Hoyas are on the road to play Providence the second time around

VS.

Ruff Em Off Hoyas

DC IS OUR PLAYGROUND!

CLAP IT UP HOYANATION!

Beat Providence!

Well, Hoyanation and friends the "focus" is now on Providence (13-14  2-12 BE).  These two teams last met on December 31, 2012 with the Hoyas winning 49-40. Hoyas won the last meeting at home 49-40 Don't let the conference record of 2-12 fool you. One thing we won't have to worry about is the Hoyas focus and determination. Providence's season is not over. This is a road game for the Hoyas, so as we all know to well how the story goes in the Big East.

Every game is a big game in our conference no matter what the teams records are. Going into the home stretch and getting ready for March is the exciting part of the college basketball season. Around this time, everyone is getting excited for March, and that’s part of the game,” forward Hollis Thompson said. “But at the same time, if you want to be in a good position when it comes to those tournaments, you need to win now. So everybody is still locked in and focused on the games we have at hand.”

What's most noticeable is the Hoyas (19-5  9-4 BE) "unselfishness" and the ability to be on the "same page" as their coach. "I definitely see that this year," senior center Henry Sims said, "especially since we have a lot of guys that buy into his philosophies of playing hard and preaching defense first. We all feel the same way. Since I've been here, this has been one of the times that he's been convinced that everybody is really ready to step in and really ready to play."

Sophomore Forward Nate Lubick spoke on the Hoyas unselfishness this season. "I think one thing that's different about this team," Lubick said, "and not to criticize last year's team, is that when people break off of the offense this year, it's to get somebody else a shot, rather than last year, if someone was breaking out of our offensive sets, it was kind of to get their own shot. As a coach, that's all you can ask for. I think you can just see that he's having more fun."

Providence's two conference win's have come from Louisville and Rutgers. Providence is 10-3 at home in the Dunkin Donuts Center this season, so the Hoyas will stay focused at the task at hand.

With so many people talking about Big East and March Madness tourney Coach Thompson III would like to keep his focus on the Friars. "It's hard in athletics during the course of a season to step back and say, 'Ah, this is great,' or, 'Ah, this is hell,' " Thompson said. "You have to stay focused on what's in front of you.

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