NEW YORK — Providence’s trip to this men’s basketball Big East Tournament will last at least two games.
Stefan Vaaks made sure of that by delivering the knockout blow with 1:26 to play late Wednesday afternoon. Butler was out of chances after squandering what felt like a comfortable early lead in the preliminary round at Madison Square Garden.
The Friars wiped out a 16-point deficit and ultimately pulled away while opening the 2026 version of this headlining event. They surged to a 91-81 victory on March 11 that booked a quarterfinal place opposite top seed St. John’s in a noontime tip Thursday.
Vaaks tied a tournament record by sinking his eighth 3-pointer and tallied a career-high 28 points while sparking Providence to the mild upset. The ninth-seeded Friars avenged a loss to the eighth-seeded Bulldogs in their tournament opener last season, one that ended their 2024-25 campaign. Ryan Mela added a career-high 23 points and Jaylin Sellers matched that number for the winners.
“I thought our guys were awesome,” Providence head coach Kim English said.
Providence saw its 10-point lead melt to just 77-75 with 3:24 to play when Sellers steadied the ship with a pullup jumper in the lane. Finley Bizjack missed the front end of a 1-and-1 chance on the ensuing possession and Vaaks faded away on the right wing while knocking down yet another 3-pointer. The Friars held at least a six-point cushion over the final 2:50 and avoided the sort of collapse they’ve endured too often in this 2025-26 season.
“Our guys showed great resolve,” English said. “Great togetherness. Great fight to find a way to win and to live another day.”
Vaaks now shares a place in the tournament record books with former Boston Celtics guard Dana Barros (Boston College, 1989) and Matt Carlino (Marquette, 2015). This was his most productive outing in three games since a return from a bout with the flu and the ninth 20-point game of his freshman season. Vaaks split his scoring and 3-point makes — 14 points, four hits from deep — evenly on either side of halftime.
“I treat every game the same,” Vaaks said. “I guess the rims are good here, I don’t know.”
Providence needed every bit of its resilience in the early going. Butler (16-16) steamed out to a 27-11 lead with 9:55 to play in the first half and looked unstoppable on offense. Yame Butler’s short floater in the lane had the Friars requiring a run, and they ultimately got going after the Bulldogs went the next 4:53 without a field goal.
“We just had to get our defense to be better,” English said. “I think 14 of their first 16 points were right at the rim.”
Vaaks connected twice from deep and Mela raced the length of the court for a two-hand slam after a steal by Sellers. Mela eventually pulled Providence (15-17) into its second tie by banking home a twisting shot off the left wing and sinking the following free throw. It was a 38-38 game with 1:39 left in the first half, and the Friars faced just a 42-40 deficit into the locker room.
“We just had to calm down and get into the game,” Sellers said. “I felt like we wanted to win so bad. Some shots didn’t go in and we didn’t get back in transition.”
It’s the first time Providence has received at least 20 points from three different players in a conference tournament game. The Friars also set a new program record at this event with 14 makes from 3-point range, surpassing the 12 they totaled in a win over Georgetown in 2023-24.
Ben Bentil was the last of four Providence players to connect on as many as five 3-pointers in this field, doing so in 2016 during a 74-60 victory over Butler.
PROVIDENCE (91): Jamier Jones 4-7 2-4 10, Oswin Erhunmwunse 2-2 0-0 4, Jaylin Sellers 8-22 4-6 23, Stefan Vaaks 9-16 2-2 28, Ryan Mela 10-14 1-1 23, Cole Hargrove 0-0 0-0 0, Corey Floyd Jr. 0-2 0-0 0, Nilavan Daniels 1-1 0-0 3, Peteris Pinnis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 34-65 9-13 91.
BUTLER (81): Michael Ajayi 7-17 7-8 21, Drayton Jones 4-4 1-1 9, Efeosa Eliogu-Elabor 5-9 0-0 10, Jamie Kaiser Jr. 1-5 2-2 5, Finley Bizjack 5-15 4-6 17, Evan Haywood 2-6 0-0 5, Yohan Traore 3-6 2-4 8, Yame Butler 2-2 0-0 4, Jackson Keith 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 30-65 16-21 81.
Halftime — B, 42-40. 3-point FG — P 14-27 (Jones 0-1, Sellers 3-7, Vaaks 8-13, Mela 2-4, Floyd 0-1, Daniels 1-1), B 5-17 (Ajayi 0-2, Kaiser 1-3, Bizjack 3-7, Haywood 1-4, Traore 0-1). Rebounds — P 37 (Mela 9), B 33 (Ajayi 11). Assists — P 21 (Mela 5), B 16 (Bizjack 5). Turnovers — P 9 (Jones 2, Mela 2, Hargrove 2), B 8 (Ajayi 2, Jones 2, Bizjack 2, Butler 2). Blocked shots — P 3 (Jones 1, Erhunmwunse 1, Mela 1), B 2 (Oliogu-Elabor 2). Steals — P 5 (Sellers 3), B 4 (Haywood 2).
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence basketball beats Butler 91-81 in Big East Tournament