No. 19 Pirates Fall at Sold-Out Prudential Center

Saturday, January 20

Newark, N.J.

2:30 p.m.

Seton Hall University

15-5 (4-3BE)

Xavier

18-2 (6-2BE)

Xavier

Seton Hall

1/20/2018 4:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score HOME BOX (PDF)

NEWARK, N.J. – Senior Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 14 points, five assists and four rebounds and teammate Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) scored 19 points, but the No. 19 Seton Hall men's basketball team fell on Saturday to No. 11 Xavier, 73-64, before a sellout crowd at the Prudential Center.

The defeat was Seton Hall's first home loss of the season, snapping a 13-game winning streak that started last season. This includes an 11-0 start to the home schedule.

Senior Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) narrowly missed a double-double, but still scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds. He now needs just two more rebounds to become the BIG EAST Conference's all-time leader.

Senior Ismael Sanogo (Newark, N.J.) had a strong all-around game for The Hall with eight points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Turning Point:
Thanks to an early run, Seton Hall led for most of the first half. Xavier cut into the Pirate lead, 28-25, but Carrington responded with five straight points, first a jumper from the free-throw line, and then a three-pointer on the next possession, to boost The Hall's lead back to eight points, 33-25, with 1:38 left in the first half. Ultimately, the Pirates took a 35-30 lead into the locker room.

Out of the break, the Pirates extended their led to a game-high 10 points, 42-32, only two minutes into the second half. Xavier however, rallied and used an 11-2 run to take a 52-51 lead with 8:22 left to play.

Not to be outdone, the Pirates responded with a small run of their own. After the Musketeers took their first lead in over 29:00, sophomore Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) connected on a pair of free-throws to give the lead back to the Pirates, and layups by Rodriguez and Delgado put The Hall back front, 57-52, with 6:44 to go. Xavier however, scored the next six points, and a three-pointer by Trevon Bluiett put the Musketeers on top, 58-57.

Carrington cut through the Xavier defense for a layup to put The Hall back on top, but Xavier's strong long-distance shooting struck again, and a three-pointer by Kaiser Gates put them in front for good, 61-59, with 4:24 left.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall and Xavier were almost identical shooting from the field. The Pirates fired at a 42.6% (26-for-61), while the Musketeers finished at 43.1% (25-for-58). The biggest difference was from three-point range where Xavier was 9-for-24 (.37.5%), while The Hall was 4-for-20 (20.0%). The Pirates finished with a higher free-throw percentage, 66.7% (8-for-12), than Xavier, 63.6% (14-for-22).
Seton Hall narrowly out-rebounded the Musketeers, 38-to-36. The Pirates had one more offensive rebound, 13-to-12, but Xavier had 21 second chance points compared to 12 for The Hall.
Carrington finished with 14 points to go with five assists, four rebounds and a team-high three steals.
Rodriguez led Seton Hall with 19 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the floor. He also pulled down four rebounds.
Delgado scored eight points, and pulled down a game-high 18 rebounds. He also matched his career-high with four blocks. Delgado (700) now only needs two rebounds to become the BIG EAST Conference's all-time leader, a record currently held by Syracuse's Derrick Coleman (1986-90).
Powell scored 11 points on the strength of a pair of three-pointers. He also matched his career-high with five assists.
Sanogo finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two steals, in addition to his usual standout defense.

News & Notes:

The loss drops Seton Hall to 15-5 overall on the season, and 4-3 in BIG EAST Conference games. Today's loss is the Pirates' first of the season at home in 12 games.
Seton Hall falls to 10-7 all-time against Xavier, and is now 6-1 at home against the Musketeers.
With 14 points tonight, Carrington passed former great and current associate head coach Shaheen Holloway into 14th place on Seton Hall's career scoring list with 1,589 points.
The Pirates are now 20-20 all-time when ranked and facing a ranked opponent. They are 8-5 at home in those games. Earlier this year, the No. 23 Pirates defeated No. 25 Creighton at the Prudential Center.
With 19 points tonight, Rodriguez passed former Pirate Kelly Whitney and tied John Allen for 19th place on the Seton Hall career scoring list with 1,466 points.
With seven rebounds tonight, Sanogo surpassed the 500-rebound milestone for his career. He now has 503 career boards.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 28, when it travels to Chicago for a game at DePaul at Wintrust Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m., Eastern. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will deliver the radio broadcast on AM 970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network.