Seton Hall beat Providence Saturday in the first round of the Big East Tournament in Milwaukee, 73-60. Seton Hall came in losing its last seven games, however, the team was able to find a rhythm early.
At the first media timeout, Seton Hall was up 9-8 and after a quick run and a three-pointer from Deja Winters, the Pirates were up 14-8. At the end of one Seton Hall led 18-12. JaQuan Jackson led the scoring with eight.
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The second quarter was a good one for Seton Hall where it opened up with a 7-0 run to make the score 27-16 Pirates.
Providence cut the Seton Hall lead to four with 2:51 remaining in the first half but the Pirates finished strong and led at the half 37-30. The Hall’s shooting percentage of 57 percent showed them to be in an offensive groove and would not let Providence catch up.
Their intensity continued into the second half and after a Jackson three, it was 47-41 Pirates. The Friars continued to try to catch up but a buzzer-beating putback by Lubirdia Gordon made it 53-44 going into the final quarter and ignited more momentum.
Seton Hall defense was suffocating Providence as it shot only 20 percent from three.
In the fourth quarter, Seton Hall finished off its stellar performance, up 61-53 with 4:25 left then keeping the lead by forcing bad shots from Providence. The Pirates finished the game out and won by a final of 73-60.
Hilaire led in scoring with 18 and Jackson was just behind with 17. The Pirates shot 51 percent as a team and outrebounded Providence 39-22 to secure a win.
Seton Hall will face No. 1-seeded DePaul in the second round of the Tournament on Sunday at 7 p.m.
Keith Egan can be reached at keith.egan@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @Keith_egan10.
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