The BIG EAST named Seton Hall men’s basketball’s Adam “Budd” Clark its Player of the Week on Monday.
After a derailing two-week stretch of four-straight losses put their NCAA Tournament hopes at risk, the Pirates couldn’t afford to lose another game, especially another one at home.
The junior guard responded accordingly, leading The Hall to a pair of comeback wins at the Prudential Center last week to get them back on track ahead of an important stretch of games on the road this week, as well as the final month of league play, where every game counts even more than the last.
In their first contest against Xavier on Jan. 28, Clark and fellow junior guard Tajuan Simpkins combined for 51 of the Pirates’ 86 total points, scoring a season-high 24 points and a career-high 27 points, respectively.
Trailing 41-30 at halftime, Clark led The Hall to an initial 12-0 run out of the break, which then exploded into a 23-3 run minutes later; with SHU turning an 11-point deficit into a 9-point lead in the half’s first seven minutes.
In the remaining 13 minutes, the Pirates never led by fewer than four points, as they outscored the Musketeers 56-27 in the second half to snap their four-game losing streak with an 86-68 win. During the Pirates’ second-half comeback, Clark scored 17 of his 24 total points.
In addition to his season-high 24 points, which came on 50% (8-for-16) shooting from the field and 88.8% (8-for-9) from the line, Clark had his best all-around performance of the season: the five-foot-10 guard also recorded a season-high seven rebounds, as well as four assists and four steals.
“I like running the show,” Clark said during WSOU 89.5 FM’s Pirate Primetime featuring him and Simpkins on Sunday evening. “I like getting my teammates open, I like to score, I like to defend—I like to do a little bit of everything, honestly.”
A true point guard, Clark is at his best when he is quarterbacking the Pirates’ offense and playmaking for his teammates. He acknowledged this, as well as how much enjoyment he gets out of doing so, after the game.
“I like seeing all my guys make shots, and have fun, and find a way to win,” Clark said. “Tonight, [Simpkins] was the hot hand, so it was my goal to find him.”
Simpkins, meanwhile, had his best scoring performance of the season, with a career-high 27 points on 52.9% (9-for-17) shooting from the field and 62.5% (5-for-8) from deep.
The first off the bench for SHU, Simpkins’ performance put him in elite Pirate company: his 27 points were not only the most by a Pirate since Isaiah Coleman scored 27 against Marquette on Jan. 21, 2025, but also the most points scored by a Pirate off the bench since Kadary Richmond also scored 27 against UConn on Jan. 8, 2022.
If it were possible, Simpkins would be the Pirates’ sixth starter, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Brooklyn native were a candidate for the BIG EAST Sixth Man Award at the end of the regular season.
In SHU’s second contest against Marquette on Jan. 31, while Simpkins had a quieter game, scoring just nine points, Clark led the charge for the Pirates once again. Finding themselves trailing at halftime (as per usual), Clark engineered yet another second-half comeback win for The Hall, who have rallied from behind in the second half of all six of their wins in conference play this season.
“It's not good for my health,” said head coach Shaheen Holloway about such comebacks after the game.
Finishing with game-highs in points and assists, Clark scored 15 of his 19 total points and dished four of his six total assists in the second half alone. Similar to their game against Xavier, SHU opened the half on a 12-3 run through the first six minutes to erase an eight-point deficit, with Clark contributing most of those points, either scoring them himself or getting his teammates involved, like senior forward Stephon Payne. The 12th point of the run was a reverse layup underneath by Clark after he shook his defender on the baseline that gave SHU their first lead of the game, 45-44, at 14:42.
When not scoring inside, Clark does most of his work from the mid-range, with teams, including Marquette, struggling to stop his signature elbow jumper off-the-dribble.
“That’s just something I work on day in and day out,” Clark said. “I’ve been working on it my whole life, so I just try to get to my spot and shoot it.”
Later in the game, although it didn’t show up in the stat sheet, the junior guard also recorded a “hockey-assist” on a made three-pointer by graduate guard AJ Staton-McCray that proved to be the game’s dagger, SHU leading 67-64 with just 1:18 left. They would go on to win, 69-64, after a pair of made free throws by Clark iced the game in its final seconds.
As mentioned, Clark finished with game-highs of 19 points and six assists, once again on 50% and 8-for-16 shooting, in addition to three rebounds and two steals. It was another solid all-around performance from the Philly native, who is willing to do whatever it takes to earn the Pirates a win.
“I just wanted to find a way to win, whatever it takes: me getting an assist, me getting steals, me scoring,” Clark said after the game. “Tonight, I did a little bit of both: I scored, I dished it out a little bit, and I just brought energy to the game, energy to my team, and tried to lead them to a victory.”
Lead them he did, earning his first Player of the Week honor and his third overall honor from the conference this season in the process.
Clark will have to play just as well this week when the Pirates go on a tough two-game road trip, with both games having NCAA Tournament implications. The Hall will first visit Villanova (16-5, 7-3 BIG EAST) on Feb. 4, with a Quad 1 win over former SHU head coach Kevin Willard and the Wildcats “putting them back in” the tournament field according to New Jersey-based bracketologist Brad Wachtel, then the Creighton Bluejays (12-9, 6-4 BIG EAST) on Feb. 7, another Quad 1 matchup.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
