Bryce Cotton scores 24, carries Providence over Seton Hall

Published Feb. 28, 2014 9:18 p.m. ET

foxsports

NEWARK, N.J. -- Bryce Cotton scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half to lead Providence to a 74-69 victory over cold-shooting and undermanned Seton Hall on Friday night.

Kadeem Batts added 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Friars (19-10, 9-7 Big East) won for the third time in four games and avenged an overtime loss to the Pirates earlier this season. LaDontae Henton had 13 points and Tyler Harris had all 11 of his in the final 20 minutes for Providence.

Sterling Gibbs had 20 points to lead Seton Hall (14-15, 5-11), which played without leading scorer Fuguan Edwin (sprained thumb). Eugene Teague added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Pirates, who have lost three in a row and 6 of 7.

Providence, whose only recent loss was in overtime to No. 8 Villanova, took the lead for good when Cotton drove the length of the court with a turnover and dunked for a 28-26 halftime lead.

Harris, who took only three shots in the first half, got the Friars going in the final 20 minutes. He hit a layup to open the half and capped an early 9-5 run with a three-point play and a fast-break dunk for a 37-31 lead.

The Pirates made only one threatening run the rest of the game, scoring six straight points to get to within 45-43 on a 3-pointer by Brian Oliver with 11:44 to go.

Cotton, who came into the game averaging 21.5 points, then hit a layup and four free throws, and Harris added two more baskets in a 10-1 spurt that pushed the advantage to 11 points.

Edwin, who was averaging 22 points in his last four games, was hurt in the Pirates' loss to DePaul on Tuesday night.