The Seton Hall Pirates were back in action today as they took on the St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden. Before the game we spoke with Carmine Carcieri of Rumble in the Garden. Carmine provided some great info and predicted that the Pirates would beat St. John’s 68-65. The Pirates struggled mightily in the second half and nearly blew this game that they had to win. The Pirates would ultimately defeat the Johnnies though 62-61.

The Pirates came out of the gate very fast to start this one. They scored the first 13 points of the game. Desi Rodriguez had 11 of the Pirates 13 points to start the game. With 7:10 remaining in the first half, Khadeen Carrington hit a three pointer to give the Hall a 19 point lead. The Johnnies would ultimately trim the lead down to 14 before the half. The Pirates ended up leading 36-22 at the half.

St. John’s was led in the first half by Felix Balamou with 7 points. Kassoum Yakwe added 5 points and 5 rebounds. Malik Ellison chipped in 4 points and 2 rebounds. The Johnnies shot 42.9% from the field and was 0-5 from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Pirates were led by Desi Rodriguez with 19 points. Khadeen Carrington added 5 points and 3 rebounds. Derrick Gordon chipped in 5 points and Michael Nzei led the Pirates with 4 rebounds in the first half. The Pirates shot 50% from the field and 54.5% from beyond the arc in the first half.

St. John’s came out hot to start the second half. Baskets from Durand Johnson and Amar Alibegovic cut the Pirates lead to 6 to start the half. The Pirates would increase the lead to 13 but the Red Storm would cut it down again. With 7:17 remaining in the second half, Ron Mvouika would hit a three pointer to cut the lead down to 1. A layup from Yankuba Sima would give the Red Storm a 1 point lead. Kassoum Yakwe would give the Johnnies a 3 point lead with 58 seconds remaining. Khadeen Carrington would hit a jumper to cut the lead to 1 and then Isaiah Whitehead would knock down a pair of free throws to give the Pirates a 1 point lead. The Pirates would hang on and beat the Red Storm 62-61.

The Red Storm were led by Kassoum Yakwe with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Felix Balamou and Durand Johnson each added 9 points. Ron Mvouika chipped in 6 points and 8 rebounds. Christian Jones posted 6 points and 4 rebounds for St. John’s. The Red Storm shot 44.2% from the field and 26.3% from beyond the arc.

The Pirates were led by Desi Rodriguez who scored a career high 24 points. Khadeen Carrington added 12 points and 4 rebounds. Isaiah Whitehead struggled but still managed to score 10 points and dish out 3 assists. Michael Nzei led the Hall with 8 rebounds. The Pirates shot 36.5% from the floor and 40% from beyond the arc.

With the loss the Red Storm fall to 8-20 on the season and 1-14 in the Big East. With the win the Pirates improve to 19-7 overall and 9-5 in the Big East. The Johnnies will now head to Chicago on Thursday to take on the DePaul Blue Demons. The Pirates head home to take on the Providence Friars on Thursday.

We would again like to thank Carmine Carcieri for his insight. He is a great journalist and can be found on twitter @carminecsju. Check out the PPI below to see who excelled today for the Pirates. We will have full coverage of the Providence game on Thursday. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.