The Seton Hall Pirates were back in action tonight at the Prudential Center to take on the St. John’s Red Storm. Before the game we spoke to Carmine Carcieri who writes for Rumble in The Garden, the SB Nation page for St. John’s. His answers to our questions can be seen in our previous post. The Pirates had a tough go of things early but would turn it on to down the Red Storm 79-60.

The Pirates started slow in the first half of this game. Sloppy play and a myriad of turnovers led to St. John’s jumping in front early. With 10:07 left in the first half the Red Storm held an 18-10 lead. The Pirates would then begin to chip into the lead and tie the game with 5:31 to go in the first half. Desi Rodriguez would then give the Pirates a two point lead and from there the Pirates would build a lead to go into the break. The highlight of the first half was Desi Rodriguez throwing down an alley oop from Derrick Gordon. The Pirates would take a 34-26 lead into the locker room.

In the first half the Johnnies were led by Christian Jones with 8 points and 3 rebounds. Kassoum Yakwe led St. John’s with 5 rebounds in the first half. Ron Mvouika added 6 points and 4 rebounds. St. John’s shot just 27% from the field in the first half.

The Pirates were led by Isaiah Whitehead in the first half with 10 points and 4 rebounds. Desi Rodriguez added 6 points and 4 rebounds. Ismael Sanogo chipped in 6 points and 5 rebounds. Angel Delgado led the Pirates in the first half with 8 rebounds.

The second half was dominated by the Pirates. Seton Hall came out and scored the first 8 points of the second half. With 17:31 to go in the second half, an Angel Delgado layup gave the Pirates a 42-26 lead. The Pirates would pad their lead throughout the second half. The Pirates led by as much as 28 points in the second half. There were many stand out performers in the second half for the Hall. One of the more unlikely ones was Dalton Soffer. The freshman came on and hit 2 three pointers to help extend the lead for the Pirates. Angel Delgado and Isaiah Whitehead also had huge games for the Pirates. Ultimately, the Pirates would cruise to a 79-60 victory over the Red Storm.

The Johnnies were led by Christian Jones with 15 points and 3 steals. Kassoum Yakwe led the Red Storm on the glass with 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. Durand Johnson, Federico Mussini, and Ron Mvouika all scored 9 points for St. John’s. The Red Storm shot just 29.2% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.

The Pirates were led by Angel Delgado tonight. The sophomore from the Dominican Republic 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Hall. He dominated down low and was a big reason the Pirates had such a great game. Isaiah Whitehead was the leading scorer with 19 points and he also grabbed 7 rebounds. Khadeen Carrington also scored in double digits as he added 11 points and dished out 5 assists. Ismael Sanogo chipped in 8 points and 7 rebounds. Derrick Gordon had a solid game with 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.

With the loss the Red Storm falls to 7-14 overall and 0-8 in Big East play. With the victory the Pirates improve to 14-6 overall and 4-4 in Big East play. St. John’s will now head home to take on the Villanova Wildcats on Sunday. The Pirates will travel to Nebraska to take on the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday night.

We would like to give a big thank you to Carmine Carcieri for his insight into the St. John’s program. He is a terrific journalist and I would highly recommend checking out his recap which can be accessed here. Check out the PPI to see which Pirates players performed well tonight. We will have full coverage of the Creighton game on Saturday. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.