Men’s basketball live blog: Providence 110, GW 97, final

9:04 p.m. And that’s your final: Providence 110, GW 97. Check back later for a full post-game write-up and some photos.

9:03 p.m. The fouling has begun and Providence leads 110-97 inside the game’s final minute.

9:00 p.m. Kromah drives and lays it in, setting a new career high with 22 points, but then Hollis fouls out. He receives heart applause and a partial standing ovation on his way to the bench. Council hits both shots and it’s 108-97 Friars with 1:25 left.

8:58 p.m. Council hits two free throws and It’s 106-95 Providence at the two-minute mark.

8:58 p.m. A Friars fan shouts “50 percent from the line!” as Taylor takes his first free throw, but he knocks down both. It’s 104-95 Providence with a little over two minutes to go.

8:57 p.m. Curry makes both shots. 104-93 Providence.

8:56 p.m. Kromah hits anothre three to keep pace with Providence and it’s 102-93 Friars with 2:20 on the clock. Kromah is then whistled for his third foul as Curry tries to squeeze between GW defenders.

8:53 p.m. Taylor goes to the line and makes one of two before grabbing the offensive rebound and kicking it out to Kromah, who knocks down a three to make it 99-90 Providence with 3:17 left. Fun stat: GW had allowed 107 113 points in its previous two home games combined, one of them a loss.

8:48 p.m. Hollis hits a three, giving him 21 points, and it’s 95-86 Providence heading into a timeout just shy of the four-minute mark.

8:46 p.m. Opoku goes to the line and makes one of two, pushing GW to 10-of-20 from the line for the game. Providence leads 94-83 with 4:29 left.

8:45 p.m. Hollis makes a jumper while being fouled and hits the ensuing free throw, making it 94-82 Providence with 4:45 left.

8:42 p.m. Providence’s 6-foot-9 Russ Permenter fouls out, sending Bynes to the line, but the freshman misses both shots. The Colonials are now 8-for-17 from the free-throw line and trail 92-79 with 5:15 left.

8:40 p.m. And a raucous “de-fense” chant ends with a three from Peterson, which puts the Friars’ lead back into double-digits at 90-78.

8:38 p.m. Freshman Dwayne Smith gets on the board with a layup and gets the crowd into the game, then Katuka adds a put-back to cut Providence’s lead to 87-78 with 6:27 to play. The Friars call a timeout and the Smith Center is rocking to “Zombie Nation.”

8:33 p.m. Providence calls a timeout with 8:16 on the clock and an 85-72 lead, their last basket coming when Curry dribbled at the perimeter, appearing to set up the offense, then pulled up to knock down a three after the GW defense backed off.

8:31 p.m. Pellom is fouled while shooting the third in a series of put-backs and makes the second of two foul shots, making it an 82-70 game with 9:15 left.

8:26 p.m. People are going nuts after a series of grabs and pokes and loose balls and missed shots under the basket ends with Hollis being whistled for his fourth personal foul. Providence holds an 82-69 lead at the 10:35 mark.

8:23 p.m. Johnson hits a three for the Colonials, but is whistled for a foul when he collides with Curry after he releases a trey of his own. Curry goes to the line and makes all three free throws to give the Friars an 80-64 lead with 12:17 to go.

8:18 p.m. Hollis hits a long two, giving him 13 points in the game and eight in the second half. GW trails by 13 with 14:35 left.

8:17 p.m. Curry hits a three, Providence’s 12th in the game, and the Friars take a 70-55 lead.

8:14 p.m. A small “Let’s go Friars” chant breaks out heading into a timeout as Providence leads 67-55. On the last possession, Opoku missed a shot in the low post and was then whistled for an over-the-back call. Each team has scored nine points in the half’s first four minutes and 15:50 remains in regulation.

8:11 p.m. A GW student in the second row pulls off a massive upset in the Pita Pit Dance Contest, defeating a young boy that was busting all sorts of crazy movies in an aisle. The student is booed.

8:08 p.m. McKenzie hits a three for Providence, then Hollis answers with a bucket to give him all six of GW’s points this half. It’s 63-52 Providence with 17:43 left.

8:05 p.m. The second half begins with an exchange of free throws. Hollis hits two for GW, then McKenzie hits two for Providence. It’s 60-48 Friars.

8:03 p.m. Halftime stat I should have pointed out: Providence has eight offensive rebounds and GW has seven defensive. On the flip side, GW has 11 offensive rebounds and Providence has 11 defensive. Lots of second chances tonight.

7:48 p.m. Wow. How do you summarize a half like that? Providence leads 58-46 at the break, thanks in no small part to 10-of-16 three-point shooting. Dixon leads the Friars with 12 points, with Peterson, Brooks, and McKenzie each having nine; the Colonials are led by Kromah’s 13 points and Ware, Pellom, and Opoku each have added a half-dozen. Taylor has six assists (and no turnovers) while Pellom and Opoku are tied for the team lead with three rebounds each.

I’m tempted to say this kind of scoring pace can’t keep up in the second half, and in truth it slowed down in the first half’s final few minutes, but GW likes to play at a fast pace and the Friars seem more than willing. Providence’s outside shooting has really driven their scoring thus far and that can be a rather temperamental source of points, so you never know what will happen once those threes stop falling. The Colonials have been able to finish around the basket fairly consistently, outscoring the Friars 34-12 in the paint, which must be encouraging for them. But if they don’t tighten their perimeter defense, none of it may matter.

Either way, this has been a highly entertaining game thus far and should continue to be through the final buzzer.

7:43 p.m. GW’s points allowed in the previous six games: 59, 51, 50, 64, 49, 69. They’ve given up 53 in less than 19 minutes so far.

7:42 p.m. Kromah’s favorite Christmas present, per Tonic trivia question: a basketball hoop.

7:41 p.m. Taylor finds Pellom in transition for a layup; Curry hits a three. Providence leads 53-46 with 1:47 left in the half. This is madness.

7:38 p.m. Hollis picks up his third personal foul, sending Dixon to the line for the Friars. Pellom comes on to replace Hollis and Dixon makes both free throws. It’s 46-38 Providence with 4:30 left in the half.

7:36 p.m. Kyle Wright hits a three for Providence, this time with two Colonials approaching. This is quite the shooting display.

7:34 p.m. Council hits a three for the Friars with Ware’s hand right in his face. Didn’t seem like there was much he could do about that one. Katuka also hit a free throw. It’s 39-34 Providence with 6:26 to go before halftime.

7:28 p.m. Providence hits another three, their seventh in 10 tries, and Hollis answers with one of his own, prompting a Friars timeout. It’s 36-33 Providence with 7:57 left in the first half. The two teams are a combined 29-of-47 from the field, including 10-of-16 from three.

7:27 p.m. Kromah scores on a layup in transition to give him 13 points already, but Providence responds on the other end. I can barely keep up. 33-30 Friars with 8:30 to go in the half.

7:26 p.m. The Friars are now 6-for-8 from three and hold a 31-28, with GW’s last basket coming on a Kromah three. Tons of scoring so far as we approach the nine-minute mark.

7:25 p.m. GW ties it up after Bynes grabs a steal and finds Hollis near midcourt, who in turn finds Kromah for a layup. Then McKenzie hits a three and Providence grabs the lead again. There’s around 11 minutes left in the half.

7:23 p.m. Apparently the music is off for the First Ladies, who come out to dance and… just kind of stand there. Everyone seems to be in good spirits though, as the Colonial Brass starts playing the fight song and the dance team does their usual routine to it.

7:22 p.m. Bynes grabs an offensive rebound in stride and breaks down the court, missing the layup. But Pellom is right behind him, slamming down the put-back and sticking his tongue out upon landing. It’s 21-19 Providence with 11:52 left in the first half during a dead ball.

7:19 p.m. A very impressive turnout from the students tonight, who have filled up their side of the arena and been very vocal throughout the game. Just wanted to note that, considering it’s finals week and all. Providence leads 21-15 at the 13-minute mark.

7:18 p.m. Freshman Tim Johnson picks up a block and creates a turnover with GW at the 14-minute mark, then drives baseline for an acrobatic layup to cut the Friars’ lead to 17-15.

7:16 p.m. Out of a timeout, Taylor knocks down a three from the corner after Kromah drives and dishes it outside.

7:13 p.m. Yet another Providence three, this one from Council. GW seems to be having trouble defending the perimeter and the Friars are red hot. It’s 17-10 Friars at the 15:24 mark.

7:12 p.m. Ware drives hard to the basket right out of the timeout and scores, then Kromah adds another basket on the next possession. Pellom has entered the game for Hollis and Providence leads 14-10.

7:11 p.m. Hobbs calls a timeout at the 16:35 mark after Peterson knocks down a three to give Providence a 13-6 lead. The Friars are 3-for-3 from beyond the arc already. Kromah leads GW with four points.

7:10 p.m. The Friars lead 8-4 at the 17:15 mark after Curry knocks down an uncontested three. The Colonials aren’t going to be able to afford Providence open looks from outside if they want to keep up with them.

7:07 p.m. Providence opens up an early 5-2 lead after McKenzie buries a three and Peterson hits a jumper. Katuka had a dunk for GW’s lone score. On the Colonials’ second possession, Ware was blocked and Hollis was called for an offensive foul. There’s 18:12 left in the first half.

7:02 p.m. GW’s starters: sophomore Tony Taylor and freshman Lasan Kromah at guard, sophomore Aaron Ware and senior Damian Hollis at forward, and junior Joseph Katuka at center. Seems to be the somewhat steady starting five at this point.

6:51 p.m. Freshman Bryan Bynes, David Pellom, and Daymon Warren are all dressed and participating in layup lines. The trio was suspended for Sunday’s win against Navy and stood on the side during warm-ups while wearing different attire than the rest of the team, so this would seem to be an indication that they are active for tonight’s game. Head coach Karl Hobbs had said the suspensions were only for one game anyway.

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Hey there and welcome to tonight’s live blog for the men’s basketball game against Providence. The Friars are the first Big East team to play at the Smith Center since… the Friars! Their last visit, way back in the waning days of the Clinton administration, also held the distinction of being the last time a team from one of college basketball’s power conferences played in Foggy Bottom prior to the Oregon State game a short while ago. More recently, GW traveled to Providence in 2006 and lost 86-67. (Also, a bit of trivia that will only interest me: Kathy Orton covered Providence’s last visit to GW in 2000 for the Washington Post and is in the house again this evening.)

As for the actual basketball side of tonight’s game, the Friars are led by forward Jamine Peterson, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound sophomore that comes into tonight averaging a double-double (17.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game). Junior wingman Marshon Brooks is second among Friars in scoring with 15 points per game and 5-foot-10 senior guard Sharaud Curry, whose 27-point effort against GW in 2006 remains his career high, averages 13.1 points. Senior Brian McKenzie (seven points, 4.8 rebounds) and 6-foot-8 freshman big man Bilal Dixon (nine points, 6.7 rebounds) round out their starting lineup. Freshman guard Vincent Council has been Providence’s highest-scoring reserve, averaging 8.3 points per outing.

The Friars have started this season 6-3, losing at home to Boston College and on the road against Alabama and Rhode Island, a conference companion of GW’s in the Atlantic 10. Tonight marks Providence’s third game in five days, having lost at Rhode Island Saturday and won at home against Brown Monday.

Fans are slowly starting to trickle in as game time approaches, though tonight’s turnout should be interesting given how engrossed much of the student body is with finals. There are still more than 20 minutes until the opening tip, so we’ll be back with starting lineups and other updates up until and throughout the game.