Sixth-seeded Seton Hall survived an upset bid by 11th-seeded Georgetown and won 57-53 in the first round of the Big East tournament Wednesday night in New York.
The Hoyas, who last won a game Dec. 15 and went 0-19 against the Big East in the regular season, led the contest for more than 26 minutes before the magic ran out and Seton Hall pulled away. The Pirates will face third-seeded and 20th-ranked UConn in the next round Thursday night.
Jared Rhoden scored a game-high 17 points and Myles Cale added 14 points and five rebounds for Seton Hall (21-9), which earned a sixth consecutive win. Kadary Richmond, playing through a sprained thumb, chipped in nine points and three assists in 17 minutes before sitting most of the second half.
The Pirates scored six straight points while holding Georgetown without a field goal for four minutes late in the game. Rhoden blocked a 3-point attempt to set up Alexis Yetna’s fastbreak dunk, putting Seton Hall up 52-50 with 2:52 to go.
Georgetown’s Collin Holloway hit a driving layup to give the Hoyas a 53-52 lead with 65 seconds remaining. But Jamir Harris nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer from NBA distance with 40 seconds left, and the Hoyas’ final two possessions came up empty.
Freshman Aminu Mohammed posted 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead Georgetown (6-25), which took its 21st straight loss. Donald Carey and Holloway scored 11 points apiece.
The Hoyas dominated the boards, outrebounding Seton Hall 48-34 with a 21-9 advantage on the offensive glass. They scored 16 second-chance points to the Pirates’ six.
An early 13-0 run, punctuated by two shots from Carey, put Georgetown ahead by nine.
However, the Hoyas committed two shot-clock violations late in the half and the Pirates closed on a 7-0 run, fueled by five points from Richmond. His shot over two defenders in the paint with two seconds left cut Seton Hall’s deficit to 27-24 entering halftime.
Seton Hall scored the first four points of the second half, as well, to grab a brief 28-27 lead before the Hoyas snapped their dry spell. The two sides traded 3-pointers until Seton Hall moved ahead 42-39 with 11:46 to play on Tray Jackson’s triple.
Georgetown responded with an 8-1 run aided by Kaiden Rice’s first 3-pointer of the night. Jamir Harris made a trey before Rice responded with another, pushing Georgetown ahead 50-46 with 5:06 left.
–Field Level Media
