Agree. Hoping this win can restart the momentum we had after Cuse/Butler/DePaul that was frankly difficult timing and the wheels fell off a bit after Creighton. It's not like the timing is much better now but 3 of the next 4 are at home. Would be great to sustain the level of intensity displayed last night over that stretch even in losses.
Getting (1) all the way back on defense, not stopping 25+ feet from basket or just drifting to your man, but as a team protecting the rim first and the paint second, and then picking up your man out to the 3 point line; and (2) doing so quickly might be two of the lowest hanging fruits that seem like they can be addressed right now and pay immediate dividends. Improve that and eliminate some of the senseless fouling and right away you're putting yourself in a lot easier position in these games.
In fairness Providence was on 83 with just under 4 to go and finished with 86. Thought Lovett/Ponds in particular put incredible pressure on Providence's backcourt during that stretch, which was only more impressive given the minutes and energy they had expended to that point. But in general I think our pressure has been a little too high risk/high reward, at least in terms of longer stretches (and not targeted situational use). Coupled with our issues getting back discussed above it's just been leading to way too many odd man runouts and easy hoops.
