Providence 62, St. John’s 59: Bryce Cotton scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half as the Friars rallied to edge the visiting Red Storm for their sixth victory in seven games.

Cotton, the Big East's leading scorer, made four of his five 3-pointers in the second half and put Providence (16-12, 8-8 Big East) ahead for good 57-55 on a four-point play with 3:44 remaining. Kadeem Batts added 15 points and nine rebounds while Vincent Council had 10 points for the Friars.

JaKarr Sampson matched his career high with 22 points for St. John’s (16-12, 8-8), but he missed a 3-pointer to tie in the final seconds. Sir’Dominic Pointer added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Phil Greene had 10 points for the Red Storm, who were 1-of-11 from 3-point range and lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Sampson scored 11 points in the first half as St. John’s built its lead as high as eight. Batts scored seven points in the opening 20 minutes and the Friars controlled the backboards to pull within 27-26 at intermission.

St. John’s led by as much as four in the second half and there were 11 lead changes. Cotton followed up his four-point play with a jumper for a 59-55 lead with 2:21 left and the Friars made just enough free throws to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: St. John’s G D’Angelo Harrison, the third-leading scorer in the Big East, was suspended Friday for the remainder of the season for conduct detrimental to the team. … Providence freshman G Kris Dunn added a career-high 12 rebounds. … The Friars won their third straight to even their Big East home record at 4-4, despite making only 11 of 21 free throws.