ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Butler coach Chris Holtmann might be perplexed with how his team has started its last three games.

But there's no complaint about the outcomes as the No. 13 Bulldogs rallied to catch the host Blue Demons late in regulation and claim a 70-69 Big East win in overtime at Allstate Arena.

Butler (17-3, 6-2) trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half against DePaul (8-12, 1-6) but the Bulldogs then outscored the Blue Demons 65-24 over the remaining 37:52.

"We were having trouble making shots," Holtmann said. "We had some wide open 3s that I would take (again). And they (DePaul) did a great job packing the paint. We have good shooters that are just struggling a little big shooting the ball right now."

But Kamar Baldwin connected at just the right time with two free throws with 3.7 seconds left in overtime to help lift the Bulldogs to their sixth win in seven games.

Butler led for only 1:41 in the game and shot an uncharacteristic 35.9 percent (23 of 69) from the field.

Baldwin also had a 3-point field goal in overtime and closed with 18 points. Teammate Kethan Savage scored a team-high 20 points while Kelan Martin added 12.

The victory gave the Bulldogs sole possession of second place in the Big East after Creighton dropped a 102-94 decision in Omaha.

For DePaul, Eli Cain scored a career-high 32 points as the Blue Demons dropped their eighth in nine games. Billy Garrett Jr. had 16 while Tre-Darius McCallum added 15.

"We had no answer for Eli Cain and Billy Garrett was a monster," Holtmann said.

Butler started sluggishly, falling into a double-dig-t deficit for the third straight game,

"I think a lot of it is what coach said about being tougher being right out of the gate," said Savage. "The toughest team sets the rules and and that's something we reiterate over and over. So when we go on the road, we've got to bring that toughest and through the first punch ... and show we're the tougher team."

DePaul jumped to an early 10-2 lead and a 25-5 advantage by the 12:50 mark behind Cain's 14 points.

"One of the things about this group is sometimes we become two different teams," Blue Demons coach Dave Leitao said. "What we did for the better part of 45 minutes today was compete our tails off and give ourselves a chance to win.

"When you play teams of this caliber, you have no choice in this league. You've got to bring energy and be able to execute."

The Bulldogs replied with a 16-1 run over the next 5:20 to trim the deficit to 26-21. Cain broke a nearly seven-minute field goal drought with a layup with 5:06 showing. But Butler closed with six unanswered points to cut DePaul's lead to 33-31 at intermission.

In the second half, Butler went ahead for the first time at 36-35 on Tyler Lewis' 3 pointer. DePaul quickly reclaimed the lead and maintained a five-to-eight-point advantage into the final three minutes.

The Bulldogs took a 58-57 lead on Avery Woodson's 3 pointer with 2:14 left in regulation. Garrett's free throw 26 seconds later forced a 58-58 tie. The teams traded free throws in the waning seconds of regulation.

NOTES: Saturday's game was the 13th in an all-time series that dates to the 1938-39 season. Butler has now won six straight over DePaul. ... Butler was outscored 72-50 in the opening half in its two previous wins, then came back in the second half with a 121-86 advantage. ... The Bulldogs resume Big East play on Wednesday at Seton Hall. ... G Billy Garrett Jr. topped DePaul with a 15.7 point average through six conference games and was 14th among Big East players in all games (14.9 points). ... The Blue Demons face their second straight ranked team when they travel to No. 7 Creighton. They'll also face No. 1 Villanova (Feb. 13) and Butler (Feb. 19).