Seton Hall basketball fights but falls as St. John’s clinches Big East crown

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NEW YORK – More than few folks thought Seton Hall basketball would be the sacrificial lamb in Saturday’s coronation of St. John’s as the outright regular-season Big East champion.

The Pirates had other ideas.

They went toe-to-toe with the seventh-ranked Johnnies most of the way, betraying good defense with horrific free-throw shooting in a 71-61 loss at a sold-out Madison Square Garden.

In the end the Pirates (7-22 overall, 2-16 Big East) didn’t have enough firepower and got swept by the Red Storm (26-4, 16-2) for the first time since 2013-14. The Johnnies are the outright Big East champions for the first time in 40 years.

“We’re just getting started,” head coach Rick Pitino told a roaring crowd during an on-court postgame celebration.

St. John’s now leads the all-time series 65-50, but the Pirates lead 41-37 in Big East contests.

5 TAKEAWAYS

1-Dylan Addae-Wusu brought it

Mar 1, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Seton Hall Pirates guard Dylan Addae-Wusu (0) and St. John’s Red Storm guard Kadary Richmond (1) fight for a loose ball in the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The postgrad guard received some cheers by St. John’s fans during introductions, a classy hat tip to a guy who spent three years with the Red Storm. He rose to the moment after that, opening the game with a steal-turned-layup, and never took his foot off the pedal.

Omnipresent, handling the ball versus St. John’s pressure and hounding their guards, Addae-Wusu finished with 18 points, seven assists, four steals and three rebounds in 37 gritty minutes.

It was reminiscent of his showing against the Storm last season at the Rock: 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a runaway Hall triumph.

If there was one common thread throughout this season for the Pirates, it’s that they were so much more competitive when Addae-Wusu played. The season’s biggest embarrassments (blowout losses to Butler and St. John’s at home and DePaul on the road) came while he was injured….

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/seton-hall-basketball-fights-falls-214854956.html

Author : App.com | Asbury Park Press

Publish date : 2025-03-01 21:48:00

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