PC Tops #20 Creighton

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Providence College men's basketball team defeated
No. 20/19 Creighton on Saturday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in
Providence. It was the Friars' first win over a ranked team this year
and their most recent since a 71-54 victory over No. 21/21 Notre Dame in
Providence on Feb. 16, 2013.

With the win, the Friars snapped a 10-game winning streak by the
Bluejays. The Friars improved to 13-5 on the season and 3-2 in the BIG
EAST. Senior Bryce Cotton
(Tucson, Ariz.) had a game-high 23 points (7-for-18 and 3-for-9 3-pt.)
and six assists. The game was Cotton's eighth straight 20-point game and
his 12th this season.

The Providence defense held Creighton (15-3, 5-1 BIG EAST) to
21-percent shooting from 3-point range. The Bluejays, who entered the
game leading the league averaging 82 points per game, were held to just
68.

The Friars opened up the second half with seven straight points
and a few minutes later, used a 9-0 run and led by 20 points (55-35)
with 13:51 left in the contest. Creighton pulled to within nine points
(73-64) with 1:32 remaining in the game, but the Friars kept Creighton
at bay and used seven free-throws and a dunk from sophomore Tyler Harris (Dix Hills, N.Y.) to cap the game.

In the first half, Providence never trailed in the contest and held a 37-30 lead at the intermission. Senior Kadeem Batts
(Boston, Mass.) led the Friars with 10 points (3-for-5, 4-for-5 FT) and
7 rebounds. Cotton also put up 10 points, including two 3-pointers. As a
team, Providence had out-rebounded Creighton by 10, registering 19 in
the half, seven of them offensive. The Friars shot 46-percent in the
first half while the Bluejays shot 52-percent. The Friars also took
advantage of 11 second chance points in the opening stanza.

All five Providence starters reached double-digits in scoring
(Cotton-23, Henton-19, Batts-13, Harris-10 and Fortune-10) . Batts
pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to give Providence a 33-27 edge in
boards. Defensively, junior Carson Desrosiers (Windham, N.H.) recorded three blocks, all coming in the second half.

The Friars will return to action on Tuesd¬ay, Jan. 21 against
Butler (11-7, 1-5 BIG EAST) at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence
at 9 p.m. ET. The game will air on Fox Sports 1.