VILLANOVA 74, PROVIDENCE 72: JayVaughn Pinkston scored nine of his 28 points in the final 2:13 as Villanova battled back from a 19-point deficit to edge visiting Providence.

Pinkston added 14 rebounds and Dominic Cheek and Mouphtaou Yarou scored 17 apiece for the Wildcats (11-13, 4-8 Big East), who snapped a three-game slide by dominating on the interior.

The Friars (13-12, 2-10) led 60-41 with just over 14 minutes left when they went cold from the field, failing to make a field goal over a stretch of 8:25 as Villanova climbed back.

Providence would recover and go back up, 72-67, with 1:54 left but Pinkston took over, converting a three-point play and then dunking in transition to knot it at 72-72. His layup with 27 seconds left proved to be the winning basket.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Providence got four 3-pointer’s from Bryce Cotton during an 18-2 run to close the first half and take a 44-30 lead at the break … Pinkston missed the majority of that burst in the locker room after taking a finger in the eye … Villanova leading scorer Maalik Wayns was held to three points on 1-of-6 shooting ... After shooting 60 percent in the first half, the Friars slipped to 32 percent after the break.