PROVIDENCE – Initially to begin his collegiate basketball career, it was in the Southeastern Conference as a Florida Gator for three seasons. Then it was on to the Atlantic Coast Conference with the Louisville Cardinals. That elite level of competitive basketball certainly prepared Noah Locke for his Big East Conference debut.
Locke answered the call for the Providence College basketball Friars, scoring a career-best 29 points, drilling a season-best seven 3-pointers and shooting his team to a 75-64 Big East Conference conquest of DePaul on Saturday.
“This is what I came to Providence for, to play in Big East games like this,” Locke said of his 38-minute performance, hitting seven of 12 3-point shots and not having a turnover.
“Coach Cooley tells me all the time to shoot it if I’m open; if I get an inch, I’m letting it go,” Locke said after hitting four of seven shots from the floor for 11 first-half points, then making 7-of-10 for 18 second-half points as the No. 22-ranked Friars (15-5, 7-2 in the Big East) snapped a two-game road-swing skid.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s much different playing in the Big East, that I’ve had to adjust my game,” Locke said of competing in three of the very best NCAA Division I conferences. “I’ve gotten much better and the game has slowed down a lot for me. It’s me just being more experienced and playing more games and seeing what basketball is like at this level.”
Since the Big East Conference season began, Locke is shooting 46 percent from the floor (41-for-90), including a 43-percent mark (24-for-57) from 3-point range.
“We recruited him three times,” PC coach Ed Cooley said of getting Locke out of the NCAA portal as a fifth-year senior. Locke had started 104 of the 124 games that he played in during his first four collegiate seasons, playing in 92 games during three seasons at the University of Florida, then in 32 games last season at Louisville. He had a previous career-high point total of 27 against Texas A&M during the 2018-19 season as a Gator freshman.
“Noah had one of those performances (that showed) why we brought him here,” Cooley said in support of Locke’s shooting eye at the AMP against DePaul. “He knows exactly why he’s here, and he continues to get better. When we needed that performance, (he made) a lot of back-breakers. Our coaches dialed up his number at the right time. I like it when players are forceful and want their numbers called.”
Locke hit a pair of 3-pointers during a spree of 12 straight PC points early in the game against DePaul, which created a 14-2 lead. Then he hit a fall-away 3-pointer right in front of the DePaul bench from the deep right side that had the Blue Demons shaking their heads just before intermission.
During the second half, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Locke drilled one eye-opener after another – a 3-pointer on his first shot, then one back-breaker after another over the final 10 minutes, according to Cooley. He drilled a 3-pointer after DePaul had closed to within 56-53; hit another trifecta after DePaul moved to within 58-54; then hit a floating jumper and his seventh 3-pointer to provide PC with a 68-58 margin with five minutes to go.
“I’m a bigger guy (as a guard), my game is more of a physical thing for me,” Locke said of seeing more man-to-man defenses in the Big East. “When I came here, people were saying that the Big East would be more physical, but to me, it wasn’t.”
Locke was able to get into his defender and come off for space, while gaining shooting room coming off of screens. “My teammates put me in the right position. I had a few inches open, so I let it go. In situations like that, I feel as if I can knock those shots down,” Locke said.
Locke has started in 19 of the 20 games that he has played in as a Friar. He has reached double-figure scoring in 12 games with PC, and in five of the nine Big East games played thus far.
“Now we’re getting the hang of it without him (injured guard Jared Bynum),” Locke said of the reigning Big East Sixth Man of the Year and playmaker. “When it happened, we were kind of dysfunctional. Now that he’s been gone (since the UConn game), we’re getting the rhythm of the team down.”
Against DePaul, the Friars had assists on 15 of their 28 field goals, and their 12 turnovers yielded just 13 DePaul points. DePaul shot just 7-for-21 from 3-point range while getting to the free-throw line just eight times.
“It’s really important that the coach has the confidence in me to take those shots,” Locke continued. “I’m blessed, coming in (to PC) and having a coach believe in me like that; I’m comfortable that I can make all those shots.”
FREE THROWS -- “We’re still a little banged-up,” Cooley said about senior guard Jared Bynum's (abdominal strain) status being indefinite. “We don’t know when that will happen, it’s a slow process. We’re not going to be a championship-level team until we’re at full-throttle. He’s a fifth-year senior who knows how to set the table, knows how to win. We need the table-setter. He couldn’t do anything for 11-12 days; he’s moving a little bit, shooting some free throws” … PC is 11-0 in home games this season, having won 32 of their last 33 home outings … The Friars are 38-13 all-time against the Blue Demons dating back to 1961; 23-8 since DePaul joined the Big East; and 21-4 in Providence … The Friars next have an 8:30 p.m. tap-off Wednesday against Butler … Devin Carter has reached double-figure scoring in eight straight games, averaging 17 points during that span … Bryce Hopkins, leading the Friars with a 16.4 point-scoring average, has been in double figures in all but two games, having 12 games with 15 points or more; he has seven games of 20 or more points, with eight double-doubles (20 points, 11 rebounds against DePaul)… PC has outrebounded 17 foes, winning 14 of those games … PC is 4-3 in games decided by margins of eight points or fewer … The Friars have received a verbal commitment from 6-4, 210-pound guard Kayvaun Mulready, an Albany, N.Y., native currently playing at Worcester Academy.
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