On the heels of a tough overtime loss, Providence plays host to Penn on Tuesday in a Big East vs. Ivy League clash.
The Friars (1-1) saw a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Stefan Vaaks rim out at the end of regulation in an eventual 107-101 overtime loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday in Uncasville, Conn. It was the first time the Friars lost a game more than scoring over 100 points since 2010.
“It went halfway down,” Providence coach Kim English said about Vaaks’ shot. “Give Virginia Tech credit. They did a lot of good things down the stretch, especially in overtime.”
Vaaks, a freshman from Estonia, is 7-for-18 from 3-point range through the first two games of the season for Providence. Jason Edwards led the Friars with 28 points in the defeat, and Jaylin Sellers scored 26.
English wasn’t taking any moral victories from the matchup wit the Hokies.
“We have the Penn Quakers on Tuesday and Colorado on Friday,” English said. “It would have been a quality win against them on a neutral court. We didn’t finish.”
New coach Fran McCaffery saw Penn (1-1) fall to American 84-78 on Sunday in Washington. The American bench outscored the Penn bench 40-21, and the Eagles had 42 points in the paint compared to the Quakers’ 22.
Senior forward Ethan Roberts leads the Quakers with an average of 23.5 points through the first two games. Michael Zanoni had 20 in the loss at American, and he shot 6-for-10 from 3-point range.
“He’s been playing great from the minute I got here,” McCaffery told the Daily Pennsylvanian about Zanoni. “Very solid in every facet of the game. Terrific shooter.”
Penn junior forward TJ Power said, “It was great to see Zanoni in his element like that. I think it’s something he’ll build off of, too. We want him to be as aggressive as he can be. He’s a great weapon with his shot, and it really opens the floor for us.”
After finishing 12-20 last season, Providence has retooled its lineup. Edwards is a transfer from Vanderbilt, and Sellers, a 6-foot-4 guard, came in from UCF.
The schools’ most recent matchup was in 2019, with Penn winning 81-75 in Providence.
