Men's Basketball Tops DePaul, 79-71

BOX SCORE (.html)

BOX SCORE (.pdf) 

NEWARK, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team earned its fifth straight home win after topping DePaul, 79-71, on Sunday. The Pirates improve to 14-9 overall and 5-7 in BIG EAST play.

Junior Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) led the way with 18 points. Sophomore Jeff Robinson (Trenton, N.J.) had his second straight solid outing, scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 24 minutes of action.

Seton Hall raced out to a 12-1 lead with 15:47 left in the first half, highlighted by six points by Robinson. The Pirates continued to dictate the pace throughout the period and extended the cushion to 31-16 after a three-pointer by Jamel Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 9:05 left in the period.

Will Walker drained a three to cap a 12-2 run to make it 33-28 at the 6:00 mark of the half, but the Hall held the Blue Demons (8-16, 1-11) to just one field goal the rest of the frame and took a 50-35 advantage into the break after a deep trifecta by Hazell beat the horn.

DePaul chipped away at the deficit for much of the second half and pulled within five after a Jeremiah Kelly three-pointer with 10:43 remaining in the second. The Pirates answered with five straight to build the lead back up to 68-56 with 7:24 to go.

Seton Hall kept a comfortable distance from the Blue Demons until the final minute. Michael Bizoukas hit from downtown and Mac Koshwal scored on a put-back, closing the gap, 73-69, with just 20 seconds left.

After trading buckets, sophomore Herb Pope (Aliquippa, Pa.) connected with Hazell on a long inbound pass to seal the victory.

Pope grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and scored eight points. Walker led DePaul with 19 points. Koshwal chipped in 11 points and 10 boards.

Both teams shot well from the floor, with the Pirates hitting at a 49.2 percent clip and the Blue Demons connecting on 43.9 percent.

Seton Hall will travel to St. John's on Wednesday, February 17, at 7:00 p.m.