Bryce Hopkins returns, helps Providence handle BYU

Jabri Abdur-Rahim highlighted his 19-point night with four 3-pointers while Bryce Hopkins added 16 points in his season debut as Providence cruised past visiting BYU 83-64 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle on Tuesday.

The Friars (6-3) broke a three-game losing streak by shooting 59.5 percent from the field, including 71.4 in the first half, and going 12-of-22 from distance.

In his first action since tearing his ACL 11 months ago, Hopkins was 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 from the foul line and dished out a team-high four assists.

Jayden Pierre and Bensley Joseph each contributed 12 points for Providence, which posted its biggest lead at 80-55 after a Pierre layup with 3:02 remaining.

Dawson Baker had 14 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting for the Cougars (6-2), who shot just 33.3 percent. Trevin Knell knocked down three of the team's seven 3-pointers. Top NBA prospect Egor Demin (6 points) was 0-of-10 from the field.

Providence led 46-34 at halftime, responding to the visitors' 11-3 run to move back within 34-30 with a 12-4 stretch of its own over the final 2:52.

A 13-3 stretch midway through the second half left no doubt in the final result.

Kanon Catchings and Richie Saunders hit 3-pointers in the first 1:59 to help BYU take early one-basket leads, but a pair of Joseph triples to help strengthen the home team's control before the first half was 10 minutes old.

Cardet scored five straight Providence points with only a Knell trey going BYU's way in between, then Joseph made it 24-17 with a fancy finish around his defender for a layup.

Abdur-Rahim's 3-pointer and a Hopkins layup bookended a quick 7-0 run that upped the Friar advantage to 31-19 by the 8:06 mark.

After the hosts' run moved to 10-2, Demin assisted Knell on a 3-pointer and hit two foul shots to punctuate the Cougars' response to bring the score to 34-30.

--Field Level Media