No. 6 Villanova 74, Providence 68: Ryan Arcidiacono scored 20 points and the visiting Wildcats held off the Friars for their fifth consecutive victory.

Daniel Ochefu added 19 points and nine rebounds and Darrun Hilliard II scored 16 as Villanova (22-2, 9-2 Big East) remained in first place in the conference. The Wildcats hit 25-of-33 free throws in the second half, including a perfect 9-of-9 by Arcidiacono to maintain their lead.

LaDontae Henton scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half for Providence (17-8, 7-5), which absorbed its third loss in four games. Kris Dunn added 17 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals while Tyler Harris scored 17 off the bench.

The Friars went ahead 19-15 on Paschal Chukwu's layup at the eight-minute mark, but Arcidiacono knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in a 12-2 burst as Villanova went ahead 27-21 en route to a 29-26 halftime edge. Leading 37-34, the Wildcats held Providence scoreless for nearly six minutes and Josh Hart hit a pair of 3-pointers in an 11-0 spurt for a 48-34 lead with 8:14 to play.

Henton came to life with a three-point play and a 3-pointer before Dunn dunked off a steal to cap an 8-0 burst in a 32-second span to cut the deficit to 48-42 with 6:51 remaining. Arcidiacono answered with three free throws to being a stretch where Villanova hit 10-of-11 at the line to restore the lead to 60-49 and the Friars got no closer than six points until Henton's 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ochefu was not in the starting lineup for the second straight game because he was late for a class, but had 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the first half. ... Friars coach Ed Cooley was back on the bench four days after he had to leave a game against Xavier and was hospitalized overnight for dehydration and exhaustion. ... Wildcats G Hart had stayed in Philadelphia while dealing with flu-like symptoms but flew to Providence on Wednesday and finished with 10 points.