Bounce-back win gives Hall hope for March
Desi Rodriguez ran up the court, throwing down an uncontested, emphatic slam that ignited a celebration. This time, there wasn’t enough time left on the clock for Seton Hall to be stunned by a last-second shot. For once, Seton Hall wouldn’t sweat out a game’s final moments.
Now, Selection Sunday is looking like it may end up drama-free, too.
Bouncing back from Saturday’s deflating blowout loss to Villanova, the Pirates pulled out a 71-64 win over Xavier on Wednesday night at Prudential Center, adding another much-needed win over a likely NCAA Tournament team to their résumé.
“This was beyond big,” senior Madison Jones said. “It was a mustwin.”
Seton Hall (17-10, 7-8), which opened the three-game homestand with a win over Creighton, is now in position to finish Big East play at .500 or better. With three games remaining in the regular season, the Pirates face last-place DePaul and ninth-place Georgetown before a road game at Butler.
“We knew we had to win two out of three and this was a big game,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “All the talk about bubble, bubble, bubble, that wears on you a little bit, [but] I think these guys have done a good job, because they’re older, I think they actually understand what it’s all about now. Last year, I don’t think they understood all the talk.
“It shows their maturity that they understand that they’re able to bounce back. These guys have a lot of heart.”
With Isaiah Whitehead watching from courtside, his former classmates carried the team closer to a second straight Tournament appearance. Angel Delgado recorded his ninth straight double-double (25 points, 13 rebounds), while Desi Rodriguez added 22 points, joining fellow juniors Delgado and Khadeen Carrington (five points, five assists, one turnover) by surpassing 1,000 career points.
“It shows the amount of hard work they’ve put in,” Willard said. “Desi came in as a backup center in high school and never shot the basketball. … Angel never touched the ball in high school, so to see where he was then to where he is now.… They’ve all stepped up at different points.”
J.P. Macura (22 points) gave Xavier (18-10, 8-7) a 23-16 lead midway through the first half, but Seton Hall awoke, responding with a 9-0 run, and trailing 31-30 at halftime.
With Carrington, the reigning Big East Player of the Week, hitting just 1of-9 from the field, the Pirates fell behind by six early in the second half, but a strong defensive effort from Jones and a pair of 3-pointers from freshman Myles Powell gave Seton Hall the lead for good with 13:50 remaining.
The Pirates dodged the usual drama. The expected angst may be avoided.
“Coach doesn’t want us to get on the end of the rope,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve got three more games left in the regular season and we want to close it out with a bang and get to our goal and get back to the NCAA Tournament.”