Pirates Fall to St. John's on Senior Night, 72-65

Friday, March 6

Newark, N.J.

9:00 p.m.

Seton Hall University

20-11,10-10Big East

St. John's

25-6,18-2Big East

St. John's (NY)

Seton Hall

3/7/2026 12:17:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEWARK, N.J. — Despite a trio of double-digit scorers, the Seton Hall men's basketball team fell to the No. 18 St. John's Red Storm, 72-65, inside the Prudential Center on Senior Night to close out the regular season.

Budd Clark led all Pirate scorers with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting on the night and was one of three Seton Hall players to eclipse double figures. Najai Hines and AJ Staton-McCray did so as well, each scoring 11 points.

How It Happened
In front of a packed crowd at The Rock, Clark and Elijah Fisher pressured the paint on both ends of the floor, pushing The Hall to an early 5-4 lead inside the first four minutes. As quickly as that lead grew, St. John's responded in force. The Red Storm pressured the Pirates on a 13-2 run that saw Seton Hall fall down seven, 14-7, with 14 minutes remaining in the half.

With the midway point of the opening stanza approaching, Seton Hall began its comeback push. Led by intense slashing from Tajaun Simpkins and crafty paint maneuvering by AJ Staton-McCray, the Pirates quelled the Red Storm's surge, drawing the deficit down to two, 18-16, with nine minutes remaining.

Twin caps the 8⃣-0⃣ run pic.twitter.com/kVvAOD7XNQ
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 7, 2026

Seton Hall kept pushing off the back of more paint pressure from Josh Rivera and Mike Williams, before Simpkins found his way into the paint to hand The Hall a 22-21 lead with five-and-a-half minutes left on the clock. While the game swung back and forth as halftime approached, when the buzzer sounded, the Pirates entered halftime down three, 30-27.

Out of the break, despite strong resistance from The Hall, St. Johns began to find their stroke from beyond the arc. As the clock ticked under the 15-minute mark, The Hall found itself down nine, 44-25, and in search of a new response.

NAJAI 💪 pic.twitter.com/Jwq6pLIfmC
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 7, 2026

That response would come in the form of a strong shift from the Pirates' bench. Najai Hines, Trey Parker and Jacob Dar, with Clark at the helm of the offense, unleashed a swift 8-0 run to cut the deficit to one mere point, 44-43, with under 14 minutes on the clock.

As the deficit sat at one possession for an extended period, the two sides exchanged blows, looking to find that edge. Eventually, St. John's found the advantage first, ballooning The Hall's deficit to 11, 62-51, with a mere four minutes on the clock. Despite seven late points from Clark on a 12-to-4 run entering the final minute, the Red Storm closed the game out at the line to hand Seton Hall a 72-65 loss to close the regular season.

News & Notes

This was the 117^th matchup all-time between the two programs.
- With the loss, The Hall moves to 50-67 all-time against the Red Storm.
Clark led the team with 15 points.
Williams led the team with nine rebounds.
Hines and Staton-McCray each scored 11 points.

Up Next
The Pirates will play their opening game of the BIG EAST Tournament on Thursday, March 12, when they play either Creighton or DePaul. The game will be broadcast on NBCSN and Peacock with opening tip slated for 2:30 p.m.`