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Seton Hall

St. John’s Stakes Claim to Big East Finale

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NEW YORK  – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s, scored 20 points as top-seeded Johnnies took control in the second half and fended off a late comeback attempt in its 78-68 victory over fourth-seeded Seton Hall on Friday in the Big East tournament semifinals. The 13th-ranked Red Storm (27-6) advanced to Saturday’s title game and will face second-seed UConn.  St John’s advanced to the title game in consecutive seasons for the third time in school history and first time since losing to UConn in 1999 and beating the Huskies in the following season.

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After being swept by the Red Storm in three matchups, the Pirates (21-12) will wait until Sunday’s selection show to find out if they will make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team for the first time since 2022. Seton Hall entered the game with a NET rating of 53 but fell to 1-6 in Quad One games.

Ejiofor finished 8-of-14 shooting after scoring 21 in Thursday’s 13-point win over Providence. He had a pair of dunks along with four layups for his fourth straight 20-point showing and 11th overall.

Reserve Joson Sanon added 15 and hit three 3-pointers as the Red Storm beat Seton Hall for the sixth straight time. Dillon Mitchell added 13 on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with six rebounds and five assists while Bryce Hopkins chipped in 13 and a team-leading seven rebounds.

The Red Storm shot 52.1% from the field and made 24 of 30 free-throw attempts (80%). St. John’s operated mostly inside the paint as it tied a season low by attempting 12 3-pointers.

Budd Clark led the Pirates with 17 points but shot 6 of 18 with 11 assists and also committed four of Seton Hall’s 12 turnovers. Jacob Dar added 13 points while Mike Williams III and Najai Hines contributed 10 apiece for the Pirates, who trailed by 19 twice in the second half and cut the lead to six before St. John’s secured the win.

The Pirates shot 41.5%, misfired on 15 of 20 3-point tries and were unable to reach the championship game for the first time since 2019.

The Red Storm scored the game’s first eight points, with Ejiofor’s baseline dunk prompting a Seton Hall timeout with 17:06 left. Seton Hall hung around and trailed 38-30 by halftime.

The Red Storm took its second 19-point lead when Ruben Prey hit a free throw with 9:56 left.

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Seton Hall attempted a comeback, ripping off seven straight points to get within 55-43 following a layup by Hines with 7:42 left. The Pirates kept rallying and A.J. Staton-McCray hit an open corner 3 with 4:41 left to slice the deficit to 62-56.

Ejiofor broke free for a layup on the next possession and St. John’s sank five free throws over the next two minutes to extend the lead to 69-56 before finishing it off.

– By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

Big East: The Hall vs. St. John’s

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – St. John’s began defense of its first Big East tournament title since 2000 by securing five offensive rebounds. The hustle set the tone for a comfortable win over Providence on Thursday and possibly foreshadowed another physical encounter with Seton Hall. After easily advancing, the top-seeded and 13th-ranked Red Storm will face fourth-seeded Seton Hall in the first semifinal on Friday.

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The Red Storm (26-6) never trailed in an 85-72 victory over the Friars, and they are in the semifinals for the third straight season. St. John’s dominated the glass by a 51-30 margin with an effort that featured in 18 offensive rebounds and 21 more shot attempts than Providence managed.

“We played awesome defense tonight, especially the first half was as good as we played all year,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said after a game in which his team scored the first nine points and led by 21 at halftime.

Zuby Ejiofor, the Big East player of the Year and defensive player of the year, finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. He became the first player in the history of the tournament to achieve those numbers in the same game.

St. John’s endured two tough regular-season challenges from the Pirates. The Red Storm rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half for a 65-60 home win over Seton Hall on Jan. 20, then earned a 72-65 win in the rematch at Newark, N.J., on March 6.

Ejiofor scored 21 points in the most recent meeting after getting held to nine in the first encounter, when the Red Storm shot 35.6%.

“It’s not easy winning on the road against one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Pitino said after last week’s game. “My message to the guys, ‘When you play a team like Seton Hall, your defense has to be every bit as good as their defense in order to win.’”

Seton Hall (21-11) was swept in two games each by St. John’s and second-seeded UConn by a combined 21 points in the regular season. The Pirates are in the semifinals for the first time since 2021 after earning a 72-61 victory over fifth-seeded Creighton on Thursday.

“Obviously, we just played them not too long ago,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said of the Red Storm. “You got to get back, watch a little bit of film and come up with a game plan. They’re a very good team, obviously very well-coached, great players, but our guys played well throughout both games. We’re going to do what Seton Hall do. We’re going to defend, play hard, and what happens from there, happens from there.”

Holloway used 10 players vs. the Bluejays and got a big lift from Jacob Dar. The senior reserve scored all of his season-high 16 points in the second half after entering the game averaging 2.4 points.

Dar scored three points in 19 minutes during the two meetings with St. John’s. His timely contribution on Thursday helped support a steady showing from Adam “Budd” Clark, who collected 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Clark experienced mixed results in the two meetings with the Red Storm. He scored three points and shot 0-for-7 in the first game, then led the Pirates with 15 points in the March 6 game.

“We’re in the semifinals,” Clark said. “That’s what we came here to the Big East for.”

The Pirates relied on Dar to support Clark vs. Creighton because AJ Staton-McCray (12.0 ppg) shot 2-for-9 for eight points after shooting 4-for-17 for 11 points last week against the Red Storm.

– By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

 

BIG EAST Preview: Can Hall Play-In?

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Seton Hall can see the big picture.

The Pirates are not on the NCAA Tournament bubble, not with a NET of 55 and just one Quad 1 victory. To go dancing, they will need to run the table at the Big East tournament as the fourth seed, starting with Thursday’s quarterfinal game in New York against fifth-seeded Creighton.

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Seton Hall (20-11) rode a bumpy finish after racing out to a 14-2 start to the season. It was still impressive for a team picked last in the coaches’ preseason poll, and the Pirates’ Shaheen Holloway was named Big East Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

Two close losses to Big East champion St. John’s and two more to second-place UConn weren’t enough to put some shine on the Pirates’ resume. Seton Hall lost 72-65 at home to St. John’s in the regular-season finale Friday.

“I thought with this team, it’s shown that we can play with anyone, right? We just gotta finish games out or do the little things,” Holloway said. “But yeah, this team is funny because this team don’t like doing things easy. They like doing things the hard way, so now they gotta go to New York and earn it, and take it.”

Seton Hall and Creighton (15-16) played a pair of thrillers in the regular season.

On Jan. 4, Seton Hall stormed back from a 16-point deficit and won 56-54 at home on Najai Hines’ last-second putback. The Bluejays got their revenge Feb. 7 in Omaha, when the Pirates blew a 63-53 lead in the final four minutes and Nik Graves hit a 30-footer with 3 seconds left for a 69-68 win.

“They try to disrupt you with their physicality and their full-court pressure,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said of Seton Hall, “and we handled all that really well at their place but weren’t able to get the win. We turned it over and gave up some offensive rebounds (at home) and found a way to win that game.

“Both games were really decided in close fashion, so I would expect something very similar.”

Creighton hasn’t played since March 4, a 76-59 win at Butler. The Bluejays, barring a championship run in New York, are destined to miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. There’s also gossip that McDermott could retire at the end of the season.

Creighton was led this year by Josh Dix (12.7 points per game) and Austin Swartz (10.9 ppg, four 20-point games in conference). Adam “Budd” Clark paced Seton Hall with 12.4 points, 4.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

–Field Level Media

BIG EAST: Can Dixon Lead ‘Nova to Victory

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NEW YORK – Villanova’s Eric Dixon is the nation’s top scorer and the Big East’s top 3-point shooter.

Despite Dixon’s individual success, the sixth-seeded Wildcats are barely on the NCAA Tournament bubble heading into Wednesday night’s Big East tournament opener against 11th-seeded Seton Hall.

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If they can beat Seton Hall, a matchup with UConn awaits the Wildcats (18-13), who enter their third conference tournament under coach Kyle Neptune. Villanova enters Wednesday with an NET rating of 53, one behind 19-12 Indiana and three behind 17-14 Cincinnati.

Villanova has wins over St. John’s, Marquette and UConn along with two losses by a combined nine points against Creighton. The Wildcats were trending in the right direction with three straight wins before blowing a nine-point lead in the final 3:43 of a 75-73 loss at Georgetown in the March 4 regular-season finale.

Dixon scored 24 points against the Hoyas and Jordan Longino added 17 but the Wildcats allowed the winning layup with five seconds left.

“We’re looking ahead, looking at whoever our next matchup is,” Longino said. “Hopefully, we’re going to crumble this one up and throw it away after we watch film and regroup.”

Seton Hall (7-24) took a five-point home loss to Villanova two weeks ago and ended the regular season of the second 20-loss season in school history on a six-game losing streak. Of the Pirates’ 18 conference losses, 11 were by double digits and they were held to 60 points or fewer 16 times.

“Obviously, they got a mismatch with Dixon,” coach Shaheen Holloway said of the fifth-year Villanova senior who scored 57 points against the Pirates in two games. “He causes problems for everybody. There’s a reason why he’s the No. 1 scorer in Division I.”

The Pirates ended their trying regular season with an 81-50 loss at UConn on Saturday when they shot 35.3 percent. It was the 17th time they shot under 40 percent this season.

Seton Hall is led by Isaiah Coleman’s 15.3 points. No. 2 scorer Chaunce Jenkins missed the final 13 games after sustaining a knee injury Jan. 18 against St. John’s. Coleman scored 10 points Saturday and scored at least 20 in 10 games, including 22 in the first meeting with Villanova on Dec. 17.

Dixon averages 23.6 points per game.

–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

Big East: Seton Hall, Xavier Cruise

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NEWARK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Seton Hall and Xavier gained homecourt victories in rivalry games on Tuesday. The Pirates took control late in the first and went on to post an 80-65 win. Xavier overcame Butler’s second-half rally to register an 85-71 victory.

At Prudential Center, Seton Hall and St. John’s were tied 24-24 with 4:33 left in the first half. The Pirates (13-5, 6-1 BIG EAST) scored the game’s next 28 points – 14 in the first half and the first 14 in the second half. Five Pirates reached double figures. Al-Amir Dawes scored a game-high 21 points. Dylan Addae-Wusu added 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. St. John’s (12-6, 4-3) competed without coach Rick Pitino, who missed the game due to illness. Daniss Jenkins led the Red Storm with 17 points.

At Cintas Center, after Butler had erased a 19-point deficit with the help of a 20-3 run, Xavier used a late spurt of its own to pick up an 85-71 victory. The Musketeers (9-8, 3-3) were led by Desmond Claude, who netted a career-high 26 points.  Dayvion McKnight added 20 points. Butler (11-7, 2-5) got 22 points from Pierre Brooks and a season-high 21 from Posh Alexander.

Like Tuesday, Wednesday’s two-game schedule is a doubleheader on FS1. Connecticut, newly-anointed No. 1 in this week’s AP poll, hosts No. 18 Creighton at Gampel Pavilion at 7 p.m. ET. The Bluejays (13-4, 4-2) have won six of the seven meetings since the Huskies (13-4, 4-2) rejoined the BIG EAST with UConn’s only win coming in last year’s contest 69-60 at Gampel.

Providence visits DePaul at 9 p.m. Both teams are aiming to end four-game losing streaks. Devin Carter has been on a hot scoring run and leads the Friars (11-6, 2-4). In BIG EAST games, he ranks first in scoring with a 21.7 average. DePaul’s top scorer in league play is forward Da’Sean Nelson, who sports a 16.2 scoring mark.

Big East: Bryce Hopkins Hurt

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PROVIDENCE – (Report from Official News Release) – Only 16 games into the 110-game BIG EAST league schedule and just one team remains unbeaten after two drama-filled contests on Wednesday. Seton Hall won at Providence 61-57 and Villanova edged Xavier 66-65.

Seton Hall got scoring support from Dre Davis, who notched a team-high 17 points. Kadary Richmond contributed 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Pirates (9-5, 2-1 BIG EAST) shot slightly better than Providence (11-3, 2-1) from beyond the arc. The Hall was 7-of-16 and PC was 4-of-17. Josh Oduro netted a game-high 23 points for PC. Bryce Hopkins suffered a leg injury five minutes into the second half and did not return. The Friar defense was also strong, holding the Pirates to 36.2 shooting from the floor. Both of Seton Hall’s league wins have come against ranked opponents (UConn).

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Villanova had a 10-point lead midway through the second half, then held off a Xavier comeback bid. The Wildcats (10-4, 3-0) got 26 points from Hakim Hart (14) and Brendan Hausen (12) off the bench. Eric Dixon helped with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Musketeers (7-7, 1-2) were led by Quincy Olivari’s 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Xavier was 10-of-10 from the line, but only 5-of-18 from 3-point range.

The next BIG EAST action is Friday when fourth-ranked UConn visits Butler at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The Huskies (12-2, 2-1) lead the league in scoring offense (83.1), scoring margin (+19.5) and are the only BIG EAST team shooting better than 50 percent from the field (50.2). The Bulldogs (10-4, 1-2) are third nationally (12.9) in fewest fouls committed and 20th in free throw shooting (77.2).

Seton Hall Crushes Albany

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NEWARK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Both games involving BIG EAST Teams on Wednesday were played in New Jersey with Seton Hall cruising past Albany 96-71 in Newark and Georgetown losing to Rutgers 71-60 in a Gavitt Tipoff Games battle in Piscataway.

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The 96-points are the most by a Pirate team in four seasons. Seton Hall (3-0) gained a 54-39 lead at halftime by shooting 70 percent from the field. The Pirates finished with eight players scoring between 15 and nine points. Al-Amir Dawes netted 15 points in only 20 minutes of playing time. Kadary Richmond chipped in 13 points.

Down the New Jersey Turnpike at Rutgers, Georgetown was undone by 21 turnovers. The Hoyas (1-2) trailed 38-32 at the break when the home team opened the second half with a 16-4 spurt. The Scarlet Knights maintained a double-digit edge for the remainder of the contest. Hoya guard Jayden Epps scored a game-high 16 points and backcourt teammate Dontrez Styles added 15.

A light Thursday schedule shows only one game. At 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU, St. John’s meets North Texas in the Charleston Classic.

Most BIG EAST teams are headed to tournaments this weekend. The Gavitt Tipoff Games conclude Friday with Butler playing at Michigan State at 6:30 p.m. followed by Maryland at Villanova at 8:30 p.m. FS1 will televise both games.

 

Seton Hall Endures; Defeats Hoyas

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release0 – On a night that saw the BIG EAST Tournament feel like old times, packed house of 17,163 and three gripping games with outstanding individual performances and renewed rivalries.

Georgetown travelled to the Garden knowing their last victory against a Big East opponent came in last year’s BIG EAST Tournament title game, a mere 362 days ago. During the season, the Hoyas held a halftime lead against a conference foe in just three games and never by more than three points. And last night’s three-point lead over Seton Hall was its first at the half since Feb.9 against DePaul.

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The Pirates came into the BIG EAST Tournament as the conference’s hottest team, winning their final five straight and eight of their last 10. They had just logged their sixth 20-win season in the past seven years and the Pirates kind of had the Hoyas number of late, having won 12 of the last 16 against Georgetown.

So it should have been little more than a walk in the park for the Pirates, no?

Um, no. And the Pirates should have known as much as they had just played the Hoyas a week ago and needed to rally late to take down Georgetown in a five-point win on The Hall’s Senior Night. So it should have come as no surprise that the third tilt of the season between the Pirates and Hoyas would once again go down to the wire as it did. But the Pirates used an 11-3 run over the final 4:38 to rally from a four-point deficit and pull out a hard-fought 57-53 victory.

The Pirates (21-9) move on to face No. 3 seed UConn in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Pirates and Huskies split the season series with Seton Hall winning, 90-87, in overtime on Jan. 8 before UConn evened the score with a 70-65 win on Feb. 16.

A three-pointer by Jamir Harris with 40.3 seconds to play gave the Pirates the lead for good at 55-53. But the Hoyas were not about to go quietly. With 27 seconds to play, Georgetown’s Collin Holloway had a wide open look on a three-pointer from the corner, but his shot clanged off the rim and right to teammate Donald Carey. But Carey’s attempt at a putback to tie the game was squashed when The Hall’s Ike Obiagu blocked his seventh shot of the game.

But after Seton Hall’s Alexis Yetna misfired on a free throw with 20.2 seconds to play, Georgetown had one more opportunity to either tie or win the game in the final seconds. But Carey made an errant pass to Kaiden Rice with six seconds to play and Jared Rhoden sank two free throws with two seconds left to ice the win for the Pirates.

Rhoden finished with 17 points to lead the Pirates while Myles Cale added 14. Freshman Aminu Mohammed was tops for the Hoyas with 12.

Afterwards, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard credited his team’s poise with helping to pull out the victory over a feisty bunch of Hoyas.

“What’s great about this group is that they never get rattled,” Willard said. “We got down four and they understood what we had to do and it’s nice having that veteran presence.”

That’s six straight wins for the Pirates who now turn their attention to the third-seeded Huskies, who will be coming at The Hall with BIG EAST All-First Teamers R.J. Cole and Adama Sanogo. The Huskies have also won six of their last seven coming into the tournament.

“The biggest thing is we rebounded in the second half and in the first half they really kicked our butts on the boards,” Willard said. “So going against a very physical UConn team, we’re going to have to rebound the basketball.”

Seton Hall Takes St. John’s at MSG

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Seton Hall, Villanova and Creighton all used strong second-half performances en route to Saturday victories.

Georgetown, in search of its first BIG EAST win, led No. 11 Villanova 47-39 early in the second half before the Wildcats recovered to take an 85-74 victory at Capital One Arena. The Wildcats (14-5, 7-2 BIG EAST) got 55 points from the trio of Collin Gillespie (28 points), Justin Moore (19) and Jermaine Samuels (18). Gilliespie made 6-of-9 from 3-point range. The Hoyas (6-10, 0-5) were led by Collin Holloway’s career-high 27 points. He made 9-of-10 from the field.

Seton Hall put the defensive clamps on St. John’s and nailed down a 66-60 victory at Madison Square Garden. The Pirates (12-5, 3-4 BE) held the Johnnies (10-7, 2-4 BE) to a season-low 29.3 shooting from the floor. Pirate Myles Cale, who led the defensive effort, also shined offensively with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Alexis Yetna contributed 16 points and 15 rebounds. Aaron Wheeler led St. John’s with 13 points and seven rebounds. Seton Hall earned a 60-43 edge on the glass.

DePaul led Creighton by 11 in the first minute of the second half before the Bluejays went on a tear that ended with a 60-47 victory at CHI Health Center. The Bluejays (12-5, 4-2 BE) outscored the Blue Demons (10-8, 1-7 BE) 37-15 after the break. CU’s Ryan Kalkbrenner notched 18 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots. Freshman Trey Alexander added 12 points, seven boards and three steals. DePaul’s Jalen Terry had 12 rebounds and six rebounds. Creighton has defeated DePaul 15 straight times.

Sunday’s schedule shows two games, both on FS1. Butler visits Providence at noon ET. Eight of Butler’s nine losses (9-9 overall) have been against teams ranked in the top 30 of the NCAA NET metric. The first-place Friars (5-1 in the league standings) have never started 6-1. At 2 p.m., Marquette hosts No. 20 Xavier. The Musketeers won the first meeting between the two teams 80-71 on Dec. 18. The Golden Eagles are on a five-game winning streak.

Big East: DePaul Defeats Seton Hall

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CHICAGO – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – DePaul recorded its first BIG EAST win of the season on Thursday, while Butler nailed a win at Georgetown to start a three-game road trip.

The Blue Demons got a scare in the final minute, but never trailed in a 96-92 win against the 20th-ranked Pirates. Transfer Jalen Terry, in only his third start, scored a career-high 28 points. David Jones added 24 points and eight rebounds. Javon Freeman-Liberty scored 12 points before leaving with an injury in the second half.

Jared Rhoden led Seton Hall (11-4, 2-3 BE) with 25 points and seven rebounds. Bryce Aiken added 22 points. The Pirates trailed by 11 points with one minute to play before cutting the deficit to two in the final seconds.

Butler used an 18-4 run to start the second half en route to a 72-58 victory at Georgetown. The Bulldogs (9-6, 2-2 BE) were led by Jair Bolden’s 23 points. Bryce Nze helped with 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Butler plays Villanova at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.

The Hoyas (6-7, 0-2 BE), who were led by Tyler Beard’s 15 points and five assists, were without regulars Donald Carey and Dante Harris along with coach Patrick Ewing.

Both games on Saturday tip at noon ET. FOX will telecast Creighton at No. 17 Xavier. Both teams lost to Villanova in their last games. The Bluejays (10-4, 2-1 BE) lost 75-41 on the road on Jan. 5. The Musketeers (12-3, 2-2 BE) dropped a 64-60 home decision on Wednesday. Both teams feature balanced scoring attacks with four players averaging in double figures.

Seton Hall will look to bounce back when it plays at Marquette on FS1. The Golden Eagles (11-6, 3-3 BE) have won three in a row after Tuesday’s 87-76 win against DePaul. Seton Hall has taken the last six meetings between the two teams.