PROVIDENCE, R.I. _ It's taken awhile but the Providence Friars finally looked like the desperate team Ed Cooley has been looking for.
The Friars jumped all over Seton Hall, nearly squandered a 25-point lead and then held off Myles Powell and the Pirates for a wild 74-71 victory. The game was delayed in the final second when PC's student section emptied onto the floor with less than a second remaining on the clock.
The win over No. 10 Seton Hall is PC's third win over a top-25 team this season.
The spark to the win clearly came from Alpha Diallo. The senior forward exploded for his career-best night, pouring in 35 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Luwane Pipkins added 13 points for a Friar team that improves to 14-12 overall and 7-6 in the Big East.
Powell led the Pirates (18-7, 10-3) with 27 points. Quincy McKnight added 14 as the Pirates lost for the second game in a row.
The start of the game was truly ugly as both teams came out misfiring on 1-of-8 streaks. The Friars flipped a switch, however, and enjoyed their best offensive run of the season. Diallo lit the fuse with two 3-pointers and when Pipkins hit another and Diallo banked one in, the Friars had scored 19 straight points and led 20-2.
Seton Hall's first field goal didn't come until the 11:57 mark as the Pirates began just 2 of 17 from the floor. The bricking continued as PC's defense kept digging in and before long the home team was dancing with a 34-9 lead.
That 25-point lead would be the game's highest, however. Seton Hall eventually settled down and when PC's 10-of-12 shooting stretch finally cooled, the Pirates had their chance to begin looking like a top-10 team.
They took advantage of that opening and closed the half on a 12-2 run. Powell began the game 1-of-7 shooting but finished the half with 10 points and the Pirates trailed by just 41-27.
The Friars started the game 0 of 7, then rode the 10-of-12 hot streak to the fat lead but slowed badly amid the turnover blizzard late on a 2-of-10 skid into halftime.
Unfortunately for the home team that sluggish offense and shaky ballhandling carried over into the second half. Diallo scored the first bucket of the half to make it 43-27 but Seton Hall answered with a spell-binding 15-2 run that was filled with missed shots and turnovers by the Friars. PC began the half 2-of-12 from the floor and saw its lead melt to just 45-42.
Diallo scored inside out of a timeout and then tied his career high by canning a fifth 3-pointer to give the Friars a 50-45 lead. A few seconds later he was called for his fourth foul with 10:32 left on a soft push-off coming off a screen. He went to the bench and before long a 52-45 lead was down to just 52-50.
Diallo came back in for the home stretch with 7:42 left and quickly scored. He cracked 30 points for the night while putting back a loose rebound and then two Kalif Young free throws gave PC a 58-52 lead.
Diallo kept rolling and his baseline take put the Friars up 64-54 with 1:53 left. The Friars played keep-away from there, gave the ball to free throw maven Pipkins by when Powell drained a 35-footer with 49 seconds left, the Pirates were back in it, 67-62. Two Diallo free throws were answered by a 30-footer by Powell. Duke made two free throws but Shavar Reynolds nailed a deep 3-pointer and it was just 71-68 with 13 seconds left.
