Elder flair
Seniors will Hall past Butler
The evening began with a coronation for Seton Hall’s four seniors, and it ended with the two healthy ones making sure the Prudential Center crowd of 9,749 won’t forget the evening.
A touching video tribute and emotional Senior Day ceremony for Ismael Sanogo, Desi Rodriguez, Khadeen Carrington and Angel Delgado set the tone for the memorable night, then Carrington and Delgado gave the home fans one last trademark performance.
With Sanogo and Rodriguez sidelined with ankle injuries, the former AAU teammates went out as winners at home, combining for 46 points in a gutsy 77-70 victory over Butler in Newark. The victory sends the Pirates into the postseason on a high, with four wins in five games. “We left the right way,” Carrington said. With 3.7 seconds left and the game in hand, coach Kevin Willard took out Carrington and Delgado to a rousing ovation. The three of them, in addition to Rodriguez, had a long embrace as the crowd stood at full throat.
“That’s the best senior night I’ve even been a part of by far,” Willard said. “Not only the win was huge, just the emotions and the fans coming out and showing their appreciation, I just think it was very special.”
With the victory, Seton Hall (21-10, 10-8) clinched the third seed in next week’s Big East Tournament — the Pirates’ seed when they won the tournament two years ago. A loss would have sent them tumbling down to seven and forced them to play in the out-bracket round Wednesday. Instead, they get a rematch with No. 6 Butler next Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals at the Garden with a chance to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding.
Carrington and Delgado were mostly responsible for that. Whenever a big play was needed — and plenty were as Butler star Kelan Martin kept the Bulldogs (19-12, 9-9) close by pumping in 35 points — there were Carrington and Delgado delivering.
Delgado, the all-time leading rebounder in Big East history, notched the 71st double-double of his career, with 21 points and 10 boards. Carrington, playing the best basketball of his career of late, had 25 points and added three steals.
“There’s no way we could’ve allowed ourselves to lose,” Carrington said. “It was a tough win, a gutty win, and we’re going to need more of those.”