Hines' Go-Ahead Layup Caps Fervent Comeback Win Over Creighton, 56-54

Sunday, January 4

Newark, N.J.

12:00 p.m.

Seton Hall University

13-2,3-1Big East

Creighton

9-6,3-1Big East

Creighton

Seton Hall

Hines' Go-Ahead Layup Caps Fervent Comeback Win Over Creighton, 56-54

1/4/2026 3:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEWARK, N.J. — In a comeback capped off by a layup from Najai Hines with 1.3 seconds remaining, the Seton Hall men's basketball team completed a 16-point second-half comeback to defeat the Creighton Bluejays, 56-54, in the Pirates' opening game of the New Year inside the Prudential Center.

The Pirates (13-2, 3-1 BE) dominated the second half, shooting 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the line and notching seven steals. The Blue Jays (9-6, 3-1 BE) were stifled in the second half, shooting 20 percent (2-of-10) from three while committing a combined 18 fouls and turnovers.

How It Happened
As things tipped off in the new year, both sides showed noticeable signs of rust. Despite Budd Clark and Stephon Payne scoring in the opening five minutes, the two sides shot a combined 3-of-18 from the field as the teams sat tied, 4-4, with just over five minutes of play gone. However, a trio of Seton Hall substitutions would shift the early momentum in the half.

Steph's on the board early 👍 pic.twitter.com/MbeMjgKo2T
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) January 4, 2026

Continuing his strong run of form over the final month of 2025, Josh Rivera made an immediate impact by netting a short jumper to give the Pirates their first lead of the game, 6-5. On the other end of the court, the Pirates' defense stifled and swarmed Creighton. Najai Hines collected back-to-back blocks off a driving Blue Jay, collected a pair of rebounds and split a pair of free throws to put The Hall up 7-5 with 11:43 left in the half.

As the remainder of the half continued to progress, however, the Pirates' lead disappeared and a deficit quickly grew. As the clock ticked under the 6:30 mark, Seton Hall found itself down nine points, 20-11. However, as they have all year, The Hall found a way to defend in order to create offense. After forcing a series of missed shots and turnovers on the defensive end, a decisive Elijah Fisher led a 7-0 Seton Hall run, capped off by an AJ Staton-McCray three, to reduce the deficit to two, 20-18, with three minutes left in the half. However, as the Pirates' big men faced foul trouble, Creighton would end the half on a 7-0 run as The Hall entered the halftime break down nine, 27-18.

While Mike Williams opened the half with a swift three-pointer, the Pirates' offense quickly ran cold in the ensuing minutes. By the 15-minute mark, a swift 16-4 Blue Jays run forced the Pirates into their largest deficit at 16 points, 43-27. Yet, just like the first half, Seton Hall found its way back into the game.

With the deficit down to 14 with 12:09 on the clock, Trey Parker split a pair of free throws and Hines made a layup to cut the hole to 11 points. On the ensuing possession, a steal by Clark turned into a Parker, reducing the game to single digits, 45-36. As the volume in The Rock began to increase, another Clark steal led to a pair of free throws for Parker, making it a seven-point game, 45-38, with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The rapturous approval of the Pirate faithful only grew more lively as Clark collected his third consecutive steal, leading to Tajuan Simpkins being fouled while shooting a three-pointer. The sophomore firestarter off the bench drained all three free throws, reducing The Hall's deficit to four. While the comeback momentum slowed for a few minutes, Clark, Rivera and Parker combined to bring the deficit down to two, 49-47, with 4:18 remaining in front of an increasingly raucous crowd of Pirate faithful.

It's a 1⃣2⃣-0⃣ run and it's down to TWO pic.twitter.com/11QVqND9oO
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) January 4, 2026

Yet, as the clock ticked down, the Pirates still struggled to find the equalizing blow. For nearly two minutes, the deficit vacillated between two and four points, forcing the Pirates into do-or-die possessions every single time. A pair of free throws for Hines shrank the lead back to 53-51, with merely 1:42 remaining in the game. After sneaking an inbound through the Pirates' defense, the Blue Jays split a pair of free throws to increase the deficit back to three, 54-51, with merely 36 seconds remaining in the game. After a timeout, the Pirates cut the lead to one, 54-53, off a Rivera dunk with 22 seconds left in the game.

As the sea of blue around The Rock reached a fever pitch, the Pirates' defense needed to come up big one final time to help give the team a chance to equalize. Creighton was forced to call a timeout on their first inbound attempt after The Hall shut down every passing window. A near-steal by Clark on the second attempt allowed the Blue Jays to burn another timeout, keeping the crowd and the players on edge. Even though Creighton eventually got the ball in bounds, the Pirates' voracious defense forced back-to-back jump balls to give the Pirates a chance at the win with only ten seconds remaining and the crowd at its loudest all season.

As The Hall inbounded the ball to Clark, the clock began to tick down as the floor general scanned the floor. The junior drove into the lane, shook off his defender by putting on the brakes and then rose up as he launched his signature midrange jumper. While the ball rimmed out, it was Hines who appeared under the basket to collect the rebound. The freshman big man secured the ball with mere seconds left. With immense poise, he floated the ball up and through the net, all while getting fouled to give The Hall a 55-54 lead, its first since 10:58 remaining in the first half, with only one second in this chaotic BIG EAST affair.

PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY STAND UP. https://t.co/SWS4631yXl pic.twitter.com/5rT1AVdRI7
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) January 4, 2026

Hines drained the free throw to expand the lead to two, leaving the Pirates one final possession to drown out any Creighton hopes. After two failed inbounds attempts, The Hall capped off its 7-to-2 game-ending run to secure the 56-54 victory over the Blue Jays.

News & Notes

Seton Hall has held 13 of 15 opponents under 70 points this season.
- They've also held 10 of them under 65 points.
This was the first time The Hall had back-to-back double-digit comeback wins since February 1, 2023 at St. John's and February 5, 2023 versus DePaul.
The last time Seton Hall has back-to-back double-digit second half double digit comebacks was January 15, 2020 at Butler and January 18, 2020 at St. John's.
The Pirates' 16-point comeback was its biggest since their comeback win against DePaul on January 8, 2025.
Fisher was the lone Pirate in double digits with 10 points.
Six different Pirates scored at least eight points (Clark, Fisher, Hines, Parker, Rivera, Staton-McCray)
Rivera scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Parker logged all nine of his points and four of his five rebounds in the second half.
Parker played 27 minutes, a new season-high.
Hines recorded nine rebounds and eight points, including the game winning layup.

Up Next
The Pirates return to action on Saturday, January 10, when they travel to Washington, D.C., to take on the Georgetown Hoyas. The game will be broadcast on FS1with opening tip slated for 6 p.m. EST.