Jared Rhoden had 17 points as Seton Hall held off Georgetown 57-53 in the first round of the Big East Conference tournament Wednesday night, at Madison Square Garden.
Myles Cale had 14 points for the sixth-seeded Pirates (21-9). Alexis Yetna added 11 rebounds, while Ike Obiagu blocked seven shots.
Aminu Mohammed had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the 10th-seeded Hoyas (6-25). Donald Carey and Collin Holloway both scored 11.
Seton Hall came into the tournament as the hottest team in the conference, winners of five straight and eight of their last 10. The Hoyas, however, were up for the challenge and made sure this wouldn’t be an easy night for the Pirates.
The Pirates used an 11-3 run over the final 4:38 to rally from a four-point deficit and escape with the hard-fought victory.
“What’s great about this group is that they never get rattled,” Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard said afterwards. “We got down four and they understood what we had to do and it’s nice having that veteran presence.”
With the win, Seton Hall advances to play No. 3 seed Connecticut in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Image: Andrew Mills
