Creighton vs. Seton Hall: 3 Things We Learned

1) Angel Delgado will win Big East Rookie of the year

Folks, the race for Big East Rookie of the Year is over. If Seton Hall freshman Angel Delgado does not win it he will have been robbed by whoever else gets it. All season long, Delgado’s rebounding has been off the charts. He is the best rebounder in the Big East, and the kid is only a freshman. Against the Jays, Delgado picked up his ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 boards. Delgado’s 11th rebound came on the offensive end, and led to his game-winning put-back with 15.9 seconds to play in regulation.

Delgado picked up two fouls in the first half and seemed to be getting emotional on the bench, which is not new for him. In the second half, he led the Pirates, along with Desi Rodriguez and others in the comeback victory. Delgado was the player of the game and is probably the player of the season for The Hall.

2) Do not sleep on Hall and Creighton in the Conference tournament

We saw Seton Hall beat Villanova and DePaul upset Georgetown at the Big East Tournament last season. A four-seeded Providence team won it, which means that fans and certainly teams cannot sleep on the bottom four teams in the conference. The Pirates finally ended their losing streak and have a talented team that is trying to come into their own on both sides of the basketball. With Gibbs coming back and Isaiah Whitehead slowly improving, the Pirates can make a big impact on the conference tournament.

Creighton has won four of their last eight games and when they are shooting well from three point land have beaten the likes of Xavier on the road. They have battled hard with teams like Seton Hall and Butler too. Austin Chatman is a good scorer and showed today that he is clutch when it matters most. The Bluejays have some big men like Will Artino, Geoffrey Groselle and Rick Kreklow who can make an impact in a number of different ways for this team. Watch out for these teams in March because March, as we know, is madness.

3) What the H? Haralds Karlis came up huge with Gibbs out

In the first game of his final homestand, senior Haralds Karlis was relied on to make some plays and to the surprise of many, he came though. Karlis led the Pirates with 14 points on 4-6 shooting from the field and 3-5 from behind the arc. With Whitehead struggling and Gibbs cheering his team on from the bench, Karlis hit important three pointers and helped to make the final stop of the game on defense in that wild sequence that took place in the final seconds.

As Karlis wraps up his Pirate career, he looks to help get the Pirates into a postseason tournament, whether it is the NIT or NCAA. Coach Willard said after the game that he "hates Senior Night" as Karlis, Stephane Manga and Brandon Mobley will play their last home game as Pirates. They all look to contribute to a Seton Hall team that is looking to turn their season around.