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Ray Hall And Brian Rudolph Each Sign A NLI To Attend PC

Providence College men's basketball coach Tim Welsh announced on April 13 that student-athletes Ray Hall (Denver, Colo.) and Brian Rudolph (New Bedford, Mass.) each have signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Providence College beginning in September 2006.

Hall, a 6-foot-11-inch, 260-pound center, recently finished his senior season at Mullen High School in Denver, Colo. Hall averaged 18 points and 9.5 rebounds and helped lead Mullen to the Class 5A title. In the championship game, Hall scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 54-40 win over Cherry Creek. For his efforts, the four-year starter was named Tournament MVP by the Rocky Mountain News. Hall also was named First Team All-State by the Rocky Mountain News and he earned All-Colorado honors from The Denver Post.

Rudolph, a 5-foot-10-inch, 170-pound guard, is in his final year at New Bedford High School. A three-time All-Conference honoree, Rudolph had a sensational senior season, averaging 23.9 points and 10.1 assists per game. For his efforts, he was named to the Boston Globe All-Scholastic Team and received Boston Herald Dream Team honors. Rudolph also received the Dave Cowens Achievement Award, which is presented annually to the area's outstanding senior player. He is the only player in the history of New Bedford High School to score 1,200 points and record 600 assists and 200 steals. In three seasons of varsity basketball at New Bedford, he scored 20 or more points 26 times and 30 or more points seven times. In 2006, he helped his team post an 18-5 mark and advance to the state semifinals.

"These two players will improve the competitiveness of our team next season," Welsh said. "Like all the student-athletes we have recruited the last two years, they are winners, they come from winning programs and they have been extremly well coached. Ray (Hall) is a strong, skilled big man who led his team to a state title. Brian (Rudolph) helped bring his team to the state semifinals this year. He is an outstanding guard who looks to pass first and has the ability to get past the defenders. His play will complement some of the productive scorers we have on our team."

Friars report: Notes, quotes

Because of a host of transfers, Providence played most of the year with eight scholarship players. Four of those were freshman, and two were sophomores. Only senior Donnie McGrath and junior Herbert Hill were upperclassmen.

--Providence rebounded well all season long, with board work sometimes carrying the day when the Friars were turning it over or missing open shots. The Friars won the rebounding battle in 16 of their 27 games, and closed the NCAA basketball season with 30 offensive rebounds against Marquette.

THE RECORDS
12-15, 5-11 (tied for 13th in Big East), failed to qualify for Big East tournament

HOW THE SEASON ENDED
Providence played a lot better down the stretch. Unfortunately, everyone else did as well, and it wasn't quite enough to get the Friars to the Big East tournament. The underclassmen showed signs that they could take this team to the postseason next year, but Donnie McGrath leaves big shoes to fill.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're lacking a few upperclassmen that you need to be a team that can win at a high level in this conference,. I think we overcame that in a lot of ways with our togetherness, our attitude and our ability just to fight. As a coach, sometimes you wonder if your team is ready mentally. In that regard, they've never let me down ... You've got a good core of young players that learned a lot, grew a lot this year. With some pieces to be added, obviously, and some pieces to fill because of Donnie's (McGrath) absence, I think the future is very bright." -- Providence coach Tim Welsh, in the Providence Journal.

Marquette 88, Providence 78

 After a quiet first half in his final home game, senior sharpshooter Steve Novak scored 17 second-half points as Marquette beat Providence 88-78 Saturday.

Novak hit three 3-pointers and added a jump shot in a span of less than five minutes, propelling a 16-6 second-half run that proved decisive for Marquette (20-9, 10-6).

Novak finished with 20 points to lead the Golden Eagles.

Coach Tom Crean pulled Novak, the school's all-time leading 3-point shooter, out of the game with 18.7 seconds remaining, allowing fans to give him a standing ovation.

Marquette honored Novak and fellow seniors Joe Chapman and Chris Grimm in a ceremony after the game, as the three walked to the student section to trade high-fives with fans.

Novak set the Big East single-season record for 3-pointers made in Wednesday's loss at Louisville, and came into Saturday's game leading the nation in free-throw shooting percentage.

A 6-2 run early in the second half allowed Providence to draw within 5, 44-39.

Desperate measures needed by the Friars

"Hey, the Big East Tournament starts (tonight) for both of us," Brey said.

The coach of the Fighting Irish could not have made it any clearer. If Notre Dame or Providence has any designs on being in the Big East tourney next week in New York, a win tonight is paramount. The Irish (4-10) and Friars (5-9) could conceivably still get in with five league wins, but six seems to be the magic number.

"We have another game (Saturday at Marquette)," said PC coach Tim Welsh, "so it's not the end of the season (tonight), but we know we can get somewhere and can put ourselves in great position if we win."

Notre Dame experienced these do-or-die games for nearly seven weeks. After starting 0-3 in the Big East, the Irish were panicked. A 92-77 victory over Providence in mid-January stopped the bleeding, but only for one night. Brey then watched his team lose its next five games in absolute heart-wrenching style. First came a two-point road loss at Marquette. A double-overtime thriller at home to Georgetown was followed by a two-point loss to Villanova when Kyle Lowry tipped in a rebound in the final seconds. Up next was a one-point loss at West Virginia, and then an overtime defeat at Louisville when Taquan Dean hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation.

Three wins followed, but the devastating close losses returned last week in Hartford when Connecticut's Marcus Williams squirmed inside for a rebound hoop in the final five seconds to force overtime. The Huskies went on to win, 75-74.

"I'm worn out," Brey said. "We've been under the gun for seven weeks when we started 0-3. We've been a desperate bunch since then."

After listening to Irish fans wallow in self-pity for weeks, Brey says he's tired of "talking about being snake-bit and all the bad luck." He says his players have bounced back from every excruciating loss with refreshing hardiness, but the time for sweet talk is over. There is no more room for another close loss.

"Hey, at the end of the day we're 4-10 and we have to scratch our way to New York," said Brey. "I'm very proud of the way they've handled things, but we've learned that to win you have to get that loose ball or block out on that rebound."

If there is a dangerous 4-10 team, it certainly is Notre Dame. The Irish lead the Big East in scoring, and roll out a group that can light up a scoreboard. Their best weapon is the 3-point shot. Colin Falls and Chris Quinn have shot the ball well virtually all season, and some newfound punch from Russell Carter and Kyle McAlarney gives Brey four shooters you must track down at all times.

"They play four guards who have the green light at all times," said Welsh. "They'll pull up on the break or shoot it from places you wouldn't think they'd try one from. And they can really put points up in quick spurts."

The Friars haven't been a consistent defensive team all season, and their zone looks will be tested tonight. In fact, they may even be junked since few teams have played zone defense against Notre Dame and lived to talk about it.

While PC's focus will be on Notre Dame's shooters, the Irish will almost certainly focus on PC's top shooter, Donnie McGrath. He's playing his final home game and will be honored in a pregame ceremony along with walk-on Tim Englert and manager Matt Grasso.

Any emotion of Senior Night will be quickly overshadowed by the game's importance. Both teams know their seasons are on the line, and that tonight's loser could very easily be watching the Big East Tournament on TV next week.

No. 9 Panthers Top Friars, 85-77

Aaron Gray had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 9 Pittsburgh to its third straight victory, 85-77 over Providence on Wednesday night.

The Panthers (20-3, 9-3 Big East) reached the 20-win mark for a school-record fifth consecutive season and extended their winning streak over the Friars to five games.

Senior guard Donnie McGrath matched his career high with 28 points for Providence (11-11, 4-7), which had won its last two games. McGrath was 6-for-10 from 3-point range for the Friars.

John DeGroat's 3-pointer 4 minutes into the second half gave Pittsburgh its first lead of the game, 45-44. The Panthers then went on a 7-0 run with Gray scoring two baskets, one part of a three-point play, and another from Carl Krauser.

Pittsburgh took its largest lead of the game midway through the second half at 62-50 on a basket by Levon Kendall. The Friars cut the deficit to six points on Geoff McDermott's alley-oop dunk on a pass from Sharaud Curry with 5:48 remaining.

Benjamin added 15 points and Krauser had 12 for Pittsburgh, which snapped a three-game road losing streak.