Seton Hall University
20-9,11-8Big East
Creighton
20-10,12-7Big East
Pirates Rally For Fifth Straight Win, Knock Off Creighton, 65-60
3/5/2022 4:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Seton Hall is now 20-9 overall and 11-8 in the BIG EAST, heading into next week's BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Despite losing starting point guard Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) for the second half, the Pirates saw inspired play from graduate student Jamir Harris (North Brunswick, N.J.) who scored 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range in 35 minutes while being the primary ball handler. Graduate student Alexis Yetna (Paris, France) posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and junior Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) chipped in with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and five rebounds.
On his birthday, graduate student Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) played his trademark stellard defense, racking up five steals and hitting a critical bucket late in the second half.
How It Happened
After going back and forth early, Creighton jumped out to a 26-15 lead with 8:21 to play in the first half after Seton Hall had called a timeout.Â
Seton Hall would go on to close the half on a 12-2 run over the final 6:14 and held Creighton to just one field goal in that span. Five of those points were scored by Harris, including a pull-up trey that cut Seton Hall's deficit to two, 28-26, with 3:36 to play in the half. AÂ second-chance layup by Yetna tied the score at 28-28 and two possessions later, after Creighton answered to retake the lead, Cale found an open Samuel who took one dribble and calmly drained the three-point try with 17 seconds that the Pirates a 31-30 lead heading into halftime.
With 9:47 to play in the game, the Bluejays took a 53-49 lead following two made free throws. The Pirates responded with back-to-back treys by Harris and Yetna that flipped the script and gave The Hall a 55-53 advantage. Rhoden then went into takeover mode, hitting consecutive midrange pull-up jumpers that extended the Pirates' lead six, 59-53, with 4:15 to go.
Creighton put forth two responses with under three minutes to play but Seton Hall countered both times. Graduate student Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) hit a mid-range jumper that quieted the road crowd and with the Pirates holding onto a one-point lead, a driving layup made by Rhoden with 59 seconds left made it 63-60.
The Pirates' defense buckled down and came up with a turnover and a final defensive stand. The latter stop led to Samuel being fouled and making both free throws in a one-and-one that sealed the victory.
Inside the Box Score
- Seton Hall shot 42 percent from the field, 41 percent from three (7-of-17) and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line.
- The Pirates held Creighton to 60 points on 39 percent shooting from the field.
- The Pirates finished plus-one on the glass, 37-36, and had 11 offensive rebounds to Creighton's eight.
- Seton Hall's bench scored 32 of its 65 points.
- Four players finished in double-figures for the Pirates.
- Seton Hall tallied 11 steals and scored 12 points off of turnovers.
News & Notes
- Seton Hall has secured its sixth 20-win season over the last seven years, and head coach Kevin Willard now has seven 20-win seasons in his 12 years at the helm of The Hall.
- The Pirates' 11 BIG EAST wins are third-most under Willard, behind the 2019-20 team that won 14 games and the 2015-16 team that won 12 games.
- The Hall finished the BIG EAST regular season with wins in eight of its last 10 games after starting league play 3-6.
- The five straight BIG EAST wins to end the regular season is the program's most since the 1992-93 team won eight in a row to finish 14-4.
- The Pirates have finished no worse than in a tie for fifth place in the BIG EAST standings, which means The Hall has now finished in the top half of the conference seven consecutive seasons.
- At the moment, this was Seton Hall's sixth "Quadrant 1" victory of the season, and the Pirates are now 6-6 against "Quadrant 1" and 10-9 against "Quadrant 1+2" teams.
- The Pirates are now 17-0 this season when holding their opponent under 70 points and 17-1 when leading or tied at halftime.
- Seton Hall now leads the all-time series with Creighton, 16-10, and swept the Bluejays in the regular season for the first time since 2019, which is also the last time that the Pirates won at CHI Health Center Omaha.
- Seton Hall's bench is now outscoring its opponents on the season, 757-397.
- Rhoden surpassed his teammate Cale and John Ramsay (1972-75) for 33rd place all-time in Seton Hall scoring history, and he now has 1,241 points.
- Rhoden also now ranks in the top-20 in Seton Hall history in career rebounds with 655.
- In the final BIG EAST game of his career, Cale has now set the league record for most conference games played with 92.
Up Next
Seton Hall will enter the BIG EAST Tournament red hot, and the Pirates will be either the No. 5 seed and play Thursday at 2:30 p.m., or they will be the No. 6 seed and play Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. The final bracket will be revealed after the remaining games are played on Saturday. Visit SHUPirates.com for up-to-date information.
Tickets to the BIG EAST Tournament are available at Ticketmaster.com.
