It felt like a heavyweight fight gone wrong Friday night at the Garden. 

One of the fighters landed a big punch, and then another one, and another one. The opponent never responded. 

Only, instead of the fight being called, as it would be if it were boxing, it dragged on though it had been all but decided a few minutes into the second half. 

Fourth-seeded Creighton rode a stunning 31-2 run to an unexpectedly dominant 85-58 victory over top-seeded Providence to reach its second straight Big East Tournament final and improve to 4-0 in the league’s semifinals. 

Picked to finish ninth in the Big East, the young Bluejays (22-10) far surpassed expectations during the regular season, entering the conference tournament as a projected NCAA Tournament team. They got there despite losing Big East Freshman of the Year Ryan Nembhard to a broken right wrist in a win over St. John’s on Feb. 23. The injury hasn’t derailed their season. Creighton, which moved fellow freshman Trey Alexander into Nembhard’s spot, is 3-2 since, having defeated Connecticut, Marquette and Providence, which suffered just its fifth loss in 29 games. 

“These young guys just haven’t wavered,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott, who starts two freshmen and a sophomore. “Maybe it’s because they don’t know any better. They don’t know the stage that they’re on. But they don’t really care.” 

The game turned late in the first half, when Creighton suddenly caught fire, scoring 17 of the final 19 points of the stanza to take a 15-point lead into the break. The Bluejays then scored the first 14 points of the second half, making this a laugher. 

Providence (25-5) didn’t have an answer for Creighton at either end of the floor in absorbing the largest margin of defeat in Big East Tournament history for a No. 1 seed. Its first two possessions of the second half resulted in shot clock violations and it missed its first nine shots. 

Creighton’s star forward, Ryan Hawkins, scored just eight points on 4-of-11 shooting, but the Bluejays cruised, as their four other starters — Arthur Kaluma, Alex O’Connor, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Alexander — all finished in double figures. The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner owned the paint, producing 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks while limiting Providence star big man Nate Watson to an impact-less five points. 

“He impacted the game in every way in front of the rim,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “I think we went two days without a basket. And I think he was a big reason why.”