Ben Bentil had ripped off five straight 20+ point games and Providence started the season 8-1 when Boston College came to the Dunkin Donuts Center on Dec. 9.

The Friars raced out to an 18-4 lead over BC, as Bentil was on his way to another monster night, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds before going down with an ankle injury late in the first half.

At the time it was unclear how severe the injury was, but he returned just before halftime the next time PC took to the court and led the Friars from behind with 16 points and eight rebounds against Bryant in just 25 minutes.

Bentil has been an absolute nightmare for opponents since.

He’s averaging 22.5 points per game and 9.3 rebounds, and has taken 10+ free throws in four of the last five games.

Bentil has twice gone for over 30 points — both times on the road (32 at Massachusetts, 31 at Villanova on Sunday).

He’s also grabbed 12+ rebounds in three of those games, with a career high 13 against Nova this afternoon.

Bentil’s rise to stardom has been a rapid one, but those close to the program were saying as far back as the preseason of his freshman year that he had NBA potential.

He made an early impression on LaDontae Henton. In an interview with Friarbasketball.com prior to his senior season, Henton marveled at Bentil’s lateral quickness and his ability to keep guards in front of him defensively.

During his freshman year we saw the straight line speed that makes him an ideal fit next to Kris Dunn, and we also saw his brute force and aggression over the final month of the season.

Now a sophomore, Bentil is as complete as any big man in the Big East. He leads the league in scoring, makes over 80% of his free throws, stretches defenses with his jump shot, and rebounds in traffic.

He’s doing all of this as the only true big man getting meaningful minutes on a Friar team that is now 17-3 on the season and 4-1 against ranked opponents.

Against those ranked opponents, Bentil has been more than up to the task:

21 points, 3 steals against Arizona

20 points, 7 rebounds against Michigan State

20 points, 7 rebounds at Butler

31 points, 13 rebounds at Villanova

Providence wasn’t supposed to be 17-3 through 20 games this season. Then again, no one figured Bentil would be a sure-fire 1st Team All Big East performer in his second season at PC.

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com