Seton Hall basketball rallies at Butler, stays in NCAA Tournament hunt
· Yahoo Sports
Sometimes college basketball games are won on shot-making and skill. Sometimes they’re won on guts.
Seton Hall’s critical 63-56 triumph at Butler was unquestionably the latter.
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Riddled with fouls and an off game from star guard Budd Clark, the Hall (18-8 overall, 8-7 Big East) rallied from a seven-point second-half deficit and held the Bulldogs to 30 percent shooting at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Butler (13-12, 4-10) entered on a five-game losing streak and without injured guards Finley Bizjack (17.4 ppg) and Azavier Robinson (6.1 ppg), who combined for 39 points on 12-of-17 shooting in the Bulldogs’ 77-66 win at the Prudential Center last month.
The Bulldogs came into the day with a NET ranking of 74 – Quad 1 territory,
The Pirates came in with a NET of 51. Their road/neutral record of 7-5 is a huge plus, but their 2-5 mark against Quad 1 is a negative, and their 6-8 ledger against Quads 1-2 needs to get up to .500 or better.
Since the start of the 2016-17 season the Pirates are 9-3 at Hinkle Fieldhouse – 7-3 against Butler and 2-0 in the NIT.
3 THOUGHTS
1-Lineup changes, Mike Williams responds
For the first time all season, Shaheen Holloway made a change to his starting lineup, moving in junior guard Tajuan Simpkins (10.8 ppg, .438 field-goal percentage), .402 3-point percentage) over junior guard Mike Williams (7.1 ppg, .359 from the floor, .319 from 3-point range). The Hall had fallen into holes coming out of the gate in most games, and this was the clearest way to shake things up.
Holloway had been inching toward this move for weeks, starting Simpkins in the second half in several recent games and pulling Williams before the first timeout of the first half during Wednesday’s victory over Providence.
What impact did the change have? The Hall led 6-2 with all the starters on the floor, but trailed 10-8 when Williams came in for Simpkins at the 11:42 mark.
More significantly, though, Williams played his best game in quite some time, posting 10 points, three rebounds and three steals in 20 minutes off the bench. His plus/minus of plus-13 led the team. Holloway pushed the exact right button on this one.
2. A.J. Staton-McCray steps up
The postgrad captain came through when the Hall needed him most, chalking up 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and adding five boards. He also came up huge on a late scramble, tracking down a loose ball that led to Budd Clark’s late bucket that gave the Pirates a four-point lead.
After a 23-point slog in the first half, someone had to shoot over the zone. Staton-McCray was that guy.
3. Must-win homestand next
The Pirates don’t have a bad loss on the resume, and they must keep it clean against two Quad 3 foes in Newark this week – Wednesday against DePaul (13-12, 5-9) and Saturday against Georgetown (13-12, 5-9).
There’s a possibility that a respectable amount of students will show up for the DePaul game (8 p.m. truTV) because this is a Greek Night event – a twice-yearly promotion that tends to spark student-attendance.
The benchmark is clear, according to noted New Jersey bracketologist Brad Wachtel: A 12-8 Big East record, including a win over either UConn (on the road, Feb. 28) or St. John’s (at home, March 6), would put the Pirates in the mix for a Big Dance bid.
3 QUOTES
From Shaheen Holloway’s postgame radio interview with Dave Popkin (on the way)…
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball rallies at Butler, stays in NCAA Tournament hunt