Pirates Come Close in Classic BIG EAST Semifinal

Friday, March 10

New York, N.Y. (MSG)

6:30 p.m.

Seton Hall University

21-11

Villanova

30-3

Seton Hall

Villanova

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[8] Arkansas

L, 71-77

Mar 17 (Fri)

1:30 p.m.

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Team Stats

SHU

FG%

.407

.417

3FG%

.333

.263

FT%

.444

.588

STL

3/10/2017 10:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

NEW YORK – The Seton Hall men's basketball team led top-seed and No. 2 ranked Villanova for more than 34 minutes and went punch for punch with the Wildcats, but Josh Hart's three-point play with 9.6 seconds remaining in the game was the difference as Villanova defeated the Pirates, 55-53, in a classic BIG EAST Tournament semifinals match Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

Junior Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Pirates (21-11) with 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Junior Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and freshman Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) scored eight points each, and junior Angel Delgado (Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic) totaled eight points and eight boards. In 27 minutes off the bench, junior Ismael Sanogo (Newark, N.J.) totaled four points, eight rebounds and three steals.

For Villanova (30-3), Hart totaled a game-best 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Turning Point

The Pirates played excellent defense in the first half and got out to an 8-3 lead at the 15:32 mark after forcing Villanova to connect on just one of its first seven field goal attempts.

SHU later took advantage of another Wildcats scoring drought, and rattled off 11 points in a row, transforming a 14-14 tie with 8:21 to go, into a 27-14 advantage following a Powell trey with 3:40 remaining before the break.

Villanova trailed 27-20 at halftime, and drained a three-pointer on the opening possession of the second half. However, Seton Hall answered every Villanova attempt to take the lead until the Wildcats went up 41-40 on a Hart dunk following a SHU turnover at the 9:20 mark.

Senior Madison Jones (Raleigh, N.C.) knotted the score after making one of two free throws and Carrington nailed a three to put The Hall up 44-41 with 7:46 remaining.

The teams went back-and-forth down the stretch, traded the lead four times and tied the game on three occasions over the final four minutes.

Jones, Powell and Delgado all scored to either tie or put the Pirates ahead by two on consecutive possessions from 3:32 to 2:42. With SHU down two, Carrington converted a layup plus the foul and gave the Pirates a 53-52 lead with 1:43 remaining.

The Wildcats gained possession down one with 20 seconds on the clock. Kris Jenkins missed a three-point attempt, but Hart connected on a put-back layup and was fouled in the process. He hit the free throw to put Villanova ahead 55-53 with nine seconds left.

The Pirates had a chance to tie or take the lead on the final possession but could not connect on a last-second layup to force overtime.

Inside the Numbers

Seton Hall shot 40.7 percent (22-for-54) for the game, an even 11-for-27 in each half. The Pirates defense held Villanova to 41.7 percent overall (20-for-48), but it was a tale of two halves; the Wildcats were just 26.9 percent from the field in the first half and 59.1 percent in the second half.
The Pirates out-rebounded the Wildcats, 38-31, and used 14 offensive rebounds to generate 16 second chance points.
Seton Hall also did better in the paint, outscoring Villanova down low, 32-16.
Rodriguez led all Seton Hall scorers with 14 points, and he grabbed eight rebounds.
Delgado finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds, snapping his 13-game consecutive double-double streak. He still has 24 double-doubles in the last 26 games, and has 26 on the season.
Sanogo had a strong defensive game with eight rebounds and three steals.

News & Notes

This was Seton Hall's 10th appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals, and the Pirates are now 3-7 in semifinal games. The Pirates have been semifinalists in three of the last four years under head coach Kevin Willard. This was also the sixth time these two teams have battled in the tournament, and the series is now even 3-3.
Seton Hall's BIG EAST Tournament winning streak was snapped at four games. A win would have matched the program's longest tournament winning streak of five, set across the 1993 and 1994 tournaments.
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, this was only the second loss for Seton Hall when leading by seven points or more at any juncture of the contest. The team is 44-2 in that situation.

Up Next
The Seton Hall Pirates have 21 wins, 10 in the BIG EAST, have four top-50 RPI wins and have beaten three nationally ranked teams. They will await their NCAA Tournament draw, which will come during the selection show, live on CBS Sunday at 5:30 p.m.