Seton Hall Opens Big East Schedule With Win Over Creighton

The first Big East conference game of Seton Hall’s season took place on Thursday against 25th ranked Creighton at the Prudential Center. The battle between the Bluejays and 23rd ranked Pirates was the first conference test for Seton Hall this season. Many pundits had doubts as to whether Seton Hall is a top team in the country.

Those pundits saw Seton Hall play their most inspired game of the season thus far. After being down by as many as 13 in the second half, Seton Hall stormed back late to defeat Creighton 90-84 at the Prudential Center in the Big East opener for both teams.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw both squads make their fair share of baskets. Early in the first half, both teams’ hearts skipped a beat as Khadeen Carrington and Marcus Foster went down with lower-body injuries. Both players returned minutes later as the Bluejays held a small lead at the halfway mark of the first half.

In the latter part of the half, the Pirates went through a two-and-a-half-minute field goal drought. The drought allowed Creighton to extend their lead to eight points. The remainder of the first half slowed down considerably as the referees began to call every foul on the floor. Both teams combined to shoot 21 free throws in the opening half.

After a Carrington three-pointer cut the Bluejay lead to three, Creighton went on 7-0 run to extend the lead. Creighton ended the half with a 53-42 lead.

Creighton (10-3, 0-1 Big East) pushed the lead to 13 at the 19:13 mark of the second half. From that point on, Seton Hall went on a 12-7 run to cut the lead to eight points at the first media timeout. For the offensive effort that the Pirates were putting in, their defense proved to be an issue as Creighton had many open and uncontested shots. Whenever Foster or Khyri Thomas took the ball inside, there was no one there to protect the rim.

After the media timeout, Seton Hall (11-2, 1-0 Big East) picked up the pace on both ends of the court. Two three-pointers from Carrington and Myles Powell cut the Bluejay lead to three as the crowd at The Rock awakened. The Hall was shooting lights out during the second half, but their seven turnovers allowed Creighton to retain the lead throughout the second half.

The game began to turn as the Pirates began to push the tempo more offensively and stiffen up defensively. A pair of Angel Delgado offensive rebounds and second-chance points put Seton Hall up by three with 5:41 to go. Three turnovers in four possessions for Creighton fueled a 14-2 Pirate run. In the end, Seton Hall held Creighton scoreless for the final 3:32 of regulation to complete the tight, hard-fought victory at home.

The Pirates were led by Desi Rodriguez who finished with 23 points. Carrington poured in 18 points, and Delgado picked up yet another double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out.

Martin Krampelj led Creighton with who with 23 points and ten rebounds.

Up Next For Seton Hall

The Pirates welcome St. John’s to The Rock on Sunday for a New Year’s Eve matchup. Game time is 5 p.m. and can be seen on FS1.