Madison Square Garden — Josh Oduro had 20 points in Providence’s 74-56 win over Georgetown on Wednesday night in the Big East Conference Tournament.
The seventh-seeded Friars (20-12) face eighth-ranked Creighton, the second seed, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Oduro added nine rebounds for the Friars. Devin Carter scored 19 points while going 7 of 16 (3 for 9 from 3-point range) and added nine rebounds and six assists. Ticket Gaines scored 15 points and shot 5 for 8 from the hardwood (4 for 7 from 3-point range) and 1 of 4 from the free-throw line.
The 10th-seeded Hoyas (9-23) were led in scoring by Jayden Epps, who finished with 30 points, four assists, and two blocks. Drew Fielder chipped in eight points for Georgetown. Dontrez Styles also had seven points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
“I want to make sure I give due credit to our fans this year. We did not have the home record we wanted to, but I do appreciate how the fans showed up and supported our guys through a really, really difficult season. Our guys fought today. I thought our defensive plan was a little bit better than last game, but a little disappointed in our attention to detail. Providence has a special player, and Devin Carter can impact the game on both ends of the floor. He will get my vote for Player of the Year, I think he has single handedly carried them to a tournament bid, I definitely think they’re a tournament team.
“Our attention to detail came back and bit us in the tail, but I’m proud of our guys, we played hard. This is the end of the year, and I thought both teams were pretty tired, both teams looked a little fatigued. But again, I thought they had the best player on the floor.” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said.
