Seton Hall University
22-8, 12-6
DePaul
9-21, 3-15
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Whitehead's Career Day Leads Hall Past DePaul in Finale
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BIG EAST Tournament Bracket
ROSEMONT, ILL. - Call it an exclamation point on what has been a torrid six weeks for Isaiah Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and the Seton Hall Pirates as the sophomore dazzled in delivering a career-high 33 points to go with five rebounds and five assists as The Hall closed the regular season with an 80-66 win at DePaul Saturday.
The Pirates (22-8, 12-6 BIG EAST) will head into the BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 3 seed for the first time ever after winning nine of their final 11 regular season games. Seton Hall will open the tournament against sixth-seeded Creighton in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, March 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m.
Whitehead's career day came on the heels of what was then a career-high 27-point effort at Butler on Wednesday and the Brooklyn native closed the year by leading the team in scoring in eight of 11 contests.
Fellow Brooklyn product Khadeen Carrington finished with 17 points and four assists while classmate Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) joined the backcourt duo in double figures with 11 points.
Ismael Sanogo (Newark, N.J.) added six points and nine rebounds while Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) hauled in a game-high 10 boards and chipped in five points as the all-sophomore starting five accounted for 72 of the team's 80 points.
Billy Garrett Jr. scored a team-high 18 points for DePaul (9-21, 3-15 BIG EAST) who will enter the conference tournament as the No. 9 seed.
Turning Point
The Pirates were coming off a narrow loss at Butler in which they never led and as they did against No. 5 Xavier on Sunday, The Hall jumped out to an early advantage with seven of the first nine points in the game.
DePaul responded with a quick 5-0 spurt to pull level but a steal from Rodriguez and an uncontested flush by Carrington ignited a 11-2 run that put SHU on top for good.
Rashaun Stimage opened the second half with a layup that pulled the Blue demons to within two at 36-34, but Whitehead and Carrington connected on consecutive possessions to put the Pirates back up seven and keep DPU moving uphill.
Whitehead and Carrington combined to deliver the decisive blow after the Blue Demons again closed to within one possession at 52-49 near the midway point of the second half, scoring all 16 points during a 16-4 stretch that sealed the victory.
Inside the Numbers
- Whitehead knocked down 6-of-10 3-pointers and needed just 15 shots to deliver a career-high 33 points, surpassing the 27 he scored against Butler just three days ago in Indianapolis. It's the 13th time he's scored at least 20 points in a game, 10 of them coming in BIG EAST play and six of them coming in the last seven games.
- In the final 11 games of the regular season, Whitehead averaged 22.1 points, 5.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while connecting on 41-of-81 (.506) attempts from beyond the arc. The star sophomore entered the day ranked among the top-three in the BIG EAST in scoring, assists, blocks and 3-point field goals per game during conference play.
- Carrington made his way into the double-digit scoring column for the 25th time this season. One of the top-15 scorers in the conference entering the finale, he closes the regular season at 14.1 ppg against BIG EAST opponents
- Rodriguez continued a stretch in which he has reached double figures in seven straight games, pushing his total to 20 times this season.
- Delgado posted double-digit rebounds for the 19th time this season and the 34th in his career.
- The Pirates reached the 80-point mark for the seventh time this season and remain unbeaten in those games. SHU also improved to 18-0 when leading at halftime this season and is a perfect 22-0 when building a lead as large as seven points in a game this year
News & Notes
- Seton Hall set a program record by winning its sixth BIG EAST road game of the season. SHU previously won five BIG EAST road contests in four different seasons, most recently 1999-00, all of which led to NCAA Tournament berths
- The Pirates were already assured third-place finish in the BIG EAST, the program's highest finish in the standings since tying for third with a 10-6 record during the 2002-03 season. The last time The Hall finished third or higher outright was the 1992-93 season when the Pirates won the regular season championship with a 14-4 record.
- The Hall ended a two-game slide at DePaul and finish with their first two-game sweep of the Blue Demons in program history. In all, the Pirates swept five different BIG EAST teams this season
Up Next
The Pirates will head to the World's Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, next week to begin their quest for the third BIG EAST Tournament title in program history. Competition begins on Wednesday March 9 but as the No. 3 seed, The Hall has clinched a spot in the quarterfinal round and will take on sixth-seeded Creighton in the final game of the night session on Thursday, March 10 - with tip-off set for 9:30 p.m.
The Pirates and Bluejays split the regular season series with SHU claiming the most recent meeting, 75-65, in Omaha on January 30.
All games leading up to the championship can be seen on FS1. The final will tip-off on Saturday, March 12 at 5:30 p.m. on FOX.
Get a jump on securing your tickets by purchasing online through Ticketmaster or by calling the Seton Hall Athletic Ticket Office at (973) 275-HALL (4255) in advance of the game .
