Regaining their winning ways, the Seton Hall Pirates men’s basketball team won their second game in a row on a cold Saturday afternoon, taking down the Marquette Golden Eagles 69-64.
Two weeks ago, Seton Hall made their first AP Top 25 appearance since the 2021-22 season; It seems like it ended up being the worst thing that could have happened as from there on they lost four straight. Despite playing some tough Big East foes, the rough skid had people wondering “Should they have even been ranked?” With a win against Xavier on Wednesday, the Pirates anticipated keeping the ball rolling.
The first half was far from clean basketball as 16 total turnovers gave no team any sort of edge. While the score was close, the Golden Eagles were in total control, mainly due to a 66.7% three point percentage. Seton Hall held their own and stayed in it the whole time, but a 45% field goal percentage and their seven turnovers prevented them from being in front when they had plenty of chances to do so.
Thanks to double digit points from Nigel James Jr. and Royce Parham, Marquette was up 41-33 and though it was a small lead, it was a comfortable one.
Coming out of the intermission, the Golden Eagles continued to stay in control despite the Pirates never going away. The straw on the camel’s back finally broke when an Adam “Budd” Clark layup gave Seton Hall the lead. After nearly 26 minutes of game time, the Pirates were finally in front. Marquette didn’t take trailing lightly as they instantly responded with a layup of their own from Chase Ross. Going into a TV timeout, it was a one point game.
It was crunch time and both teams were fighting. With Seton Hall keeping the lead, the Golden Eagles kept the pressure high, preventing the Pirates from taking more than a five point lead. But in the end, despite a few ties, the Pirates never surrendered their lead and went on to win the game.
While Seton Hall stayed in it the whole game and ultimately got the job done, it couldn’t have been done without Budd Clark. The Junior pretty much took control, scoring 15 second half points off 6-of-11 shooting. It was a total switch from the second half, where he shot 2-of-5.
“I just wanted to find a way to win, whatever it takes,” Clark said postgame. The Pirates guard finished with 19 points and four assists on the day.
“Me getting assists, me stealing, me scoring, and tonight I did a little bit of both I scored, I dished it out a little bit, and I just brought energy into the game, energy into my team and try and lead them to a victory.”
This was the last game of January for the Pirates, meaning another month down until March. Now on a two game winning streak, they’re continuing to bounce back from their worst stretch of the season and are winning games that keeps them sustainable.
“There’s no games you should win in this league,” Seton Hall head coach Shaheen Holloway said. Holloway coached his team to their sixth conference win of the season.
“Like everybody’s good, everybody’s well coached. This team [Marquette] just beat Creighton who’s one of the better teams. It’s just good to get wins and get confidence.”
The Pirates will play Villanova on Tuesday and Creighton on Sunday; two teams they’re neck and neck with in the Big East. The squad will look to capitalize and climb up the standings as the postseason slowly, but surely, gets closer.
