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The Seton Hall Pirates certainly have a flair for the dramatic.
Two weeks ago, the Pirates lost at home to Villanova to fall to 6-8 in Big East play and 16-10 overall. Saturday afternoon, the Pirates went to Hinkle Fieldhouse and defeated the Butler Bulldogs, 70-64, for their fourth straight victory.
It was, without a doubt, the biggest win of the year at the most important time of the year for the Pirates.
Desi Rodriguez led the Pirates with 21 points, while Angel Delgado had 20 points and 16 rebounds. As is often the case, the Pirates go as far as those two, along with Khadeen Carrington (17 points) take them. That has been the case all season, and will be the case throughout the Big East and NCAA Tournaments.
For Butler, Kelan Martin once again looked like his old self with 19 points and six rebounds in his newfound bench role. Senior Avery Woodson had 13 in his final game at Hinkle Fieldhouse, while senior Andrew Chrabascz had six points on 3-11 shooting.
The Bulldogs led by 10 points with seven minutes to play, but Delgado, Carrington, and freshman Myles Powell wouldn’t be denied, as they made countless big shots down the stretch.
At the end of the day, this loss doesn’t impact Butler in the Big East Tournament, as they’re still the 2-seed. However, the Bulldogs will likely slide down to a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and will almost certainly not play in Milwaukee.
For Seton Hall, meanwhile, the victory is huge. They jump up to the 5-seed in the Big East Tournament and are almost certainly going to their second straight NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993 and 1994.