Providence Journal College Basketball Podcast: PC men surging, URI women contending and more

Pick and Pop College Hoops Podcast

Hello and welcome to the latest Providence Journal College Basketball Podcast. This is Bill Koch, sports writer for The Journal. I'm joined by WPRI and Fox Providence sports director Morey Hershgordon and Nick Coit, the ABC6 sports director and weekend co-host of Cordischi and Coit on WEEI-Providence.

Exciting times on the pod as the calendar turns to February. Providence's men are in the hunt again for a Big East regular season title after taking home the 2021-22 version (5:30). The Friars visit Xavier for a key showdown Wednesday night.

Tyler Kolek will have something to say in that title race with Marquette (23:00). The Cumberland native is the reigning league Player of the Week after coming within a whisker of a triple-double in a win over DePaul.

The University of Rhode Island women are heading down the stretch as the lone undefeated team in the Atlantic 10 (28:40). The Rams end their bye with a Wednesday home game against Saint Joseph's, and the schedule ramps up considerably from there.

An upset of Dayton and a rally past La Salle made it two straight wins for the URI men (37:25). The Rams continue to show signs of improvement midway through their league schedule and now gear for three straight on the road.

Brown's men enter an important two-game weekend on the road at Dartmouth and Harvard (50:05). The Bears could use a sweep to keep pace with the top four in the Ivy League standings and maintain hopes of a postseason berth.

Providence's women face the ultimate league challenge Wednesday night -- a home date with Connecticut (60:10). The Friars are off a road win at Xavier and will look to catch the Huskies napping after they downed Tennessee and Villanova.

Bryant's men will look to snap a two-game losing streak Wednesday night against Maine (64:10). The Bulldogs are finding life more difficult in America East -- their chances of a home quarterfinal in the conference tournament are teetering a bit.

Thanks as always for listening.