Davis, Providence look to knock down No. 1 Panthers

Last season, Keno Davis took the Drake Bulldogs ‘mdash; a program expected to finish near the… Last season, Keno Davis took the Drake Bulldogs ‘mdash; a program expected to finish near the bottom of the Missouri Valley Conference ‘mdash; and helped them to a 28-5 record and a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Now, one year later, the reigning AP Coach of the Year hopes to surprise the college basketball world once again by upsetting the top-ranked team in the NCAA. Now coaching at Providence, Davis has led the Friars to 16-11 overall and 8-7 in the Big East. On Tuesday night, they’ll host No. 1 Pitt (25-2, 12-2 Big East) at 7 p.m. in Providence. Davis said that while the team always stays positive, it’s never easy to host a No. 1 team. ‘It would be a huge victory if we were somehow able to pull the upset,’ said Davis. Providence lost to Notre Dame ‘- a team that has struggled this season ‘- 103-84 on Saturday afternoon. It was the Friars’ second defeat in a row. Louisville beat them 94-76 the game before that. ‘We got a chance to see firsthand why a lot of people predicted or picked Notre Dame to be a top-10 team in the country,’ said Davis. He added that Providence caught the Fighting Irish at the wrong time, as Notre Dame had recently defeated No. 7 Louisville by 33 points. The play of sophomore forward DeJuan Blair has led the Panthers recently. Since a seven-point effort in a loss to Villanova, Blair has averaged 20.3 points and 14.4 rebounds per game. ‘I don’t see any way to be able to stop him,’ said Davis. While Blair and the Panthers are almost ensured a high NCAA Tournament seed, Providence is a bubble team in need of marquee wins for their Selection Sunday resume. In Big East play, Providence has gone 7-2 against the lower half of the conference, but has only a 100-94 win against then No. 15 Syracuse against the upper half. ‘ ‘It doesn’t get any easier for us, having arguably the best team in the country coming in,’ said Davis. ‘I think we need to just try to focus on improving a little bit each game as the conference tournament comes down.’ Davis’ coaching career has focused on player improvement, and he’s helped several players improve this season. Providence senior guard Weyinmi Efejuku has thrived despite his team’s recent struggles, setting a Providence season-best with 31 points against Notre Dame. ‘He’s really been probably our most consistent player this season, definitely,’ said Davis. ‘Offensively, he’s been able to be a consistent 3-point threat for us, but he also is able to take you off the dribble and create when you take his shot away.’ Providence last faced a No. 1 team three years ago, when top-ranked Connecticut defeated the Friars 76-62. Davis has never faced a No. 1 team in his two years as a head coach. ‘We have to play at an unbelievably high level just to stay in the game,’ he said.