Dre Davis scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half as top-seeded Seton Hall pulled away for a 72-58 victory over North Texas on Saturday afternoon in the second round of the NIT at South Orange, N.J.
Seton Hall (22-12) will host the winner of Boston College-UNLV in the quarterfinals next week for a trip to the semifinals in Indianapolis on April 2.
Davis made 7-of-11 shots and also tied a career high with four blocked shots. Freshman Isaiah Coleman tied a career high by adding 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting as Seton Hall shot 51.6 percent in the second half and 48.3 percent overall.
Al-Amir Dawes contributed 11 of his 14 points in the second half after hitting the tying 3 in regulation in Wednesday’s overtime win over St. Joseph’s. Kadary Richmond contributed 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Pirates.
North Texas (19-15) saw its season end and was unable to provide enough offense to keep pace with the Pirates. The defending NIT champion tied a season high with 84 points in their opening round win over LSU but shot 34.9 percent on Saturday.
Jason Edwards led the Mean Green with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting but had little help. CJ Noland added 11 points and Rubin Jones contributed 10 but the duo was a combined 7-of-19 from the field.
After missing 11 of its first 14 shots, Seton Hall gradually took control by outscoring North Texas 25-10 over the final 11 minutes of the opening half. The Pirates scored the last nine points of the half and held a 33-24 lead by halftime after Coleman sank a 3-pointer with one second left.
Dawes hit a 3 to give Seton Hall a 44-34 lead with 13:52 left and Dylan Addae-Wusu sank a 3 for a 47-34 lead nearly a minute later. The lead reached 53-38 on a transition layup by Dawes with 10:29 remaining, and Dawes hit a 3 with about 6 1/2 minutes left to make it 66-44.
–Field Level Media
