# 2017–18 Providence Friars men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented Providence College in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Friars, led by seventh-year head coach Ed Cooley, played their home games at the Dunkin' Donuts Center as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 21–14, 10–8 in Big East play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big East tournament, they defeated Creighton and No. 1-seeded Xavier in back-to-back overtime games to advance to the championship game. In a third straight overtime game, the Friars fell to Villanova in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the West region where they lost to Texas A&M in the first round.

## Previous season

The Friars finished the 2016–17 season 20–13, 10–8 in Big East play to finish in a four-way tie for third place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to Creighton. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 11 seed where they lost to USC in the First Four.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Bryan Donovan | 2 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Freshman | Gainesville, FL | Transferred to Roger Williams University |
| Casey Woodring | 12 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Senior | Darien, CT | Graduated |
| Ricky Council II | 22 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Sophomore | Durham, NC | Transferred to UMBC |
| Ryan Fazekas | 35 | G | 6'8" | 215 | Sophomore | Chesterton, IN | Transferred to Valparaiso |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Makai Ashton-Langford PG | Worcester, MA | Brewster Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 10, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Dajour Dickens C | Hampton, VA | Bethel High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Feb 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Nate Watson C | Arlington, VA | Bishop O'Connell High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 10, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 2, 2016. ||||||

## Preseason

Prior to the season, Providence was picked to finish fourth in a poll of Big East coaches.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 25, 2017* 7:00 pm, Fox Sports Go | | vs. Connecticut ARC disaster relief exhibition | W 90–76 | – | Mohegan Sun Arena (6,415) Uncasville, CT |
| Oct 28, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Carleton (ON) | L 67–77 | – | Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,216) Providence, RI |
| Nov 4, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Baruch | W 87–53 | – | Dunkin' Donuts Center (3,855) Providence, RI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSN | | Houston Baptist 2K Sports Classic campus-site game | W 84–55 | 1–0 | Alumni Hall (2,620) Providence, RI |
| Nov 13, 2017* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | No. 14 Minnesota Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 74–86 | 1–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,214) Providence, RI |
| Nov 16, 2017* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Washington 2K Sports Classic semifinals | W 77–70 | 2–1 | Madison Square Garden (6,104) New York City, NY |
| Nov 17, 2017* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Saint Louis 2K Sports Classic championship | W 90–63 | 3–1 | Madison Square Garden (6,173) New York City, NY |
| Nov 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Belmont 2K Sports Classic campus-site game | W 66–65 | 4–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,857) Providence, RI |
| Nov 25, 2017* 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Boston College | W 86–66 | 5–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,806) Providence, RI |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSN | | Rider | W 88–84 | 6–1 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (7,255) Providence, RI |
| Dec 2, 2017* 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Rhode Island Ocean State Cup | L 68–75 | 6–2 | Ryan Center (7,959) Kingston, RI |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | Brown Ocean State Cup | W 77–72 $^{OT}$ | 7–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,087) Providence, RI |
| Dec 9, 2017* 3:00 pm, NESN | | at Massachusetts | L 63–72 | 7–3 | Mullins Center (4,015) Amherst, MA |
| Dec 17, 2017* 2:30 pm, FS1 | | Stony Brook | W 62–60 | 8–3 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,742) Providence, RI |
| Dec 20, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Houston Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase | L 59–70 | 8–4 | Mohegan Sun Arena (5,518) Uncasville, CT |
| Dec 22, 2017* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Sacred Heart | W 89–75 | 9–4 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,452) Providence, RI |
| Big East regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm, FSN | | at St. John's | W 94–72 | 10–4 (1–0) | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| Dec 31, 2017 2:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 25 Creighton | L 64–83 | 10–5 (1–1) | CenturyLink Center Omaha (17,768) Omaha, NE |
| Jan 3, 2018 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | Marquette | L 90–95 $^{OT}$ | 10–6 (1–2) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,375) Providence, RI |
| Jan 6, 2018 12:00 noon, FOX | | No. 5 Xavier | W 81–72 | 11–6 (2–2) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,630) Providence, RI |
| Jan 12, 2018 8:30 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | W 71–64 | 12–6 (3–2) | Wintrust Arena (5,354) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 15, 2018 4:30 pm, FS1 | | Butler | W 70–60 | 13–6 (4–2) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,407) Providence, RI |
| Jan 20, 2018 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | Creighton | W 85–71 | 14–6 (5–2) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,927) Providence, RI |
| Jan 23, 2018 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 1 Villanova | L 69–89 | 14–7 (5–3) | Wells Fargo Center (8,565) Philadelphia, PA |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Seton Hall | L 57–73 | 14–8 (5–4) | Prudential Center (8,434) Newark, NJ |
| Feb 3, 2018 2:30 pm, FS1 | | at Marquette | W 77–75 | 15–8 (6–4) | BMO Harris Bradley Center (18,958) Milwaukee, WI |
| Feb 6, 2018 8:45 pm, FS1 | | Georgetown | W 73–69 | 16–8 (7–4) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,125) Providence, RI |
| Feb 10, 2018 4:30 pm, FSN | | DePaul | L 63–80 | 16–9 (7–5) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,892) Providence, RI |
| Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm, FS1 | | No. 3 Villanova | W 76–71 | 17–9 (8–5) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,887) Providence, RI |
| Feb 17, 2018 12:00 noon, FOX | | at Butler | L 54–69 | 17–10 (8–6) | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,184) Indianapolis, IN |
| Feb 21, 2018 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Seton Hall | L 77–89 | 17–11 (8–7) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,432) Providence, RI |
| Feb 24, 2018 12:00 noon, CBSSN | | at Georgetown | W 74–69 | 18–11 (9–7) | Capital One Arena (10,681) Washington, D.C. |
| Feb 28, 2018 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 3 Xavier | L 74–84 | 18–12 (9–8) | Cintas Center (10,715) Cincinnati, OH |
| Mar 3, 2018 12:00 pm, FSN | | St. John's | W 61–57 | 19–12 (10–8) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,627) Providence, RI |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 2:30 pm, FS1 | (5) | vs. (4) Creighton Quarterfinals | W 72–68 $^{OT}$ | 20–12 | Madison Square Garden (17,647) New York City, NY |
| Mar 9, 2018 6:30 pm, FS1 | (5) | vs. (1) No. 3 Xavier Semifinals | W 75–72 $^{OT}$ | 21–12 | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York City, NY |
| Mar 10, 2018 5:30 pm, FOX | (5) | vs. (2) No. 2 Villanova Championship | L 66–76 $^{OT}$ | 21–13 | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York City, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 2018* 12:15 pm, CBS | (10 W) | vs. (7 W) Texas A&M First Round | L 69–73 | 21–14 | Spectrum Center (18,489) Charlotte, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
* ^A Game was suspended with 13:03 left in the 2nd half due to unsafe floor conditions and resumed at noon on February 22 at Alumni Hall.