Javon Freeman-Liberty and Charlie Moore each scored 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and 11th-seeded DePaul held on for a 70-62 win over sixth-seeded Providence in the opening round of the Big East Conference tournament on Wednesday night in New York.

Courvoisier McCauley was the next-leading scorer with eight points for DePaul (5-13), which snapped a three-game skid. The Blue Demons advanced to face third-seeded Connecticut (14-6) on Thursday night in the tourney's second round.

Nate Watson scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting to lead Providence. Noah Horchler added 17 points for the Friars (13-13), who squandered their slim hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.

DePaul opened the second half on a 14-7 run to build a 49-43 lead with 12:33 left. Moore started the second-half scoring with a steal and a layup in the first minute, and Kobe Elvis capped the run with a layup for his first bucket of the game.

The Friars rallied to even the score at 51-all with 9:06 remaining.

Another tie followed at 53-all before the Blue Demons went on a 9-2 run to go ahead 62-55 with 3:22 left. Moore made back-to-back baskets during the run with a layup and a jump shot.

The Friars' comeback bid fell short as they missed 11 of their final 13 shot attempts.

Providence led 36-35 at the half. Horchler led the Friars with 11 points at the break, while Moore also had 11 points to pace the Blue Demons.

DePaul jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first 11 minutes. Moore sank a 3-pointer, his third of the game, to make it 21-12 in favor of the Blue Demons with 9:16 remaining in the first half.

Providence regrouped with a 13-3 run to grab a 25-24 advantage with 5:38 to go in the half. The Friars eventually built their lead to four points when Watson made a layup to make it 33-29 with 2:22 left before the break.

The Blue Demons cut the halftime deficit to one when Freeman-Liberty made a jump shot in the closing seconds.

--Field Level Media