Given all of the factors surrounding this game - Providence playing for its NCAA Tourney life, our guys maybe being a bit too juiced after accepting the championship trophy last night and playing in their first game of the tournament this afternoon, etc. - I think it'd be wise for us to take this 18-point win, rush it home, hide it somewhere where no one will ever find it and then never speak about any of this ever again.
Yes, we turned it over far too often, no, Terrence Williams was not himself, but we handled a talented veteran team desperate for a win in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. I can live with it.
A number of Providence's nearly record-breaking 26 turnovers were unforced, but we played hellacious defense from opening tip to final horn.
Our guys closed out on their shooters, didn't let McDermott, Kale or Hanke catch the ball too low and didn't allow any Friar to exploit the middle of the zone.
It was a tremendous effort from everyone wearing white, but Andre McGee in particular appeared to be about eight places at once. He certainly seems fully aware that this is his last dance and wants it to last as long as possible.
This was an early "told you so" moment for the "wait until March" band of Earl Clark supporters.
Not only did E5 have a big scoring game, but he was always in the right place defensively, crashed the boards with more intensity than any of his teammates, and played with as much energy as we've ever seen.
When he's doing this, we're instantly twice as hard to beat.
As encouraging as Clark's performance was, I think it's the play of Samardo Samuels that should have Cardinal fans doing celebratory jump kicks.
Samuels dunked a lot per usual, but he also made a couple of terrific post moves to get himself in position to score and finished shots after offensive rebounds that we've seen him miss more times than not over the course of the season. This may have also been his best defensive effort to date, as he took a pair of charges and blocked a couple of shots.
PC's post game doesn't quite rival UConn's or Pitt's, but McDermott and Kale are solid in terms of both game and build, and it takes a pretty impressive effort to put up the numbers Samuels did against the Friars.
It's been well documented in recent weeks that both of Louisville's national championship teams were anchored by freshman centers.
I'm contractually obligated to mention that...it's a crazy elaborate contract...it also doesn't pay anything, which I think is sort of unfair.
Token
A couple of summers ago a group of friends and I were up at a Buffalo Wild Wings catching the tail end of a Reds/Braves game. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a runner on first base, Atlanta's Andruw Jones walked to the plate, prompting an avid Braves fan in the group to guarantee a walk-off blast.
Jones swatted the first pitch and the camera followed the ball which appeared level with the Great American Ballpark's highest row of seats.
"I TOLD YOU! I F###ING TOLD YOU!!!" Was the cry from the Braves fan, who sprung from his seat and drew the attention of about 3/4 of the patrons.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group stared at the massive television and watched as the camera followed the ball down and into the glove of a Reds outfielder standing approximately 40-feet in front of the wall. Laughter ensued.
I bring this story up because Terrence Williams' case of fast-break butter-fingers likely would have forced me to endure a similar fate had I been watching the game at a crowded venue. As it was, my premature celebration and subsequent embarrassment was only witnessed by one person...and they were far too into the latest issue of People to offer up any sort of affront.
I would have been against anyone but Preston Knowles scoring that final deuce.
Did he have an off shooting night? Yes, yes he did. But you know what? Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
Think about that for a second.
I have absolutely no problem with Edgar Sosa firing up uncontested three-pointers, but the semi-contested trey one pass into a possession has got to go. Still, a couple of nice passes and just one turnover in 21 minutes of action. We're gettin' there.
Not sure why, but I really enjoy that Jerry goes with the warm-up when he's on the bench and knows full well that he'll be sent back into the game shortly. Really, I just enjoy Jerry period.
Keep shooting.
Did Sharaud Curry score? We did a tremendous job on him.
The one year Bilas, Raftery and McDonough get the late shift would be the one year we play at noon.
Sorry, Dan.
Len, you've kind of been pissing me off recently. We'll talk about it once things settle down near the end of the month.
Obviously, this wasn't the T-Will we've known and celebrated for the last couple of months, but is there anyone who's really concerned? The man is liable to be the star of stars tomorrow night.
Also, you have to love the fact that he stroked all four of his tries from the charity stripe.
CardsFan922 noted during the game that Pitino has been sitting Clark and Williams about a minute before TV timeouts so that the actual amount of time they spend on the bench greatly exceeds the technical amount of time they're out of the game.
The man's a decent coach.
I don't understand why Reggie Delk wasn't on the floor when Williams went out of the game. Either Kyle Kuric is dominating him in practice or Pitino just thought Kuric was a better fit for this game. It'll be interesting to see if Delk gets any minutes tomorrow night.
A loss tomorrow night certainly isn't going to make my weekend, but it'll be significantly easier to stomach than a defeat this afternoon would have been.
There's obviously the seeding repercussions to consider, but additionally I, like most of you I'm sure, have sort of built my weekend around the potential games Friday and Saturday night. The Cards fall today and I'm completely unable to enjoy any of the basketball between now and when the brackets are unveiled Sunday night.
I'll just say it: I think we beat Marquette but lose to Villanova.
Here's hoping the Golden Eagles win or I'm wrong for the third time in my life because I really, really want to see this team play in the title game.
Go Cards.