Hall upsets No. 12 Providence, move to 13-4

USA Today

Sophomore Khadeen Carrington scored a career-high 22 points, and his classmate Isaiah Whitehead had 15 points and seven assists as the Seton Hall men’s basketball team knocked off No. 12 Providence on the road, 81-72, Saturday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The win is Seton Hall’s first road victory over a ranked opponent since knocking off Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, 90-68, on Jan. 25, 2011 and the program’s 17th all-time.

The Pirates, winners of eight of their last 10 games, have now defeated a ranked opponent in each of the last three seasons and eight times overall under head coach Kevin Willard. Carrington, who came off the bench for a second time this season, did the bulk of his work at the free throw line, going a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe, all in the second half. Whitehead reached at least 15 points and five assists for the sixth time this season. Sophomore Angel Delgado turned in his 12th double-digit rebounding game of the season with 11 boards.

In the early going it was a tightly contested match with five ties and seven lead changes. After Providence’s Kris Dunn nailed a layup at 6:10 to tie the game at 23-23, the Pirates closed the half on a 15-5 run and got Dunn into foul trouble. On the ensuing possession from Dunn’s layup, Whitehead found sophomore Desi Rodriguez on the fast break to reclaim the lead. Carrington buried a three-pointer and all of a sudden it was a five-point lead. Dunn connected on a layup at 4:27, but that was the final Friars field goal of the half as the Pirates locked down, held PC to 0-for-6 shooting with one turnover and then closed the period with a bucket from senior Derrick Gordon and two from Whitehead to go into halftime up 38-28.

Seton Hall immediately stretched the lead to 12 and continued to get Dunn into foul trouble as the Friars leader picked up his fourth foul with 10:47 left and then fouled out with 3:02 to go. The Friars made it a six-point game, 72-66, with 2:56 to play, but the Pirates played it cool at the free throw line. They went 9-for-10 from the line in the final three minutes, and the final punctuation on defense came when Whitehead and sophomore Ismael Sanogo each blocked shots underneath in the final minute, stopping the Friars from getting within seven.

The Pirates head home for a Wednesday night showdown against No. 6 Villanova at Prudential Center at 9 p.m.