Providence’s Jared Bynum, 4, and Nate Watson, 0, celebrate a three pointer by Noah Horchler in the first half Wednesday at Providence, R.I. Stew Milne/Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Noah Horchler scored 17 points with 13 rebounds, and Nate Watson added 14 points to carry No. 21 Providence to a 70-65 victory over short-handed, 15th-ranked Seton Hall on Wednesday night.

Watson, a 6-foot-10 center, became the 18th player in Providence history to reach 1,500 points.

Playing its first game since a victory over Rutgers on Dec. 12, Seton Hall had only eight players in uniform. Five were in COVID-19 protocols, but only one starter, 7-foot-2 center Ike Obiagu, was out.

Jared Bynum also had 14 points for Providence (12-1, 2-0 Big East), which is off to its best start since opening 2015-16 by winning 14 of its first 15 games.

Alexis Yetna had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Pirates (9-2, 0-1). Bryce Aiken scored 11 points, and Jared Rhoden and Tray Jackson each had 10.

Providence led by nine points at halftime and pushed it to 40-27 on Al Durham’s steal and breakaway jam in the opening minute of the second half.

Seton Hall closed within 57-50 with just under six minutes left on Yetna’s put-back before Providence pushed it back to double digits.

Yetna’s layup cut it to 66-63 with 17.3 seconds left, but Durham hit two free throws.

(3) PURDUE 104, NICHOLLS STATE 90: Zach Edey scored 21 points, Jaden Ivey added 19 and host Purdue (12-1) beat Nicholls State (8-6).

Purdue shot 57.4% and cracked 100 points for the first time this season.

The 7-foot-4 Edey made 7 of 8 shots and 7 of 9 free throws. Ivey was 5 for 9 from the field. Also scoring in double figures for the Boilermakers were Isaiah Thompson (15 points), Sasha Stefanovic (14) and Mason Gillis (10).

Ty Gordon led Nicholls State with 29 points.

(6) KANSAS 88, NEVADA 61: Christian Braun scored 22 points, Ochai Agbaji added 16 and host Kansas (10-1) rolled to a victory over Nevada (6-5) in a hastily scheduled game after both teams had opponents drop out with COVID-19 problems.

The Jayhawks were supposed to play Harvard before an outbreak forced the Crimson to cancel the trip early this week. The Wolf Pack stepped in when their Mountain West opener against San Jose State had to be postponed because of positive tests within the Spartans’ program.

(10) MICHIGAN STATE 81, HIGH POINT 68: Gabe Brown scored a career high 24 points, as short-handed Michigan State (11-2, 2-0 Big Ten) pulled away in the second half to beat visiting High Point (6-7).

The Spartans were without four players, including starters Marcus Bingham Jr. and Max Christie, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.

Joey Hauser had a season-high 17 points and 11 rebounds for Michigan State, and Jaden House had 11 of his 18 points in the first half for High Point.

(11) AUBURN 70, (16) LSU 55: Walker Kessler had 16 points, a career-high 11 blocked shots and nine rebounds to lead Auburn (12-1) over previously unbeaten LSU (12-1) at Auburn, Alabama, in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Freshman Jabari Smith also scored 16 points for Auburn, which has won nine straight and didn’t give up a field goal in the opening 10 minutes.

LSU, which came as one of major college basketball’s five unbeaten teams, scored just one point in the first 10:45 but still managed to pull to within six a couple of times in the second half.

(18) KENTUCKY 83, MISSOURI 56: Keion Brooks Jr. scored 17 points, TyTy Washington Jr. added 14 and host Kentucky (10-2, 1-0)  overcame an uneven second half to roll past Missouri (6-7, 0-1) in the Southeastern Conference opener for both schools.

The Wildcats trailed just once early on against a Tigers squad playing without Coach Cuonzo Martin, who missed the contest with COVID. But Kentucky had to offset 38% percent shooting in the second half and some ragged stretches to pull away from Missouri after consecutive blowouts over North Carolina and Western Kentucky.

IOWA STATE: Georgetown transfer Tre King has joined the Iowa State men’s basketball team and will be eligible to play starting in 2022-23, Coach T.J. Otzelberger announced.

The 6-foot-7 forward spent the past three years at Eastern Kentucky and can play two seasons for the Cyclones. He left Georgetown two months ago, before he played a game for the Hoyas.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

(10) BAYLOR 86, NORTH TEXAS 65: NaLyssa Smith had 28 points and 11 rebounds for her 11th consecutive double-double, and four other players scored in double figures as the host Baylor (10-2) closed out its nonconference schedule by beating North Texas (6-4).

(22) SOUTH FLORIDA 70, JACKSONVILLE 57: Elena Tsineke scored 22 points, Bethy Mununga had 21 points and 12 rebounds and South Florida (10-4) led from the outset in beating Jacksonville (7-4) at Tampa, Florida.

Tsineke scored 16 first-half points when the Bulls built a double-digit first-half lead that it maintained except when the Dolphins got within nine late in the fourth quarter. She finished 8-of-14 shooting, making three 3-pointers. Mununga posted her fourth double-double this season. Maria Alvarez scored 12 points, all off 3-pointers. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu grabbed 11 rebounds to go with eight points.

Taylor Hawks scored 17 points and Asiah Jones 10 to lead the Dolphins.