INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Seton Hall never panicked. The Pirates simply stuck to their game plan.
Even when they fell behind by double digits, the Pirates knew if they wanted to win the game they couldn’t afford to lose their composure.
Angel Delgado scored 28 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Khadeen Carrington finished with 29 points and No. 21 Seton Hall overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat Butler 90-87 on Saturday.
“I told the guys, we could be down 20 (and come back). We’ve been through this a lot of times. These guys, they know how to handle it,” Delgado said.
Seton Hall trailed 65-54 with just under 10 minutes to play in the game when they used a 16-3 scoring run to take the lead. Butler and Seton Hall would trade the lead several times during the final 3 minutes in what became a quick-paced, back-and-forth scoring frenzy.
Desi Rodriguez scored 19 points for Seton Hall (14-2, 3-0 Big East).
With 1:08 left in the game, Carrington pushed the ball up the court and drove the lane for the go-ahead basket to make it 84-82. Butler’s Kelan Martin missed a jumper with 13 seconds remaining and Seton Hall sealed the win at the free throw line.
The key to success for the Pirates was working their offense through Delgado inside and creating shots off kick-out passes, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said.
“The main thing we talked about was to get the ball inside consistently,” Willard said. “I thought our guys did a really good job of getting the ball (to Delgado). He’s just been passing at such a high level, it’s like having a point guard in the post.”
Delgado finished with six of Seton Hall’s 18 assists.
The road win marks the fifth straight for Seton Hall. The Pirates finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field (27 of 55).
Martin finished with 27 points for Butler (12-5, 2-2). Kamar Baldwin scored 14 points for the Bulldogs, including a 3-pointer with less than a second remaining in the game that pulled Butler back to 88-87. Henry Baddley also finished with 14 points for Butler. Butler’s bench outscored Seton Hall’s 32-14.
The Pirates’ largest lead of the game was just four points during a first half when they trailed often. The Bulldogs led 40-36 at halftime and extended their lead at the start of the second half.
“I love the way our guys continued to fight,” Butler coach LaVall Jordan said. “But we’ve got to fight a little harder there. We can’t dwell on it, we’ve got to move on to the next one. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us, we’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to learn from it.”
RETURN TO THE TOP
The Pirates are 3-0 in the Big East for the first time since 1998-99.
BIG PICTURE
Seton Hall will have three more games against unranked conference opponents before it hosts No. 5 Xavier on Jan. 20. Undefeated thus far in conference play, the Pirates won’t face the defending Big East champions until they travel to No. 3 Villanova on Feb. 4. Seton Hall and Butler won’t meet again until the regular season finale on March 3.
UP NEXT
Seton Hall visits Marquette on Tuesday.
Butler travels to Creighton on Tuesday.
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