Madison Square Garden has a capacity of 19,812 when every basketball fanny is crammed into the area. But years from now, when people talk about the epic battle between top-seeded Xavier and No. 5 Providence, there will be thousands more who will claim they were in the building Thursday night.
The BIG EAST Conference semifinal battle between the Musketeers, the third-ranked team in the nation, and the Friars was an instant classic, a heavyweight battle between two teams at the top of their game and one that was far too entertaining to last just 40 minutes.
So the basketball gods willed an overtime session - and the crowd roared its approval. And in that overtime Alpha Diallo sank a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds to play to take a three-point lead, and when Xavier failed to get off a shot at the other end before the clock expired, the Friars’ comeback was complete. Top-seeded Xavier was going home and the upstart Friars, the little engine that could-turned runaway locomotive, was heading to the championship game after a goosebumps-inducing 75-72 overtime win before a frenzied crowd at the Garden.
“What an atmosphere here in Madison Square Garden,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “Electric. I’ve got the goosebumps still from the energy in this building.”
See, the whole goosebumps thing was not just hyperbole but most likely a shared condition among many in the Garden Thursday night.
But for a long time the game had the look and feel of just another run-of-the-mill Xavier runaway victory as the Musketeers not only held a 14-point lead at halftime (43-29) but seemed to be in cruise control when they built a 17-point lead at 52-35 with just 15:18 to play after a three-pointer by J.P. Macura.
Xavier’s start was all the more impressive being that the usual suspects - Macura and Trevon Bluiett - were mostly reduced to bystander status while most of the heavy lifting was being performed by the duo of Paul Scruggs and Kerem Kanter, a tandem that sounds more like an ambulance-chasing law firm than the Musketeers’ leading scorers. So up 17 and you’re two best shooters are having an off-night? Hey, we’re sure Xavier would take it.
But it was right about that time that Providence began to mount its unlikely comeback.
It began with an 8-0 run capped by a Diallo layup and Providence was within nine at 52-43. Xavier stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws from Scruggs, who was celebrating his 20th birthday. But the Friars came storming right back with a 14-5 run that ended with a short jumper from Tyrique Jones and Providence was within 59-57.
At this point the Garden officially turned into a home game for the Friars as their fans were joined by those from Villanova and Butler to make the World’s Most Famous Arena sound more like the Dunkin Donuts Center South. The crowd even cheered for timeouts as each stoppage felt like two boxers were going back to their respective corners between rounds. But on the Xavier side, comedian Bill Murray, a big Musketeers’ booster (his son, Luke, is a Musketeer assistant coach), who was laughing and interacting with the crowd for most of the game, was no longer smiling.
Providence finally pulled even at 64-64 with 3:45 to play after a jumper by Rodney Bullock and the Garden was truly deafening at that point. Xavier took its final lead of the second half at 68-66 when Sean O’Mara tossed in a short jumper with 35.4 seconds to play and all the Musketeers needed was a defensive stop to walk off winners.
But Friars’ guard Kyron Cartwright drove the court and tossed up a layup that went in as he was fouled. But the basket was called off as the whistle occurred before his shot. But Cartwright regrouped and sank both free throws to knot the game at 68-68 with 17.3 to play.
Xavier had one last shot at ending things in regulation, but Macura’s layup attempt at the buzzer was blocked by Bullock and it was off to overtime.
Providence took the lead for good at 71-70 on a layup by Diallo (17 points) with 2:22 to go and extended its lead to 73-70 on a jumper by Cartwright with 54.7 to play. Bluiett sank a pair of free throws for Xavier with 40.8 ticks left to pull the Musketeers within 73-72, but Diallo (who else?) answered once again with two more free throws with 5.7 seconds to play. And when neither Quentin Goodwin nor Kanter could get a shot off before the horn, the upset was complete and Providence was one win away from its second BIG EAST Tournament title in four years.
With the win Providence became only the second team in BIG EAST Tournament history to win back-to-back overtime games. The first was Syracuse back in 2009.
“We know we’re playing against arguably the best team in the country that’s been playing really, really well, has great seniors, really well-coached,” Cooley said. “And I’m really proud of the players who stepped up to the challenge, especially in the second half.”
Xavier coach Chris Mack was left to ponder what might have been for the Musketeers.
“It feels like it’s a game that shoulda, coulda, woulda,” Mack said. “Give them credit. They hung in there and (we) didn’t deliver the knockout punch that was needed. It’s disappointing because I feel like we had the game and, you know, we’ve been awfully good in close games. But tonight we just left a few plays out there that had we made we’d be sitting here getting ready for the winner of Butler-Villanova. But we didn’t.”
One thing is for sure, when the Selection Show unveils its matchups for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, there will be two teams out there who will cringe when they see they are being matched up against Providence and Xavier. But before that comes, Cooley had one more game he’d like to win. And just as he said after knocking off Creighton in the quarterfinals, he said there may be more going on with the Friars than simple stellar play.
“God bless the BIG EAST,” Cooley said. “Divine Providence, brother. Believe.”