Providence routs M. Hoops

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Last night Penn had no answer for Providence's best player on the court. And no, it was not Ryan Gomes.

Sophomore guard Dwight Brewington had 21 points, including 5-for-5 from three-point range, and added 10 rebounds as Providence humbled the Quakers, 89-52, in the two teams' second-round Preseason NIT matchup.

Senior forward Jan Fikiel led the Red and Blue with 13 points and six rebounds, but it was not nearly enough to beat a Friars team that came out firing on all cylinders.

"There's not a lot of positives," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I think what you learn is, when you watch, is that we gave up way too much dribble penetration."

For Dunphy, Providence's offensive numbers were discouraging to say the least. The Friars shot 65.5 percent from the game and made 11-of-17 three-pointers.

Gomes had a quiet scoring night, by his standards. But he still finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Gomes set up many of his team's outside shots by attracting the attention of multiple Penn defenders inside and then dishing it, most often to Brewington.

"The great thing about Ryan Gomes is that he makes everyone around him better," Providence coach Tim Welsh said. "The freshmen are feeding off his enthusiasm and he's actually giving verbal instructions as the play goes on. That's almost unheard of."

But Penn's problems went far beyond Gomes. Things turned bad almost immediately for the Quakers, who gave up the game's first six points and fell into a 25-9 hole. The team had six turnovers in the first seven-and-a-half minutes, and Providence was able to turn many of the turnovers into points.

As the Quakers became more and more frustrated offensively, their struggles on the defensive end were magnified.

Senior Tim Begley and sophomore Ibby Jaaber, two of the Quakers' most potent scoring threats, had nightmarish games. Begley was bottled up by 6-foot-9 senior forward Tuukka Kotti, and was held to six points on 2-of-8 shooting. Jaaber fared even worse, going scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting in 26 minutes.

Perhaps the brightest spot for Penn was the play of Fikiel, who not only looked strong offensively and on the glass, but also stood toe-to-toe with Gomes for much of the game.

But not a whole lot else went right for the Quakers. After going into halftime trailing 46-25, Penn fell victim to a barrage of three-pointers by Brewington after intermission.

The Lynn, Mass., native hit four threes in a span of four-and-a-half minutes early in the second half. The last one put the Friars up by a score of 71-35, effectively ending the competitive portion of the game.

In the last 10 minutes, both Dunphy and Welsh cleared their benches. Freshmen David Whitehurst and Joe Gill both saw the first action of their college careers, and both did so with new numbers. Whitehurst, who had been wearing No. 13 in practice, sported No. 12 last night, and Gill wore No. 32 after going with No. 23 in the preseason.

But Penn does not have time to get down on itself after a forgettable performance. Later today, the team will board a flight to Madison, Wis., to take on No. 20 Wisconsin.

Perhaps the quick turnaround is a good thing, because last night's game is one that the Quakers would want to forget about as soon as possible.

NOTES: This was Providence's largest margin of victory over an opponent since defeating Morgan State, 91-47, on Dec. 27, 2001. The Friars punched their ticket to the NIT semifinals, which begin Nov. 24 at Madison Square Garden. Providence will square off against Wake Forest, who defeated Virginia Commonwealth last night.

On the other side of the bracket, Arizona knocked off Wright State last night and will meet Michigan in New York.

The Preseason NIT championship will be on Nov. 26.

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