Seton Hall basketball tops Butler as guards star, closing in on NCAAs
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The buzzer sounded on another huge win for Seton Hall basketball, which took a giant step closer to an NCAA Tournament berth, and Jaden Bediako strode through the paint one last time.
The Pirates’ center wasn’t going to the hoop, however.
He was going to the student section.
Bediako celebrated Saturday’s 76-64 handling of fellow bubble squad Butler by exchanging hugs and high-fives with schoolmates who came out in droves for the first time in over a month. He was quickly followed by the rest of his teammates.
“They’re part of the win, also,” postgrad guard Al-Amir Dawes said. “They give us a lot of energy. When they’re there we feed off that. Shout-out to the student section.”
The presence of at least 1,000 of them – this from a school with an undergraduate enrollment of 6,000 – meant a lot to the players, who took to the campus’ main dining hall Thursday to promote this crucial game.
“That was a good experience, just being able to embrace them as they embrace us,” senior wing Dre Davis said. “Obviously they came out tonight and really showed a lot of support and a lot of love. That means a lot and it goes a long way.”
It wasn’t just the students. The sold-out crowd of 10,500 largely arrived on time and burst into two standing ovations in the opening minutes as the Hall jumped out to a 16-3 lead thanks to stifling ball pressure.
“It was good to see the turnout, especially because the last couple of crowds, they were there, but they weren’t there how they were tonight,” senior guard Kadary Richmond said. “So we appreciate them taking their time out of their Saturday to watch us get a big win.”
Seton Hall doesn’t have the built-in advantage of an on-campus, basketball-specific arena. The Prudential Center is a spiffy pro hockey venue that transitions pretty well for hoops – better than the Meadowlands Arena every did – but its atmosphere is largely what its denizens make of it.
“For them to be out here and understand the importance of this game and the next couple games, it’s super important,” Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said. “But not just for the students, I want to say all the regular fans have been coming out all year, and I want to thank those guys for coming out as well.”
They’ve bore witness to one of the more impressive surprises in college basketball. Picked to finish ninth in the Big East’s preseason coaches’ poll and left for dead after a rocky non-conference showing, Seton Hall (18-9 overall, 11-5 Big East) now needs just two wins in its final four games to lock up a Big Dance spot. That includes a Senior Night home game against winless DePaul.
The Pirates are now 8-7 vs. Quads 1-2 – an important metric for the selection committee. A record of .500 or better in those contests is viewed favorably. As bracketologist Brad Wachtel pointed out, only one high-major team ever has been left out of the field with a winning record against Quads 1-2.
They have beaten Butler…
Read More: Seton Hall basketball tops Butler as guards star, closing in on NCAAs 2024-02-25 06:22:30