New York, NY—The Seton Hall Pirates defeated the Creighton Bluejays on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament by a score of 72-61.
This marked Seton Hall’s first Big East Tournament victory since 2021, when they took down the St. John’s Red Storm.
The smallest team in the Big East Conference, the Pirates rely heavily on grit and speed, which is exactly what they needed to defeat the Creighton Bluejays.
The first media timeout of the first half had the Pirates up by one, courtesy of a jumper from Elijah Fisher, who added one at the line for the Pirates after being fouled.
Both teams were feeling each other out early in this one, with foul trouble on both sides. Budd Clark already had one foul against him, which was something to watch as the game progressed.
The second media timeout saw Creighton up on the Pirates 10-9 with 11:35 remaining in the first half, with five of those points coming from Senior Guard Josh Dix.
Seton Hall would bounce back, coming out of the timeout with a three from Tajuan Simpkins to give the Pirates the lead.
The momentum continued shortly after when Mike Williams hit a three of his own, giving the Pirates a 15-10 lead.
After both teams exchanged threes, the Bluejays led the Pirates 18-17 at the third media timeout.
The Pirates were on a roll, outscoring the Bluejays 10-1 and forcing Creighton to call one of their own timeouts.
Creighton tried to keep up with the tenacity of the Pirates but looked lost at times offensively late in the half. The free-throw line was a big point of emphasis in the first half, as the teams finished with 15 team fouls combined (Seton Hall eight, Creighton seven).
Seton Hall saw scoring from a variety of players in the half, but Clark led the way, posting double digits with 10 points, while Mike Williams and Elijah Fisher helped the Pirates with seven each.
Through the first 20 minutes, The Hall outscored Creighton 14-6 from inside the paint and looked to continue that success in the final 20 minutes.
At halftime, the Seton Hall Pirates led the Creighton Blue Jays 33-26.
There was still plenty of basketball left to be played as the second half got underway.
Josh Dix hit a quick three for Creighton, but Elijah Fisher immediately answered on the next possession for Seton Hall.
The Bluejays definitely showed a little bit more urgency as the second half got going, but the question was whether it would be enough to get them over the hump.
Jacob Dar deserves a lot of credit for his second-half performance, tallying 16 points after not scoring a basket in the first half. The senior showed up when it mattered most and paved the way for a Seton Hall Pirates victory.
Shaheen Holloway, the Big East Coach of the Year, will lead his team to the Big East Tournament semifinals against the St. John’s Red Storm tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
