There are no easy victories in the Big East conference, and no team is proving that more than Seton Hall. The Pirates are 3-1 in conference play with victories over the defending champion UConn Huskies, an excellent Providence team, and now the No. 7 ranked Marquette Golden Eagles, who they defeated 78-75 on Saturday.
The Pirates had a 10-point lead with 2:25 to go but a handful of turnovers allowed Marquette to come back within one before Seton Hall was able to put it away. Al-Amir Dawes had 23 points while Kadary Richmond added 21 with five assists.
Seton Hall is now 10-5 on the year and 3-1 in the Big East, with three huge victories masking an ugly 20-point loss to Xavier – which highlights the confusing story of Shaheen Holloway’s team this season.
The Pirates came into the day ranked 79th in the NET, with a 2-2 record in Quad 1 games but only a 0-2 record in Quad 2 and 1-1 in Quad 3.
However, the losses are all incredibly respectable: USC and Iowa on neutral sites, Baylor on the road, Rutgers at home, and Xavier on the road.
It’s incredibly hard to ignore a team that has wins over UConn, Marquette, and Providence, and it’s possible the team’s win over Missouri will age well if the Tigers can find success in the SEC.
All this to say, the Pirates are building a resume that could put them on the March Madness bubble, and further demonstrates the depth of the Big East just a few weeks into the conference season.