HALL OF THE WILD
One moment, the Garden was rocking, virtually all of the fans on their feet. The next, it sounded like a library. It was the soundtrack when the air leaves a building, when hope is lost. From euphoria to deflating disappointment. Seton Hall went from one more Big East Tournament meeting with Villanova to going home and waiting for Sunday’s NCAA Tournament selection show, and the Pirate-heavy crowd expressed its shock with silence. Tyler Wideman’s tip-in with 3.1 seconds left sent sixth-seeded Butler to a semifinal matchup with No. 2 Villanova after this thrilling 75-74 victory, the Bulldogs’ first Big East Tournament win in five tries. Third-seeded Seton Hall, meanwhile, will have at least a week to think about blowing a 14-point, first-half lead before trying to win its first NCAA Tournament game in 14 long years. “Coach [Kevin Willard] said it, this is the first time we actually get to have a little rest before we go into the tournament,” senior guard Khadeen Carrington said. “We’re trying to take the positive out of it. Stay sharp and be sharp next Thursday or Friday.”
Carrington had the role of hero briefly after his three-point play with 11.6 seconds left gave the Pirates a one-point lead. But after a timeout, Wideman got to a miss from Kamar Baldwin, the Butler (20-12) sophomore who poured in 32 points and was almost unstoppable most of the evening, on the weak side. Myles Powell’s 3pointer at the horn fell short, an anticlimactic ending to a frantic final 1:10, when the lead changed hands five times.
“At the end of the day, they made the last play that counted,” said Carrington, who had a team-high 17 points, along with seven assists and six rebounds. “We got Baldwin to take a tough shot. Somebody has to put a body on Wideman. I think we got caught ballwatching a little bit. That’s what happens in those moments at the end of the game sometimes.”
Angel Delgado, the Big East’s all-time leading rebounder who had a frustrating evening, making just 4-of-13 shots from the field, was on the bench for the final play. Willard subbed him out because he wanted a more mobile forward for the Butler pick-androll that had given the Pirates so many problems. With Michael Nzei challenging Baldwin, nobody got to Wideman.
Delgado had no problem with the move, even though it backfired.
“It’s a coach’s decision,” he said. “I respect every decision he makes.”
The Seton Hall (21-11) locker room was disappointed but not heartbroken after the final horn. The goal this year is to win an NCAA Tournament game, and that remains attainable.
Senior starters Desi Rodriguez and Ismael Sanogo, who combined for 19 points, returned from foot and ankle injuries, respectively, and both said they felt OK afterward. Sanogo claimed he was “100 percent.”
They will now have plenty of time to get even healthier before the Big Dance and prepare for the biggest game of their college careers, after entering the tournament on short rest the previous two years.
“We should not take one day off,” Delgado said. “We just got to get to work right away.”