PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Ed Cooley isn't letting wins and losses alter his perception of his team's growth.

Providence had lost two straight and four of five entering Saturday's game against No. 22 Butler, but the Friars coach insisted his team was making progress.

That progress was put on display against the Bulldogs as the Friars overcame a sluggish start to pull out a 71-65 upset victory at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

"I think we've been playing well the last five games in particular," Cooley said. "It just hasn't shown in the win column."

Cooley was so confident in his team's maturation that he gave them two days off from regular practice before Saturday.

"We literally did nothing for two days but shoot free throws and kind of walk through, and we actually had some fun shooting the ball (Friday)," Cooley said.

Alpha Diallo paced the Friars with 15 points, all in the second half. Kyron Cartwright had 14 points and seven assists and Rodney Bullock and Emmitt Holt each scored 12.

"My teammates never let me feel down for myself," Diallo said. " ... The second half they just told me to keep working and keep pushing, and I told them the same thing."

Nate Fowler scored a career-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field for the Bulldogs (19-6, 8-5). Kethan Savage scored 13 points and Portsmouth, R.I., native Andrew Chrabascz had 12.

It was Chrabascz's final collegiate game in his home state.

"I try to approach it just like it's any other Big East game with the right mindset," Chrabascz said. "Obviously hoping to come away with the win, but the ball didn't fall the right way."

Bulldogs leading scorer Kelan Martin did not start for the second straight game after scoring a season-low one point Tuesday at Marquette. He was held to eight points Saturday.

"I think Kelan's going to be fine," Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. "He's just got to continue to find ways to impact the game when his offense isn't there."

Butler has lost three of four and remains one win shy of clinching its 11th 20-win campaign in the last 12 seasons.

The then-13th ranked Bulldogs routed the Friars 78-61 in their first meeting this season on Jan. 1.

"Certainly this time of year, everybody knows everybody and I think that does become a factor," Holtmann said.

Butler led 25-23 at halftime after combining with Providence to shoot 31.5 percent (17 of 54) in the opening 20 minutes.

The Bulldogs had multiple six-point leads early in the second period before the Friars battled back to tie it at 47 on two Cartwright free throws with 8:10 left.

Cartwright's 3-pointer at 7:25 put Providence up 50-49, the Friars' first lead since 5:00 left in the first half.

Holt's straightaway 3-pointer and Isaiah Jackson's layup gave Providence a 55-51 lead with six minutes to go.

The Friars maintained a narrow lead down the stretch and took a 63-60 lead into the final minute before Holt's layup with 38 seconds left made it a five-point game.

Lindsey hit 1 of 2 free throws with 28 seconds left and Providence made three more free throws to seal the win.

"Unfortunately, our defense wasn't good enough to carry us throughout the course of the game, and theirs was," Holtmann said.

Butler scored eight of the first 11 points to build a five-point advantage with 11:09 left in the half. Both sides struggled early, making a combined five of their first 26 shots from the field.

Providence made just one of its first 13 shots from the floor and went 6:27 without a basket between Bullock's 3-pointer with 17:06 left and Jalen Lindsey's trey with 10:39 on the clock to make it 8-6.

Lindsey's driving layup and a Cartwright layup put the Friars ahead 16-13 with 5:30 left. The Bulldogs ended the half on a 12-9 run capped by Savage's buzzer-beating layup.

"You're probably not going to hold a team to that percentage both halves," Holtmann said, referring to Providence's 32 percent first-half shooting from the floor (8 of 25). "We had some breakdowns for sure."

The Friars made 15 of 27 shots from the field (55.6 percent) in the second half to finish at 44.2 percent.

NOTES: Providence is 7-2 all time against Butler. ... Butler G Tyler Lewis led the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4) entering Saturday. The Bulldogs led the conference in turnover margin (plus-3.71) and the Friars ranked third (plus-1.6). ... Providence retired the jerseys of former men's basketball stars Otis Thorpe and the late Bruce Campbell at halftime. Thorpe, who played for the Friars from 1980 to 1984, had the longest NBA career of any Providence player, logging 17 seasons. Friars women's hoops star Doris Burke, now an ESPN reporter, was also honored and will have her jersey retired later this season. ... Butler returns home to face St. John's and Providence hosts No. 24 Xavier on Wednesday.