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No. 12 Providence beats St. John’s 83-65

Kris Dunn, Durand Johnson

Providence guard Kris Dunn (3) and St. John’s forward Durand Johnson (5) duel over a loose ball during the second half of their NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016, in Providence, R.I. Providence defeated St. John’s 83-65. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

AP

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Kris Dunn had 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists to lead No. 12 Providence to an 83-65 victory over St. John’s 83-65 on Saturday, the Friars’ eighth straight win.

Dunn scored 12 straight points for the Friars in the second half after the Red Storm closed within 56-50 with 9:30 remaining. Providence led 43-31 at halftime and went up by as many as 17 points early in the second half before St. John’s went on its run.

A preseason All-America, Dunn cooled off the Red Storm with consecutive 3-pointers that helped the Friars (14-1, 2-0 Big East) re-establish control.

Providence’s Ben Bentil overcame a slow start to finish with 20 points and nine rebounds while Rodney Bullock had 13 points and eight rebounds. Kyron Cartwright added 11 points, all in the first half.

Yankuba Sima had 14 points for St. John’s (7-8, 0-2), which lost its fifth straight.

TIP-INS

St. John’s: The Red Storm entered play Saturday tied for fifth in Division I with 6.5 blocks per game.

Providence: With the win at Butler on Thursday, the Friars finished December with a 7-0 record. It marks the first time the team went undefeated in December since posting a 7-0 mark in 1988-89.

UP NEXT

St. John’s hosts No. 6 Xavier on Wednesday.

Providence hosts Marquette on Tuesday.