NEW YORK — When assessing his Seton Hall team’s chances in the Big East tournament, Shaheen Holloway, as is usually the case, did not mince words.
The Pirates’ head coach reiterated that his team had a propensity to make things difficult for itself, not liking to make situations easy. Therefore, Seton Hall would have to, in his own words, “go to New York and take it” if it were to win a conference championship for the first time in a decade.
Ten years to the day after Seton Hall tasted the ultimate success, it took the first step toward a second crowning moment.
Led by 16 points each from Budd Clark and Jacob Dar, the Pirates overcame a determined effort Creighton with their own defensive intensity and scrappy nature, scoring a 72-61 win over the Bluejays for Holloway’s first conference tournament victory at his alma mater.
“I thought we came out, I thought we had good energy,” Holloway said as Seton Hall advanced to the Big East tournament semifinals for the first time since 2021. “We did a really good job the first half. In the first four minutes of the second half, we kind of lost our mind a little bit, and then once we settled down, we kind of got back into it.”
The first half was a back-and-forth battle, as Clark and Elijah Fisher steadied Seton Hall against the Creighton offense, contesting a majority of the Bluejays’ shots from beyond the three-point line. Still, the backcourt tandem of Josh Dix and Nik Graves kept the No. 5 seed in the game, triggering a 14-4 run out of halftime to take a three-point lead, at 40-37.
“I love the way we started the second half,” head coach Greg McDermott said. “I thought we grabbed the momentum in the game, we didn’t have much of that in the first half. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish the job.”
The reason for that was attributed to an unlikely hero.
Jacob Dar, traditionally a rotation piece who infuses energy for Seton Hall, erupted for his best performance of the season. The senior scored all of his 16 points in the second half, in fewer than 15 minutes of play, making five of his six field goal attempts and matching his season total for three-pointers made with two crucial triples as the Pirates flipped the game on its head.
“My coaches trust me, my teammates trust me,” Dar said of his confidence to produce when called upon. “So it was just about going out there, playing hard, putting in the work. It’s always going to pay off, so it felt great seeing that.”
“That’s why he’s here,” Holloway added. “Sometimes throughout the season, you kind of go through ups and downs, but give him credit. He always stayed ready no matter what. He practiced hard just like he plays, and that kind of stuff is contagious.”
The Pirates will face St. John’s in Friday’s semifinal round, hoping the third time against Rick Pitino and the Red Storm will be the charm after two close losses. Holloway said his team would prepare the same way it normally would, hinting that when you defend and rebound, you give your team a chance to win.
“We’re gonna do what Seton Hall does,” he said. “We’re going to defend, play hard, and what happens from there happens from there.”
It gets no easier for Seton Hall, but maybe that’s how the Pirates want it.