INDIANAPOLIS -- As Providence coach Ed Cooley joined his team in the locker room Thursday afternoon trailing No. 9 Butler by 11 points, his message was directed at point guard and Big East Conference preseason Player of the Year Kris Dunn.

"I told him to go out there and be the best player he can be ... the best point guard in the country," said Cooley, who watched Dunn amass 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists during the final 20 minutes, leading the No. 12 Friars to an 81-73 victory in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Forward Rodney Bullock scored 25 points, Dunn finished with 20 and forward Ben Bentil added 19 as the Friars (13-1, 1-0) outscored the Bulldogs (11-2, 0-1) 56-37 during the final 20 minutes.

Forward Kelan Martin had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Butler, which had won eight in a row, and guard Roosevelt Jones scored 19.

"It was fun to watch Kris in the second half," Cooley said. "Kris' best attribute is his toughness. Foul trouble in the first half kept us from establishing any rhythm. Our defense to start the second half was a key factor, and then we got it going in this great environment."

Providence, which got six 3-pointers in nine attempts from Bullock, shot 56.7 percent (17 of 30) from the field in the second half and out rebounded the Bulldogs 26-16 in the final 20 minutes.

"All we really did was just battle back," Dunn said. "Plus, Rodney can really shoot it. Butler is a very gritty and tough team, but we figured it out in the second half."

Bullock's 3-pointer with 3:48 to play and two Bentil free throws with 3:06 remaining pushed the Friars into a 72-66 lead. Guard Kellen Dunham's layup pulled the Bulldogs within 72-68 at the 2:19mark.

"Our point guard did a great job of pushing the pace in the second half," said Bullock, who had 13 points and five rebounds after halftime. "Kris has a great impact out there on the floor, and we also have a lot of good role players. As for me, I have just been getting up a lot of extra shots, and it paid off today."

A Bentil layup and consecutive 3-pointers from Dunn and Bullock gave Providence a 67-59 lead with 5:39 remaining, but Butler came right back with a 7-0 run capped by guard Jordan Gathers' 3-pointer with 4:18 to go, slicing the Friars' advantage to 67-66.

Gathers' 3-pointer tied it at 49 with 10:43 remaining, but Dunn, Bullock and Bentil combined to score the Friars' next 10 points, and they took a 59-55 lead on a Dunn 3-pointer with 8:19 to play.

Providence forced the tempo to begin the second half, outscoring Butler 24-8 to take a 49-44 lead on a Dunn layup with 12:47 remaining. Martin then answered with a driving layup for the Bulldogs, slicing the deficit to 49-46 with 11:29 to play.

"We clearly got beat by a better team," Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. "We have a long way to go. Part of our halftime lead was because two of their best players had gotten into foul trouble and had been on the bench.

"Then, we just simply did not have a good approach coming out of halftime. We were not as alert in the second half, and we did not move the ball as well as we did in the first half. Dunn took over, ran the show and got to the foul line."

Jones said Butler was its own worst enemy in the second half.

"A little bit of it was us taking quick shots, and then they got into a faster pace, which helped them and not us," Jones said.

Another key was that Butler starters Dunham and Andrew Chrabascz were a combined 5 of 25 from the field, including 0 of 9 from 3-point range.

Trailing 17-13 after a Bullock 3-pointer with 11:11 remaining in the first half, Butler dominated the final 10:46, outscoring the Friars 23-8 for a 36-25 lead at intermission.

Jones scored six of his nine first-half points during Butler's momentum-seizing 23-8 burst, and Martin was even better in that stretch with eight.

Providence battled first-half foul woes with Dunn, Bentil and Bullock each picking up two from the 9:44 mark until 4:44 remained in the opening 20 minutes.

Butler was 15 of 30 from the field (50 percent) in the opening half, while Providence made only 8 of 28 attempts (28.6 percent), including only 3 of 14 from beyond the arc. Bullock was 2 of 4 while his teammates were a collective 1 of 10.

The Bulldogs also enjoyed a 21-14 rebounding advantage in the first half, getting six off the bench from reserve forward Martin. Butler outscored Providence 20-10 in the paint during first-half action and enjoyed an 11-0 edge in points from non-starters.

NOTES: Providence entered the game with a 12-1 record, only the fourth time in program history the Friars have had zero or one defeat through 13 games ... Dunn was voted Big East preseason Player of the Year and came into Thursday's game averaging 16.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 3.2 steals per game ... Friars freshman G Ryan Fazekas, who played at Indiana's Marquette High School, missed his fifth consecutive game with mononucleosis. He is averaging 7.9 points in his nine games ... Butler entered with an average winning margin of 20.8 points ... The Bulldogs came in 1-3 all-time against the Friars ... Four of Butler's next six Big East games are on the road.