Kim English starts tenure with Providence, gets big win

Kim English earned his first win as Providence's head coach as the Friars used big runs on each side of halftime to down visiting Columbia 78-59 Monday night.

Bryce Hopkins had a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead nine scorers for Providence, which shot 49.2 percent from the field and held Columbia to 29.6 percent while owning a dominant 46-26 points in the paint advantage.

Devin Carter (13 points), Rafael Castro (13) and Ticket Gaines (12) were also among the leading Friar scorers.

Carter added four assists and three steals.

Providence have now won 21 of their last 22 regular-season openers.

Blair Thompson paced Columbia with 15 points on 3-of-5 3-point shooting.

Avery Brown logged 11 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Lions.

The Friars overcame eight turnovers over the opening 12-plus minutes and used a closing 19-8 run in the first half to turn a 23-19 score into a 42-27 halftime lead.

Carter's dunk started the Providence offense before Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa scored five straight points for Columbia, starting a back-and-forth stretch for about five minutes.

Gaines, whose layup capped the initial run, went 5-of-7 from the foul line and hit a 3-pointer with 5:09 left as the hosts began to build a double-digit lead.

Rafael Castro hit three of the Friars' last four first-half field goals to reach the 15-point edge, which only grew during an 11-4 run out of the intermission.

The Friars' first second-half field goal -- a Gaines-cutting dunk off Carter's feed -- opened an 11-0 run. Pierre also set up a Josh Oduro layup and ripped through the lane for a thunderous jam at the 15:31 mark.

Another Thompson triple and five straight Zine Eddine Bedri points looked to get Columbia back in it, but a Hopkins trey and Pierre's layup gave the hosts a 25-point lead with 10:10 left.

After a 6-0 spurt for the Lions, Floyd knocked down a pair of layups, and Pierre hit a three at 5:55 during Providence's nine-point response.

A true freshman, Dual was limited to just five minutes after suffering an apparent ankle injury.