PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) _ Erron Maxey scored 16 points, including the last four of the game, as Providence took a 69-66 win over a disheartened Rutgers.

Moments after the game started, Rutgers (11-16, 3-13) officially joined Virginia Tech as the first two teams in Big East history to miss the conference tournament.

Seton Hall clinched the West Division's final berth by defeating Connecticut in a game that ended as Rutgers' game was beginning

Providence (21-8, 11-5), which became the first Friars team to win 11 conference games, had already clinched the East Division's second seed.

With Rutgers holding a 66-63 lead with 2:29 remaining, Karim Shabazz hit a layup before Maxey sandwiched a baseline jumper and dunk around a Rutgers turnover to make it 67-66 with 28.6 seconds left. Rutgers used three timeouts before Todd Billet missed a three-pointer as time ran out.

Billet scored 21 points and his three three-pointers set the school record with 82 this season, breaking Tom Savage's mark of 81 in 1988-89. Karim Shabazz had 15 for Providence, while John Linehan added 13 and Abdull Mills 11.

Providence enjoyed two 12-point leads in the first half and led 43-31 early in the second half before Billet scored 10 points in a 25-11 run that gave Rutgers its first lead, 56-54. Billet's record-setting three-pointer put Rutgers ahead, starting a sequence of six lead changes and two ties before Maxey's jumper gave Providence the lead for good.

Rutgers, which reached the NIT the previous two seasons, finishes with its third losing record in Kevin Bannon's four years as head coach, and its eighth losing season in nine years.