DANCE HALL DAYS
upset No. 13 Butler, 70-64.
The Pirates (20-10, 10-8 Big East) scored the game’s final seven points, taking a 65-64 lead on Khadeen Carrington’s basket with 1:24 remaining. Myles Powell’s 3-pointer with 35.3 seconds left stretched the lead to 68-64.
Carrington, who finished with 17 points, iced it with two free throws with 12 seconds to go, extending the Pirates’ winning streak to four.
“I think the key was recognizing who their top scorers are and then really locking down on defense down the stretch,” Carrington said. “On the offensive end, we just stayed aggressive. Even when we were down 10, I told the guys that this game wasn’t over. We ran our offense and got the ball where it needed to be.”
It was the fourth straight win for Seton Hall, which finished in a four-way tie for third place in the Big East with Providence, Marquette and Creighton. On tiebreaker procedures, the Pirates ended up with the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 Marquette in the Big East quarterfinals on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Garden.
This is the second straight winning season in league play for the Pirates. According to the school, that hasn’t happened since 200304. This is the first time Seton Hall has had back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1992-93.
“This victory was about getting key stops down the stretch,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “Obviously, Butler is a tremendous basketball team. Winning here in a building with so much tradition is huge.”
Butler (23-7, 12-6) got 19 points from Kelan Martin and 13 from Avery Woodson but had its fourgame winning streak snapped. The Bulldogs had already sewn up the league’s No. 2 seed. —AP