NEW YORK, NY— The Seton Hall Pirates fell to St. John’s, 78-68, on Friday in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.
The Pirates had a tough task on Friday against the number one team in the conference, St. John’s.
It needed to be all gas, no breaks for “The Hall” if they wanted to move on in the Big East Tournament.
The Red Storm are a very talented team led by high scoring forwards Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins. The question was whether the Pirates could match the skill of the Johnnies.
A fast start was needed if the Pirates wanted to have a chance in this one. However, St. John’s ended up being the team with the fast start, scoring eight unanswered points to begin the game.
At the first media timeout, the Red Storm led the Pirates 10-7.
Seton Hall kept pace with the Johnnies through the first 10 minutes, but it was obvious that there was more pure skill on the team in white.
That didn’t mean Seton Hall was finished, though. As we saw in the quarterfinals, unlikely heroes do exist in the form of Jacob Dar.
At the eight minute mark and the third media timeout, the Pirates were down just two possesions, with the score being 22-18 in favor of the Johnnies.
It was an absolute war through the first 20 minutes, as both Seton Hall and St. John’s performed well on both sides of the ball. The key to winning the game was to play steady on both ends, and the teams were evenly matched in that aspect halfway through the game.
Zuby Ejiofor totaled 12 points in the first half. If the Pirates wanted a chance in this game, they were going to need to lock down the big man coming out of the break.
At halftime, the Pirates trailed the Red Storm 38-30.
The second half got underway, and the Pirates looked to gain some momentum.
Unfortunately for the team in blue, the Red Storm kept the pressure on to start the half, increasing their lead to 49-30 before the Pirates could get their first bucket.
Budd Clark finally was fouled at the 14:35 mark, and Seton Hall recorded its first two baskets of the half.
The Pirates had a ton of trouble in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as it seemed the offensive pressure from the first half had gone away, and St. John’s defense was too much for the team to handle.
Seton Hall was rarely allowed deep into the paint, and when they were, the Johnnies swarmed.
Ultimately, the Pirates came up short in this one despite having four double-digit scorers (Budd Clark, Jacob Dar, Najai Hines, and Mike Williams), and their Big East Championship hopes will end in the semifinal.
Budd Clark was asked postgame to assess his season which he started answering with “It was a fun season, which I don’t think is over yet.”
The Pirates will now wait until Selection Sunday to see if they will make the NCAA Tournament, which is scheduled to begin on March 17.
