Big East Basketball: Seton Hall captures must-win game versus Creighton

By Carmine Carcieri | Feb 16, 2017

Feb 15, 2017; Newark, NJ, USA; Seton Hall Pirates head coach Kevin Willard looks on during the first half against the Creighton Bluejays at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports /

Seton Hall rode Khadeen Carrington’s career-high 41 points to a monster Big East basketball victory at the Prudential Center versus Creighton.

It was do-or-die time. At 5-7 in the Big East, Seton Hall could not afford a loss at home, even if it was against the 20th ranked team in the nation. This was also the start of the biggest three-game home stand of Seton Hall’s lives — Creighton, Villanova, and Xavier in the next week.

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But the Pirates were up for the challenge as they rode their ‘Big Three’, and Khadeen Carrington’s career game in particular, to a thrilling 87-81 win on Wednesday evening at the Prudential Center.

It was a back-and-forth affair for most of the second half but Carrington’s sensational play uplifted the Pirates. The junior guard scored a career-high 41 points on an efficient 10-of-15 shooting. He was in attack mode for the majority of the night (18-of-22 from the free throw line) and even hit 3-of-5 threes.

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While Carrington got the better of Creighton’s top scorer Marcus Foster (23 points, six assists, six rebounds), Angel Delgado also had the upper hand on Bluejays’ freshman big Justin Patton. In the first half, the seven-footer ran the floor with ease and finished around the bucket while his length defensively helped keep Delgado quiet.

The switch flipped in the second half for Seton Hall’s center as Delgado ripped down rebounds and made two key plays (a layup off an offensive rebound to go up by one with 3:31 left and an And-1 with 2:37 on the clock). Delgado finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds which is his 20 double-double in 25 games.

Desi Rodriguez also got in on the fun as he chipped in 18 points on 6-of-14. Ismael Sanogo, who returned from injury and came of the bench, was a factor defensively and on the glass despite looking a bit slow on both ends. He’s not a part of Hall’s ‘Big Three’ but he certainly might be this team’s X-factor because of all the little things he does.

The individual play was excellent for the Pirates, but they also killed the Bluejays on the boards (42 to 25) and won despite shooting themselves in the foot (15 turnovers and 11 missed free throws).

Seton Hall is now one game under .500 in the Big East (16-9 overall). They likely need to finish 10-8 to feel secure about an NCAA Tournament berth while 9-9 could place them firmly on the cut line. Saturday’s home game against Villanova will be a monster showdown as it will not only give the Pirates a major quality win at a key time but it will give them a bit of leeway down the stretch.

With games at home against Xavier and Georgetown and roads touts against DePaul and Butler, Seton Hall needs to find a way to come up with four victories in their next five.

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Meanwhile, for Creighton, they certainly aren’t the same team without Maurice Watson Jr. However, this is still a team that poses a threat in March because of how well they execute offensively, how good Foster is at scoring the ball and how gifted Patton is. Even though the Bluejays may be battling a lower-than-expected seed, they can not be taken lightly.