25 — only the 100.8 they conceded in 2013-14 and 2022-23 are worse in the last 13 years.
“Each game kind of was a different story,” English said. “The first game (a 79-77 loss to Oklahoma), defense is harder when you’re turning it over. The second game (a 69-58 loss to Davidson), defense is harder when you’re missing layups. Tonight they had great burst and explosion in transition.
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“It’s really going to take peeling back and getting to the core of who we are as a program.”
Jayden Pierre led Providence with 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting, including 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Corey Floyd Jr. chipped in 14 and Jabri Abdur-Rahim added 14 while playing 20 minutes. He might have seen more time if not for a fourth personal foul with 15:25 left.
“We’ve been in a process since our first practice,” English said. “Who are we as a team? And, obviously, who we are without Bryce is a bit different than who we are with him.
“But even without him, who we are should stand true. We’re still trying to find that rotation. I feel like today was a little bit closer to it.”
The Friars largely went with eight men in the second half, including 13 minutes from Eli DeLaurier. He collected five points and three rebounds while posting a plus-6 in the box score. DeLaurier didn’t play in the first half and had logged just nine combined minutes in the previous three games.
Ryan Mela had a similar experience in the tournament. He was first off the bench on Friday after not entering until the second half against the Wildcats. Mela netted six points and was a plus-6 against Davidson before proving ineffective against Indiana (5-2).
It gets no easier for Providence (5-3) from here. The Friars host BYU as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle on Tuesday night and visit the University of Rhode Island for the annual state grudge match on Saturday afternoon. A first taste of conference play comes after that, with Providence traveling to DePaul for a Dec. 10 meeting.
“Obviously a difficult, disappointing trip for us,” English said. “We’ve got to get back and regroup. We’ve got to get back to the basics.”
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: PC loses its 3rd straight in Bahamas tourney and finishes last
