NEW YORK – Providence fought off DePaul’s second straight upset bid and remained alive for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The No. 8 Friars downed No. 16 DePaul 83-74 at Madison Square Garden behind Sharaud Curry’s 25 points, Weyinmi Efejuku’s 23 and Jeff Xavier’s 12.
“I think we’ve done enough that we’re going to be considered strongly [for the NCAAs],” Providence coach Keno Davis said. “I think we are squarely on the bubble. I know that playing Louisville tomorrow, win or lose I don’t think it hurts us if we lose.
Providence (19-12) will face No. 1 Louisville in the first Big East Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday at noon. A No. 8 seed hasn’t beaten a No. 1 since Syracuse beat UConn in 2006.
Providence lost at Louisville 94-76 Feb. 18.
“It might take our best game to beat them but I know our guys are going to be striving to play their best game,” Davis said.
Had the Friars lost to DePaul — who went 0-18 through the Big East regular season but on Tuesday knocked off No. 9 Cincinnati — their chances of making the Big Dance would have almost certainly evaporated.
Providence has an RPI of 72 and a strength of schedule of 49 and are just 2-8 against the RPI Top 50. They own key wins over then-No. 15 Syracuse and then-No. 1 Pittsburgh, but also lost to Northeastern.
Will Walker led DePaul with 31 points, hitting three 3-pointers in the final 49 seconds, and Dar Tucker added 30. It was the first time in tournament history two players from the same team scored 30 points.
Down 61-55 midway through the second half, Providence used a 15-1 run to take a 70-62 lead.
Efejuku scored six points in the spurt and Geoff McDermott had four.
Xavier hit a clutch 3 from the right side to extend the lead to 75-65 with 1:10 remaining.
“I thought our guys got a little bit tired in the end,” DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said. “But I couldn’t be prouder of how we played and how we attacked the tournament.”
