By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A game that saw six lead changes and four ties through the first 10 minutes shifted when Ed Cooley went to his bench.
Alyn Breed, Jared Bynum and Ed Croswell paced a 16-6 run to close the first half as the fourth-seeded Providence Friars advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 66-57 victory over No. 12 South Dakota State in Midwest Region action from the KeyBank Center, Thursday.
“I thought Croswell and Breed’s energy changed the game,” Cooley said.
Coming out of a time out trailing 17-15, Croswell converted a rebound and putback. Breed followed with a layup and a lead that the Friars did not surrender.
“It’s been like this all season,” said Croswell who finished with nine rebounds – the most since a 15-board performance against Rhode Island on December fourth. “We come off the bench and give each other energy. We’re together. We’re connected. And I feel like we keep this rolling like this. We did this all year, so it’s normal.”
Noah Horchler followed with a dunk on a second-chance opportunity before Bynum buried a 3-pointer.
“Really that was the player’s huddle,” Cooley said of the timeout with 11:25 remaining in the half. “The guys said, hey, our feet are underneath us, and they really controlled that timeout. Our feet are underneath us.
“As a leader sometimes, you just got to get out of their way and let them do what they do. They’ve been there.”
The Providence defense limited South Dakota State to six points during the stretch. The Jackrabbits, which scored on nine of their first 15 possessions of the game, managed two field goals (one on a goaltending call) over their final 18 trips down the floor heading into the break.
“That’s really where I felt like probably was as big an impact as any other part of the game during that stretch,” South Dakota State head coach Eric Henderson said. “We had second-chance points and gave them a couple of easy baskets in transition, and then we gave them the flow and didn’t score at those times so they were able to stretch it out to eight points.”
Providence led 31-23 heading into the locker room.
“They’re very simple, and they do what they do, so you had to be disruptive with what they were trying to do, and simple has worked for them, and that’s what our players really concentrated on,” Cooley said of SDSU. “You know, trying to stay body to body.”
Bynum finished with 12 points to pace a Providence bench which outscored its counterparts, 19-0.
“Definitely gave us some momentum going into halftime, you know, getting some stops,” the redshirt junior said.
The Friars stretched the lead to 14 early in the second half before the Jackrabbits rallied.
Zeke Mayo connected from behind the 3-point arc. One possession later, Douglas Wilson finished a drop step in the lane for an and-one. Alex Arians followed with a spin move in the lane and bucket to make it a 43-37 game with 12:35 remaining.
The margin was seven with 3:58 left in the contest.
“The last media timeout, we were as confident as we’ve ever been,” Henderson said. “We can make threes. We can put some points on the board, and we hadn’t gone on a run yet that we normally do, and so we were confident that we were going to get back in the game.”
Baylor Scheierman connected from distance. Arians took a Matt Mims feed and finished a traditional 3-point play to make it a 56-53 game with 2:36 left on the clock.
“That’s what March Madness is all about,” Cooley said. “There’s going to be runs and big shots and layups and flippers and kickers that go in. You just got to be able to stay locked in, stay dialed in.”
The game opened with just two whistles in the first eight-plus minutes. The second of which triggered back-to-back media timeouts in 21 seconds.
“I thought the early pace was in their favor,” Cooley said “Both teams were gassed around the 11-minute mark. Both teams were tired, and I said, guys, this game is going to slow down. It’s going to slow down, and I said ‘we still want to — we want to score early if we can. If not, let’s make them defend.’ But I thought the overall grind of the game played to our tempo. It really did play to our tempo, so it was a credit to the players.”
Scheierman and Wilson combined on a pair alley-oops in transition that Wilson finished with slams. Scheierman’s pull-up jumper gave the Jackrabbits a 17-15 lead heading into that first timeout.
“It was a double-headed sword because we were cooking,” Henderson said of the timeout coming after playing eight-plus straight minutes of action. “We were playing at the pace we wanted to play at, but our guys were tired. I mean, they were — so was the other team. I’m not saying that. So was Providence. We needed that rest. We needed to get our breath, be able to take a breath and get our legs back underneath us.
“In a big moment, your nerves — and to play that long of a stretch to start the game, that can take a lot out of you. I did think it took a little bit out of us with our flow, our rhythm and we did get stagnant.”
Bynum drew a foul late in the game that created a controversy. Wilson fouled the 5-foot-10 guard on a 3-point attempt with 29.9 seconds remaining in what was then a 60-57 game.
“I thought he kicked his leg there, and I sort of ran into him,” Wilson said. “I don’t make the calls, so, you know.”
“Obviously, it was a tough call,” Henderson said. “It is what it is. Just like one game is not going to define our season, one call is not going to determine the outcome of the game. I would have liked it to be different.”
Breed finished with a game-high +12 while Bynum was +10 and Croswell +8.
Horchler and Al Durham scored 13 apiece in the win.
Scheierman led all scorers with 18 points.
Providence will play the Richmond-Iowa winner in Saturday’s second-round game.
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