Seton Hall Storms Past Creighton in March Madness Theater—Now Faces St. John's in Winner-Takes-All Semifinal
Seton Hall just pulled off the kind of upset that makes college basketball worth watching on a Thursday afternoon. A 72-61 demolition of No. 5 Creighton sent the Pirates into the Big East Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2019, and nobody—and I mean nobody—saw the hero coming.
A backup wing named Jacob Dar exploded for 16 points in just 15 minutes of play. That's it. That's the story.
The Kid Nobody Expected
Here's the wild part: Dar averaged 2.4 points off the bench coming into this tournament. In his previous nine games, he'd scored all of 13 points combined. He hit two 3-pointers in this game—which doubled his entire tournament output before Thursday's tip-off. The 6-foot-7 wing also pulled down five boards, playing with the kind of energy that makes you wonder why coaches don't trust these guys sooner.
"It was great," Dar told reporters afterward, and you could hear the relief in his voice. "My coaches trust me, my teammates trust me, so it was just about going out there, playing hard, putting in the work. It's always going to pay off."
That's the thing about March college basketball. It doesn't care about your season stats. It doesn't care that you've been riding the bench all year. When the clock starts and the crowd roars, you either show up or you don't. Dar showed up.
Adam Clark: The Merrimack Transfer Who Became Essential
But Dar wasn't the only Pirate who stepped up. Adam "Budd" Clark, a transfer from Merrimack, orchestrated the entire second-half show. The point guard finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists—the kind of all-around stat line that wins tournament games. Clark made the All-Big East second team as a first-year player in the conference, which tells you something about his adjustment period.
With Creighton closing the gap to just two points with 5:19 left on the clock, the Pirates needed someone to take over. Clark did exactly that, igniting a 12-4 run that essentially put the game away. The kid played like he had something to prove, and in the Garden—one of college basketball's most iconic venues—he made every statement count.
"That's what we came here to the Big East for," Clark said in the postgame presser, his voice steady and confident. "That's what we came to Seton Hall for, to play in the big games on a big stage in the Garden. You can't ask for anything better."
From Preseason Pariahs to March Contenders
This is where the story gets interesting. Seton Hall (21-11) was picked to finish dead last in the Big East before the season started. The conventional wisdom said the Pirates didn't belong in this conference. The talking heads on cable TV were ready to write them off before November even ended.
Instead, they finished fourth in the regular season standings. Fourth. In a league that includes powerhouses like top-seeded St. John's and No. 2 Connecticut, the Pirates somehow found a way to compete week after week.
Coach Shaheen Holloway deserves credit here. He took a team built on heart and hustle and made it dangerous. Holloway's a former player who understands what it takes to win in tight spots. He sees players like Clark—undersized, underestimated—and he gets it. He played that way himself.
"What I liked about Budd was that he played with a chip on his shoulder," Holloway said after the Creighton game. "He played with the passion and the heart and the determination that I kind of played with. And I love the fact that people counted him out because of his size."
The Road Ahead: St. John's Looms
Now comes the real test. Seton Hall will face St. John's on Friday night in the Big East Tournament semifinals, and this is where reality crashes into Cinderella stories. The Johnnies are one of the conference's elite programs. They've got NBA talent. They've got Rick Pitino running the show. They're everything Seton Hall is trying to build toward.
But here's the thing: these teams have played four times already this season, and every single game came down to the wire. All four losses were close. Tight. Winnable. That's not a sign of a team that's outmatched. That's a sign of a team that belongs.
Barring a Big East Tournament championship run, Seton Hall probably won't make the NCAA Tournament. The math doesn't work. A 21-11 record in a mid-major conference just doesn't cut it for the selection committee. These Pirates know it. They've had to live with it all season.
But you can't discount them, either. Not anymore. Not after Thursday's performance. Not with Dar hitting shots he's never hit before. Not with Clark running the offense like a seasoned veteran. Not with Holloway drawing up plays that work in the Garden.
The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters
College basketball's beauty lies in moments like these—when a backup wing becomes a starter, when a transfer proves doubters wrong, when a team picked to finish last suddenly has everyone's attention. This isn't about Seton Hall's NCAA Tournament hopes anymore (though they'd love to get there). This is about a group of kids who were told they weren't good enough, and they came out and showed otherwise.
The Big East Tournament is one of the most competitive mid-major conferences in America. It's brutal. It's unforgiving. Teams have to earn everything they get, and there are no free passes. Seton Hall's run through the quarterfinals proved they belong in that conversation.
Against the elite programs in the Big East, the Pirates have shown they can hang. St. John's is a different animal—Pitino's got them rolling, and the talent gap is real. But in a single-elimination tournament, talent doesn't always win. Momentum does. Heart does. Getting hot at the right time does.
Seton Hall has momentum. They've got players stepping up when it matters most. And they've got a coach who knows how to win in these situations.
Creighton's Collapse and What It Means
On the flip side, Creighton (15-17) came into this tournament as a No. 5 seed with real NCAA Tournament aspirations. The Bluejays have talent. They've got shooters. They've got pedigree. And they got absolutely outplayed by a team everyone said would finish in the basement of the Big East.
That's March basketball. That's why the tournament matters. Creighton's season is likely over. They needed this game to make the NCAA Tournament, and they couldn't get it done when it mattered. Meanwhile, Seton Hall's season just got a whole lot more interesting.
The Tournament Bracket Unveiled
The Big East Tournament bracket is starting to take shape, and it's wide open. With St. John's and Connecticut at the top, everyone else is fighting for scraps. Seton Hall's path to the championship is brutal—they'd have to go through both powerhouses in the next two games. But stranger things have happened. Just ask Jacob Dar, who went from averaging 2.4 points to the star of the quarterfinals.
The semifinal against St. John's tips off Friday night. If the Pirates play with the same energy they showed against Creighton, if Clark continues to run the offense with precision, if Dar keeps hitting shots, then maybe—just maybe—this Cinderella story has another chapter in it.
The Bottom Line
Seton Hall's 72-61 victory over Creighton wasn't just about advancing in a tournament. It was about a group of kids telling the entire college basketball world that preseason
0 Comments