March 4, 1998

#8 PROVIDENCE COLLEGE (13-15/7-11)
vs. #1 CONNECTICUT (26-4/15-3)

1998 AT&T BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP - March 4-7, 1998
Madison Square Garden (19,581) - New York, New York

FRIARS VERSUS HUSKIES...The two teams last met on February 23rd in Hartford with Connecticut taking a 77-68 win. UConn won the first meeting in Providence on January 27th, a 63-56 win. The Huskies lead the all-time series, 31-20. The two teams have met three times in BIG EAST Tournament play and the Friars lead, 2-1. PC won in 1993 and 1994 while UConn took the 1988 Tournament meeting. The Huskies have won two in a row in the series and four of the last five meetings between the two schools.

FRIAR UPDATE...Jamel Thomas and Justin Farley each had 17 points and Thomas pulled down ten rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season as the Friars downed Notre Dame, 72-55 in a first round game. PC led 32-22 at the half . Erron Maxey added ten points and John Linehan had seven points along with a career high six rebounds and eight assists for the Friars. Pat Garrity had 18 points for Notre Dame. The win was PC's second in four days against Notre Dame. The Friars now have a two-game winning streak as they beat the Irish, 77-62, back on February 28th.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Pos. No. Name           Pts/Reb.    Ht. Wt.  Class  Hometown
F   33  Jamel THOMAS    18.5/6.9    6-6 215     Jr. Brooklyn, N.Y.
F   40  Justin FARLEY    9.5/2.7    6-6 205     Jr. Indianapolis, Ind.
C   24  Erron MAXEY     7.1/4.4     6-6 195     Fr. Lake Elsinore, Cal.     
G    3  Kendrick MOORE  9.4/3.4     6-3 180     Jr. Hartford, Conn.
G   12  John LINEHAN    5.6/2.0     5-9 165     Fr. Chester, Pa.    

OFF THE BENCH
C    5  T.J. McKENZIE   1.7/1.5     6-11 235    Fr. Friendswood, Tex.
G   10  Corey WRIGHT    2.5/1.8     5-8 160     Jr. New York, N.Y.  
G   13  Mark ADAMS      0.5/0.2     6-3 200     Sr. Clifton, N.J.
F   15  Peter FARRELL-  0.0/0.0     6-5 195     Fr. Hanover, Mass.
          MARCELLINO    
G   20  Dennis CLEARY   0.4/0.0     6-0 160     So. West Orange, N.J.
F   25  Ben PERKINS     6.5/3.2     6-7 200     Fr. Vinton, La.
F   42  Llewellyn COLE  6.9/4.4     6-7 215     So. New York, N.Y.
F   50  Rick  CORDELLA  1.0/0.5     6-4 210     Jr. Foxboro, Mass.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK...Jamel Thomas goes into the BIG EAST Tournament on a hot streak. He has been named the BIG EAST Co-Player of the Week for the week ending March 1st along with Seton Hall's Donnell Williams. Thomas averaged 27 points and eight rebounds as the Friars went 1-1 on the week. Williams averaged 23 points and four rebounds as Seton Hall was 2-0 on the week.

THOMAS TIME...The Friars' junior All-BIG EAST candidate Jamel Thomas has scored in double figures in all 28 of PC's games this season and has a streak of 32 going back to last year. Thomas is just one of two BIG EAST players to score in double figures in every game this year along with Notre Dame's Pat Garrity. Garrity has been in double figures in 45 consecutive games over the last two seasons. For the year Thomas is averaging 18.5 points and 6.9 rebounds to lead PC in both categories. He now has 1,293 points in his career to move into 14th on PC's all-time scoring list.

BIG EAST FACTS...The Friars have now won at least one game in the BIG EAST Tournament in each of Pete Gillen's first four years...PC has won at least one BIG EAST game every year since 1992...With the win over Notre Dame, Gillen is now 5-3 in BIG EAST Tournament play. His five wins equal the PC record of five held by Rick Barnes. Since 1993, PC is 9-4 in the tournament. PC is 2-5 versus #1 seeds in the tournament...PC is now 14-17 overall in tournament play.

 TODAY IN THE BIG EAST                              PC ON THE AIR
  Georgetown vs. Rutgers    2:00 pm                 WPRO Radio - 630 AM with   
  Villanova-Pitt winner vs. Syracuse 7:00 pm        John Rooke and Joe Hassett.
  Seton Hall- BC winner vs. St. John's              9:00 pm ESPN2 with Dan Shulman and
                                                    Bill Raftery calling the action