A 17-4 run to start the second half enabled sixth-seeded Creighton to stop third-seeded Providence 70-58 on Thursday night in a Big East tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Kyrhi Thomas paced the Bluejays (24-8) with 19 points, Marcus Foster added 15 and Cole Huff scored 10.

Creighton advanced into a Friday night bracket collapse semifinal against Xavier. The seventh-seeded Musketeers upset No. 18 Butler 62-57 earlier Thursday evening.

Kyron Cartrwright scored 15 points before fouling out for the Friars (20-12), who still appear to be in good shape for an at-large bid to next week's NCAA Tournament. Emmitt Holt contributed 14 points and Alpha Diallo hit for 10 points.

Creighton turned a three-point halftime deficit into a seven-point advantage less than four minutes into the second half after a dunk by center Justin Patton. The lead reached 10 at 44-34 with 11:41 remaining on a layup by Zach Hanson and got as high as 14 points in the final minute.

Providence hurt itself throughout the game with turnovers, committing 22 that Creighton converted into 26 points. It also shot dreadfully at the foul line, canning just 14 of 26.

Neither team could find an offensive rhythm in a first half that saw Creighton hit less than 40 percent from the floor and Providence barely made more than 40 percent of its attempts. The teams were also brutal at the foul line, combining to connect on just 8 of 22 tries.

Still, the Friars managed to overcome their poor marksmanship by maintaining a small lead for nearly 14 minutes. When Cartwright converted a pullup jumper in the lane with just under two seconds left, Providence took a 30-27 lead to the locker room.