Following his team’s loss to Nebraska on Saturday, Providence coach Bryan Hodgson said the Friars need to show significant improvement when they face visiting Bryant on Tuesday night.
Specifically, Hodgson made it clear he wants his players to perform better on offense.
Providence (1-1) was 19 of 62 from the field (30.6%) in the 67-58 setback against Nebraska. That includes missing 31 of 38 3-point attempts.
“Offensively, we were in a massive rut,” Hodgson said. “They have one of the top defenses in the country, (and) I didn’t do a good enough job to put our guys in position to be effective against that defense. Offensively, we just could not get ourselves in a groove.
“We didn’t get nearly the quality of shots we would have liked to get. We’ll get that fixed.”
Bryant (1-2) also struggled on offense during its last game, a 68-59 loss to Fairfield on Sunday. The Stags had 17 steals, and Bryant turned the ball over 20 times.
Andre Pasha, a transfer from New Haven, led Bryant with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Pasha paced New Haven in 3-pointers (40), blocked shots (22) and defensive rebounds (132) last season.
Keegan Harvey (14.7 ppg) and Onyx Nnani (11) are Bryant’s leading scorers through three games. Pasha is averaging a team-high 8 rebounds.
Harvey averaged 11.2 points in 26.4 minutes per game for Bryant last season.
“I’ve always believed so much in his ability, especially his ability to shoot the ball,” Bryant coach Jamion Christian said. “I wasn’t surprised when he was able to have the success that he had last year, and I won’t be surprised this year when he continues to have that success.”
For the Friars, Ryan Mela and Devin Vanterpool are averaging a team-high 11 points apiece per game.
Arrinten Page injured his knee in Providence’s opener against Maine on Nov. 2. It’s unclear if he will play Tuesday.
“It’s a sprain, and I can’t tell you if he’s going to be there against Bryant,” Hodgson said. “It’s truly about as day-to-day of an injury as you’re going to get.”