Cotton scored 17 of his points in the second half when Providence (10-8, 2-4 Big East) outscored Villanova 45-35. Vincent Council added 11 of his 15 in the second half before fouling out, while Kris Dunn chipped in a career-high 13 for the Friars, who won despite a 29-for-48 showing at the foul line.

Leading scorer JayVaughn Pinkston scored 20 points for the Wildcats (11-7, 2-3), who have lost three straight after opening league play with wins over St. John's and South Florida. Darrun Hilliard added 14 points for Villanova, which committed 25 turnovers leading to 29 Providence points.

Villanova committed five turnovers in the opening four-plus minutes of the second half as Cotton scored six straight points in an 11-4 run that forged a 35-35 tie with 15:24 left. The game was tied eight more times until Council knocked down a 12-footer with 3:57 remaining for a 56-54 lead, and that began a decisive 13-5 run that was highlighted by Cotton's step-back 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining

The Wildcats nearly pulled off the late comeback as James Bell hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, and Ryan Arcidiacono hit two free throws with 26 seconds left after Dunn was called for an intentional foul on a push-off. After the foul shots made it 67-64, Hilliard missed a long 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining, Dunn grabbed the rebound, split a pair at the line with 14 seconds left and Bell committed a turnover with five seconds remaining.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Pinkston reached 20 points for the fifth time and second time this season. He also had his second 20-point game against Providence and has 48 points in two games against the Friars. ... Cotton has reached 20 points in 14 of the 16 games that he has appeared in. ... Providence F LaDontae Henton shot 1-for-7 and is 7-for-36 from the field in his last three games.