Kyron Cartwright Powers Providence to Upset of No. 5 Xavier

Kyron Cartwright scored 19 points, dished out nine assists and added four steals Saturday to lead Providence to an 81-72 upset victory over No. 5 Xavier at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

Rodney Bullock added 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks for the Friars, who improved to 11-6, including 2-2 in Big East play. Isaiah Jackson chipped in 18 points off the bench.

It was just the second loss of the season for the Musketeers (15-2, 3-1). Kerem Kanter tallied 24 points and 12 boards, but the team shot just 27.8 percent from three and 64.7 percent from the free-throw line.

The win ended a two-game losing skid for Providence, which lost by 19 at Creighton and five in overtime to Marquette in its first home game of conference play.

Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com noted it was a key triumph should the Friars land on the bubble heading into Selection Sunday:

Xavier's only other loss came against Arizona State in late November. It rattled off 10 straight victories after that, including wins over ranked foes in Baylor and Cincinnati.

The Musketeers will have an opportunity to get right back on track with a statement victory of their own Wednesday night, when they'll travel to Philadelphia for a high-profile clash against No. 3 Villanova—the four-time defending Big East champion.

Providence is off until Friday, when it heads to Chicago for a matchup with DePaul.