A.J. Reeves shot 7-for-10 from 3-point range and scored 23 points as No. 11 Providence clinched its first Big East regular-season title in program history with a 72-51 victory over visiting Creighton on Saturday.
Nate Watson and Al Durham each contributed 12 points while Justin Minaya had 11 rebounds for the Friars (24-3, 14-2 Big East), who had three conference games canceled because of a COVID-19 pause in January.
Second-place Villanova (21-7, 14-4), which handed Providence its lone home loss this season, hosts the Friars on Tuesday. The Wildcats will then play at Butler next Saturday, but they can’t finish with a better win-loss percentage than the Friars.
Providence was an original member of the Big East in 1979-80.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 13 points and Alex O’Connell had 12 for Creighton (19-9, 11-6), which shot 5 of 26 (19.2 percent) from 3-point range. O’Connell was held to 2-for-8 from long distance. Ryan Hawkins added 10 points.
The Bluejays’ Trey Alexander had 10 points, two assists and two turnovers starting in place of Ryan Nembhard at point guard. Nembhard, who averaged 11.3 points, a team-high 4.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, is out for the season with a fractured wrist sustained against St. John’s on Wednesday.
Providence led 35-26 at halftime and began to extend its lead early in the second half.
The Friars were up 46-35 after Kalkbrenner sank two foul shots with 15:21 left. Providence then scored eight consecutive points to take a 19-point lead. Reeves bookended the run with 3-pointers, the second one with a hand in his face.
Still, the Bluejays didn’t fold. A trey by Hawkins started a 7-0 run that ended when Minaya shotputted in an attempt from the baseline in desperation just before the shot clock expired. That cut the Friars’ edge to 56-42 with 10:38 left.
Creighton never threatened after that.
Providence wound up outshooting Creighton 47.5 percent to 30.5 percent from the floor.
–Field Level Media
