5 Thoughts: Seton Hall falls in Big East tournament semifinals

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEW YORK — After Seton Hall’s quarterfinal win over Creighton yesterday, Shaheen Holloway said that a semifinal matchup against St. John’s on Friday evening was one of the things “you play basketball for.”

When the game began, unfortunately, it followed a familiar script this season for the Pirates, who gave the top-seeded Red Storm a run in the second half, but ultimately fell, 78-68, at Madison Square Garden.

Here are the Thoughts from New York City:

1. Fits and Starts

It’s been a refrain often this season for Seton Hall: Falling behind early and having to claw its way back into the contest. Tonight, St. John’s got out to an 8-0 lead before the Pirates got up off the mat, and though they equaled the Red Storm for the rest of the half, they were down 38-30 at halftime.

That would be well and good given that St. John’s shot over 50 percent in the first 20 minutes, something that the Pirates could easily overcome with their propensity for second-half comebacks. But it happened again out of the locker room, as the Red Storm opened the second half on a 9-0 spurt to take a 17-point lead, ultimately proving too much to overcome.

Holloway didn’t mince words afterwards despite the encouraging late rally (more on that in a bit).

“This stings because we didn’t play well tonight,” he said. “I thought if we played well, we’d have a chance. But to be honest with you, the game wasn’t as close as the score. They dominated us because they came out and they swung first, and we didn’t swing back. Normally, that’s not us, and that’s what’s disappointing about it.”

Just like several other games this year, you have to wonder what could have been even if the Pirates could have cut both of those early runs in half. What kind of game does it look like if the early deficit was five, the deficit out of halftime 12 or so? It’s kind of been a season of that for The Hall, weirdly juxtaposed with how much things improved this year under Holloway overall: Being able to stay in those games, but unable to get the extra push to get over the hump.

2. Second Half Seton

With eight wins this season when trailing at the half, the most of any power conference team, it’s also been a season of second-half comebacks for the Pirates, and you can give them credit for once again never giving up. After St. John’s took its largest lead of 19 points on a Ruben Prey free throw just past the midway point of the second half, Seton Hall embarked on a 7-0 run that forced Rick Pitino to burn a timeout. 

As they have done many times this year, the Pirates kept up the pressure, eventually whittling the Red Storm lead down to just six points on an A.J. Staton-McCray three-pointer with 4:41 left. The Hall fans in the building came alive, and for the first time all night, St. John’s looked flustered. The Pirate pressure continued into the next possession, but with the shot clock winding down, St. John’s found Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor, who got just-good-enough position on Staton-McCray to lay the ball in as the clock hit 0.0.

That made it an eight-point game, and after an empty trip on the other end, Jacob Dar fouled Joson Sanon on a three-point shot, leading to a media timeout. And for the Pirates, that was just enough of a stemming of the tide to put the game out of reach.

When you fall behind by so much and dig yourself so deep of a hole, at some point, things have to go perfectly, and tonight, just those two possessions going awry was enough to smother the comeback, and although the team kept fighting and got it back to single digits again, Seton Hall didn’t have enough time left to seriously threaten the Red Storm. All told, the Pirates forced St. John’s into 13 turnovers, its most in a game since December, so in one sense, they did an excellent job.

After the game, Holloway was asked what the biggest takeaway from this game was going into a likely postseason tournament opportunity, and he said that they “couldn’t come out the way we came out.”

“Can’t spot a good team 10 points early,” he added. “Today, we spotted them 10 points early and then we were playing catchup from there.”

3. Home Whistle?

With two teams that like to be physical with their opponents, the way the game was called was going to have some effect on both. After John Gaffney, Nathan Farrell, and Matt Potter called things pretty evenly in the first 20 minutes, the second 20 were much more physical as expected, and the Red Storm got the better of the calls.

There were a bunch of whistles that went St. John’s way that, watching the proceedings live, came on plays that probably didn’t warrant one. Even accounting for the Pirates needing to foul late to stay in the game, the Red Storm finished with a plus-18 advantage in attempts from the charity stripe, including plus-15 in the second half.

The Johnnies have led the entire conference this season in free throws made and attempted, so it’s kind of what St. John's does, and give credit to them for knocking them down, too (19-for-25 in the final 20 minutes). But a more even whistle could definitely have been a benefit.

Holloway was asked about that as well.

“All year long, I’ve been fighting for my team,” he said. “Do I like us having nine, 12-something free throw line (against) 30? No. Do I like it? No, I don’t like it. But this has been going on all year, so we just dealt with it. We didn’t complain, we just dealt with it and then we just move on.”

4. Budd, Take a Bow

After joining his coach, Adrian Griffin, and Isaiah Whitehead by putting up a 16-7-6 line in a Big East Tournament game, Budd Clark was very good again tonight, finishing with a team-best 17 points along with 11 assists, three rebounds and two steals, earning his second double-double of the season despite a rough-ish shooting day (6-for-18).

Clark has been the leader of the team all year long, and despite battling a sore quad down the stretch has played in, and started, each and every game for the Pirates. He was the biggest fish reeled in out of the transfer portal after a dominant career at Merrimack, and proved over the last two games that when the chips are down in March, he can continue being a presence on both ends.

“It was a very fun season,” Clark said after the game. “I don't think it’s over yet, but we had our ups, we had our downs. I’m just proud of how we just fought game in and game out. I’m not happy with the outcome today, but it is what it is.”

As this was only his junior season, Clark has one more year of eligibility, and it’s paramount that Seton Hall keep him for next year. When asked if he’s looking to continue at The Hall next year, Clark said he’s “definitely” looking to do that, and given the connection that he has with Holloway and vice versa, I can’t imagine him leaving. 

Holloway yesterday said that the gigantic chip on the shoulder that Clark plays with was the first thing that attracted him to the Philadelphian, and he just seems to fit his vision for the program like a glove. If they can sign up for another go-round in 2026-27, everyone will benefit.

5. Balanced Effort

Clark wasn’t alone this evening. After the slow start, it was Mike Williams stepping up and scoring seven early points to get the Pirates back in the game, ending up with 10 points in the contest overall. Najai Hines proved to be the big man of the matchup, adding 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks off the bench, continuing to give Holloway excellent minutes down the stretch.

And then there was Jacob Dar, again. After potting a season-high 16 points yesterday, he added 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting tonight, along with four rebounds and a couple of steals.

The common thread between all of the aforementioned players? They all (like Clark) have eligibility remaining. Dar and Williams have an additional season after this one, and Hines is only a freshman with an extremely high ceiling. Tajuan Simpkins, though he struggled mightily in both Big East tournament games, has been explosive for the Pirates, and also has eligibility remaining, so unlike some other teams around the country, Seton Hall has some foundational pieces to build on for next year on paper.

The key, of course, will be allocating the resources to get it done, and you hope that after a season in which Holloway was able to mold the Pirates in his own image after last season’s setback that Seton Hall steps up and comes through with those resources.

For now, as we mentioned, the Pirates have some sort of postseason destiny to deal with. While they won't be in the NCAA Tournament by nearly everyone's assessment, they should be invited to one of the other mini-Dances. In 2024, the veteran-laden Pirates were snubbed by the selection committee, but chose to keep going as a team, eventually winning the NIT title to prove the doubters wrong.

Will this team have the same spirit? We will soon find out.