Juniors Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) and Angel Delgado (Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic) shot a combined 18-of-22 from the field for 45 points, and the Seton Hall men’s basketball team’s defense held DePaul to only 28 percent shooting in the second half as the Pirates pulled away for an 87-56 BIG EAST victory over the Blue Demons Saturday on Kids Day at Prudential Center.
Rodriguez scored 23 of his game-high 25 points in the first half alone, when he was 5-for-5 from three-point range and 9-for-9 from the field. Delgado earned his ninth-consecutive double-double with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting and 12 rebounds.
Billy Garrett was the only Blue Demon in double figures with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
Turning Point
The Hall (12-3, 2-1 BIG EAST) built a 16-6 lead over the first 5:29 with 10 points coming from Rodriguez and four from Delgado. The Blue Demons, however, made a 10-0 run that took just 2:21 off the game clock to square things at 16-16.
DePaul (7-9, 0-3 BIG EAST) was within five after an Eli Cain 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining in the opening half, but Rodriguez promptly responded with a trey of his own and then connected on his ninth bucket of the half, a mid-range jumper, to push the lead to 41-31 at the break.
The Pirates kept their foot on the gas to the start of the second half and connected on their first three shots of the frame including back-to-back treys from junior Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Rodriguez.
Stifling defense and strong rebounding fueled a 24-4 run over the first 8:41 of the second half to build a decisive 67-35 lead with 11:19 to go. DePaul was only 7-for-25 from the field in the second half.
Inside the Numbers
- Seton Hall made a season-high 13 three-pointers and shot 46.4 percent from deep. Its previous high in any game was nine vs. Columbia and at Creighton.
- The offense was efficient all day, tying its season high for assists with 21. In fact, the Pirates generated an assist on 63.6 percent of their field goals on the day, a season-best percentage.
- SHU was 33-of-61 (54.1 percent) from the field. It is the seventh time this season the Pirates have shot 50.0 percent or better.
- On the defensive end, the Pirates limited DePaul to 37.0 percent shooting from the field including 28.6 from long range, and just four assists and 16 turnovers.
- DePaul guard Eli Cain was limited to nine points on 3-of-12 (25.0 percent) shooting after entering the game averaging a team-best 17.9 points per game.
- Senior Madison Jones (Raleigh, N.C.), Rodriguez and Carrington dished out four assists each and Delgado added three.
- Freshman Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) hit four shots from 3-point range including an “and-1” in the second half to finish with 13 points.
- Carrington collected 10 points to extend his double-figure scoring streak to 15 games.
- Delgado connected on 8-of-9 shots and all four of his free-throw attempts to pick up his third 20-point game this season and ninth-consecutive double-double. He is averaging 17.0 points and 12.7 rebounds during the double-double streak. The last Pirate to double dip in 10 straight games was Eddie Griffin in 2001.
- The Pirates improve to 29-5 when Delgado records a double-double including wins in 23 of the last 24.
- Rodriguez tied his career high of five three-pointers on just seven attempts en route to his fourth 20-point performance of the season. His 23 first-half points were the most for any Pirate in any half this season. He started the game making his first 10 field goal attempts. The record for most consecutive field goals made in a single game is 12, held by John Ramsey (Dec. 3, 1974 vs. St. Michael’s) and Brian Laing (Dec. 31, 2007 vs. Delaware State).
- SHU held a 42-27 advantage on the glass including 14 offensive boards. Additionally, the Pirates outscored the Blue Demons 32-24 in the paint, 23-15 off turnovers, 15-8 in second chance points, and 27-11 in bench scoring.
- Freshman guard Eron Gordon (Indianapolis, Ind.) totaled six points, five rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Dalton Soffer (San Diego, Calif.) drained a pair of triples for six points in 10 minutes of action.
News & Notes
- The 31-point margin of victory matches the largest in school history over a BIG EAST opponent in a conference game. The other occurrence was on Feb. 5, 2000, a 97-66 home win over West Virginia.
- It is the second victory of 30 or more points in a BIG EAST conference game for head coach Kevin Willard. His Pirates defeated St. John’s, 94-64, on Feb. 14, 2012.
- The largest margin of victory over a BIG EAST school overall was a 33-point, 103-70, victory over Syracuse to win the BIG EAST Championship in 1993. Impressively, the second-highest margin of victory also came in the league tournament, a 79-47 win over Providence on March 6, 2012.
- Saturday’s victory was the third in a row for SHU over DePaul. The all-time series now stands at 13-6 in favor of the Pirates, including 8-1 in home games.
- The Pirates have now won nine consecutive home games (eight at Prudential Center), dating back to last season. Seton Hall is 18-3 at Prudential Center since the start of the 2015-16 season.
- Carrington moved into 38th on the SHU all-time scoring list with 1,032 career points.
- SHU improves to 6-0 when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting.
- The Hall is now 36-1 in its last 37 games when holding at least a seven-point lead at any point in the contest.
Up Next
Seton Hall takes on Marquette for the second time in 10 days when it travels to Milwaukee on Wednesday. The game will be nationally televised on FS1 at 7 p.m., and Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the radio call on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network (available on SHUPirates.com and the SHU Pirates Mobile App).