In any normal year, placing two players on the all-Big East second team would be quite the accomplishment for any team – including Providence.
But when your two players rank in the Top 5 in scoring the entire season, and one is among the leaders in assists as well, and the other a leading rebounder…well, let's just say it boils down to winning.
And apparently Providence didn't do enough of that in the end, finishing as the 6-seed for next week's Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden – 13-12 overall, 9-10 in the Big East.
Both junior guard David Duke and senior forward Nate Watson were named to the 2nd team league all-star teams Sunday afternoon, one day after the Friars knocked off Big East regular season champ and 10th ranked Villanova 54-52 at Alumni Hall. And Sunday, both were looking forward to what lies ahead, not what has happened behind them.
"Honestly, none of that matters to me, I just gotta go and play my game and help the team win," Duke said Sunday, after finishing third in the conference in scoring (17.2 ppg) and second in the Big East in assists (4.8 apg)…plus first in minutes played. "We earned what we got and we just move on from there. Our focus is completely on the tournament and we appreciate the accomplishments and recognition."
"At the end of the day we have to focus on the games we have to play next," Watson said, who finished fourth in scoring (16.8 ppg), 10th in rebounding and second in field goal percentage. "We can't get too happy about what we did, we need to play our game from here on out and get these dubs (wins)."
"David and Nate have carried us the entire year, they haven't missed a practice or a game," head coach Ed Cooley added. "All year, we earned the seed that we have going into the Big East Tournament and you have to play them one game at a time, but a lot of these teams are evenly matched.
"Our group last year is Connecticut this year, and they're playing as well as anyone in America."
The Friars open with 11th seeded DePaul Wednesday night in New York in a 9:00 pm tip – having swept the Blue Demons in the regular season…and the home win went into double overtime. Should PC win the first one, UConn is waiting for the quarterfinal round on Thursday.
"DePaul is another good basketball team, they play good defense, they rebound the ball and they've had a lot of ups and downs due to Covid this year," Cooley added. "When you go into a tournament anything is possible."
ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM+
Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton, G, Jr., 6-2, 180, Hamilton, Mass.
James Bouknight, Connecticut, G, So., 6-5, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Julian Champagnie, St. John's, G-F, So., 6-8, 220, Brooklyn, N.Y.
*Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall, F, Sr., 6-11, 240, Tbilisi, Georgia
*Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova, F, So., 6-9, 230, Kansas City, Kan.
Collin Gillespie, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-3, 190, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.
ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM
Damien Jefferson, Creighton, F, Sr., 6-5, 220, East Chicago, Ind.
David Duke, Providence, G, Jr., 6-7, 210, New York, N.Y.
Nate Watson, Providence, F, Sr., 6-10, 260, Portsmouth, Va.
Zach Freemantle, Xavier, F, So.,6-9, 225, Teaneck, N.J.
Paul Scruggs, Xavier, F, Sr., 6-4, 196, Indianapolis, Ind.
ALL-BIG EAST HONORABLE MENTION
Denzel Mahoney, Creighton, G-F, Sr., 6-5, 220, Oviedo, Fla.
Jahvon Blair, Georgetown, G, Sr., 6-4, 190, Brampton, Ont.
Jermaine Samuels, Villanova, F, Sr., 6-7, 230, Franklin, Mass.
BIG EAST ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
*Chuck Harris, Butler, G, 6-2, 190, Washington, D.C.
Adama Sanogo, Connecticut, F, 6-9, 240, Bamako, Mali
*Dawson Garcia, Marquette, F, 6-11, 235, Prior Lake, Minn.
*Posh Alexander, St. John's, F, 6-0, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Colby Jones, Xavier, G, 6-5, 195, Birmingham, Ala.
*Denotes unanimous selection
+Due to a tie in the voting, an additional position was added
