PROVIDENCE — Providence and Seton Hall men’s basketball are on different trajectories.
Stefan Vaaks wing 3-pointer missed early in the shot clock and Seton Hall soaked up the final seconds of regulation. Adam Clark nailed the dagger over Oswin Erhunmwunse on the opposite end with 17 seconds left as the Pirates denied Providence its first Big East conference win.
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Seton Hall played to its strengths in a 72-67 victory in front of 10,993 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion on Friday night. The visitors are out to their best start since the 2011-12 season at 11-1 and owned a fifth-straight meeting against Providence that was decided by six points or less.
Vaaks’ quick triple, off a Jaylin Sellers’ drive, would’ve given the Friars (7-6, 0-2) a lead. Instead, he gave Seton Hall an early celebration off the miss. It’s more growing pains for Providence when it can’t afford them anymore.
“Vaaks shot it, he could have drove it,” Providence coach, Kim English said. “But whatever, live with him shooting shots he feels comfortable with.
“We have to keep scratching and clawing and finding a group of guys that can play with the level of toughness and discipline on a consistent basis to be able to compete in this league.”
Dec 19, 2025; Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Providence Friars guard Stefan Vaaks (7) tries to shoot for three points against Seton Hall Pirates guard Mike Williams III (23) during the second half at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Tajuan Simpkins led all scorers with 22 points off the bench for the Pirates. Vaaks paced Providence with 15 points.
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The Friars are now off for the rest of 2025. They’ll return to conference play on Jan. 3 against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden and then host Connecticut four days later.
For more on Providence’s conference home-opener, read on below:
Something had to give
Seton Hall entered with one of the best scoring defenses in the country (allowed just 62 points per game). Providence’s offense, though, scores 90 on average and something had to give with contrasting play.
And it was the Friars’ offense in the first half. Seton Hall slowed the tempo, forced Providence to attack from beyond the arc and held the Friars to 40% shooting from the field for the game (5-23 from 3).
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“Definitely offensively, I think we revved our guys up about how good [Seton Hall] was defensively,” English said. “And we lost some of our offensive aggression. [Clark] dictated every ball screen, we couldn’t get screened-in in the first half because his pressure was just so good.”
Dec 19, 2025; Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Providence Friars forward Jamier Jones (5) drives the ball to the basket against Seton Hall Pirates guard Elijah Fisher (22) during the second half at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Providence was forced into the half-court – just 10 fast break points – and it doesn’t want to live there. The athleticism that English recruited this year thrives in space and when the game tightens late, so does that offense as it was held scoreless from the field over the final 1:53.
“As I watched that game, [Seton Hall was] consistently the king in the matchup,” English said. “It was right there, but just not tough enough, disciplined enough to get a breakthrough.”
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Lineup changes
Vaaks and Ryan Mela both came off the bench on Friday night.
Jamier Jones, in his first career start, and Jason Edwards replaced the duo in the lineup as English continues to tinker with his first five. Jaylin Sellers is the only Friar to start all 13 games this winter.
“It’s very frustrating,” English said of not having a set 5. “Sometimes on a deep team that’s a reality because when there’s not great separation amongst the ranks, everybody kind of feels like I can be the guy.
“Accept your role for this team. [Butler has] great role acceptance in Indianapolis right now. … We don’t have great role acceptance right now. Everyone wants to be the guy and everyone wants to be the guy on offense. We’re in this league, and that ain’t gonna get it.”
Dec 19, 2025; Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Providence Friars head coach Kim English reacts to game action during the second half against the Seton Hall Pirates at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Transfer portal additions and freshman recruits aren’t exclusive to Providence. But the Friars are struggling again to weave together a winning formula after finish 12-20 last winter.
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“We did some things better tonight defensively,” English said. “We really locked in our ability to guard the ball and defensive rebound. That’s been a focus in practices, and there was some moments of us doing a good job of guarding the ball, but some of off-ball stuff hurt us, especially late.”
Needed break for Providence
Seton Hall won playing Big East basketball – defense, rebounding margin and points inside. They finished with six-point edges in the ladder categories.
When Erhunmwunse isn’t in Providence’s frontcourt, it continues to be a problem for the Friars as Cole Hargrove was minus-14 over 13 minutes. St. John’s is going to try to do the same thing against Providence in two weeks. And Connecticut shortly after.
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It’ll be a theme all season until Providence learns from its league foes and buys into the gritty work that wins games this time of the year.
“Now you have a taste of Big East basketball,” English said to his group after the game. “That’s what St. John’s is going to feel like, but they’re bigger.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Seton Hall men’s basketball beats Providence in Big East play
