5 Thoughts: Seton Hall grits out another win against Georgetown

Jamir Harris’ 3-pointer in final minute lifted Seton Hall to Big East tournament escape over Georgetown. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEW YORK — Late-night games at the Big East Tournament are nothing new for the Seton Hall Pirates, who have been stuck in the latest window of games in five of the last seven seasons. That includes 2020, when they were scheduled to play Marquette in the quarterfinals, but had the entire tournament canceled on them earlier that same afternoon.

Also not new for the Pirates is needing to grind it out while shorthanded, which they again did successfully en route to a 57-53 victory over the woebegone Georgetown Hoyas to advance to Quarterfinal Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

Here are the 5 Thoughts for the night owls:

- Sluggish Start

Seton Hall came out looking off in pretty much all areas of its game. Offensively, the Pirates shot 3-of-10 with five turnovers to begin the contest, and Kadary Richmond looked like the wrap on his right thumb was affecting him, as he had trouble keeping control of the ball. Defensively, Georgetown was getting inside and drawing fouls on some of the Pirates' key players.

The Hoyas took a 10-point lead with 4:07 to play, and Kevin Willard called timeout. The Pirates then held the Hoyas scoreless for the entire rest of the half, with their defense forcing back-to-back shot clock violations. It was late in coming, just like the opening tip tonight after Butler and Xavier went into overtime to begin the tournament, but Seton Hall eventually got its engine rolling to make it a three-point game at the half.

- 'Mir Madness

The first game ball goes to Jamir Harris tonight, who hit the biggest shot of the game, a long straightaway triple that turned a 53-52 deficit into a 55-53 lead with 40 seconds to play. It was one of those shots that you could tell was going to be shot right when Harris caught the ball. I audibly said to Josh Adams of College Hoops Digest, "oh boy" in anticipation, and sure enough, he hit it to put Seton Hall ahead for good.

"It feels amazing to be able to hit that shot for my teammates, my brothers," Harris said. "There's no better feeling. Hearing the crowd go crazy for us and be so excited for me to hit that shot, it means the world to me."

The New Jersey native Harris in fact played at Madison Square Garden in his freshman season at Minnesota due to the one season that the Big Ten Conference held its tournament at the World's Most Famous Arena. For him to stay prepared to take a shot of that magnitude speaks to the old cliche that shooters shoot, especially when Harris had had more on his plate than originally planned.

- Kadary's Thumb

Kadary Richmond started this game with a wrap on his right hand (his ball-dominant hand), and it gave him troubles early in the first half as he committed a few turnovers by just not keeping control of the ball. He ended up making some big plays later in the half, and finished the game with nine points and three assists, but didn't play much in the second half. Willard was asked about him after the game.

"Kadary's doing OK," he said. "He gutted it out. I didn't put him back in (because) he got hit on the hand, on his thumb. It's a sprain, so every time he gets hit on it, it's like when you sprain your ankle. When you redo it, it hurts. He had given us a lot for what he's been going through. I didn't want him to not (be able to) play maybe tomorrow, and definitely next week."

We'll see what Richmond can give the Pirates against UConn Thursday night, as the Huskies are a higher-level opponent that will have the full Garden crowd behind them.

- Late Night on the D-Train

In the second half, Seton Hall's defense was much better than it was in the first, and aside from a few critical threes for Georgetown that kept the Hoyas right in the game when it threatened to get away, the Pirates made their bones on that end of the floor. 

The linchpin of that defense tonight was without a doubt Ike Obiagu, with my second game ball of the night going to the big man. His seven blocked shots were impressive in and of itself, but his presence also altered the Hoyas' decision making at key times. Nowhere was this more evident than the possession down the stretch where the Hoyas got Donald Carey going to the basket. Obiagu was right on his tail, and had just come up with a gigantic block the possession before. Instead of trying to lay it in, Carey tried a wraparound, kick-out pass that ended up sailing out of bounds, and Seton Hall hit its free throws after that to win the game.

Also incredible: Obiagu's plus-20 rating was by FAR the best on the team tonight, and he didn't even score a single point. I don't think I've seen that before.

- Close and Comfortable

Seton Hall has now officially sealed up a bid to the NCAA Tournament, and the Pirates have now won nine of their last 11 games and six straight after tonight. The majority of those contests have been just like this one was, anything but a walk in the park. But in their final comments before presumably heading back to the hotel and zonking out after such a late night, the players were asked if being in so many of these games means they're comfortable in those situations. The answer was a pretty resounding yes.

"The guys that we have on this team, we're so close-knit," Harris said. "We're so together. When times get tough, we get closer together, and it shows in these close games like that."

"I think there's not one time in the game where I look over at the sideline and see fear at all," Jared Rhoden said after his game-high 17 points led the Pirates. "I think that's big-time for us."

Seton Hall will need that steely-eyed approach against the Huskies, who will be playing their first game back at MSG in the Big East Tournament with fans in the stands since 2013. Expect the Huskies fans to be full-throated and ready to cheer and jeer all night long. With St. John's taking on Villanova in the first game of the night session, this could be a Thursday to remember in Midtown.