Pirates Mount 16-Point Second-Half Comeback, Take Down Creighton

Published: Sunday, January 4, 2026

by AJ Rayer

NEWARK, N.J - Seton Hall (13–2, 3–1) erased a significant second-half deficit for the second consecutive game, rallying to defeat Creighton (9–6, 3–1) in dramatic fashion. Freshman Najai Hines converted an and-one layup off a Budd Clark miss with one second remaining to seal the victory. With the win, the Pirates moved into a tie for third place in the Big East standings, trailing only undefeated UConn and Villanova.

The game Sunday afternoon did not start out pretty for both the Pirates and Bluejays, the two teams combined to shoot 3/18 over the first six minutes, with the game shaping up to be a defensive BIG EAST battle.

Creighton’s offense however would wake up first, as Austin Swartz started heating up from outside hitting two deep threes midway through the half. Josh Dix had several drives to the hoop to help Creighton pull away. Twenty minutes in, Creighton led 27-18, forcing the Pirates into by far their lowest scoring half of the season. Seton Hall shot 7/26 in the half.

Coming out of the break, it was evident that Coach Holloway needed to make a lot of adjustments both offensively and defensively. However, as play continued, Creighton was still very much in control of the game, extending their lead to 16 four minutes into the second frame. Seton Hall had their back against the wall with the score being 41-25.

Swartz and Dix were still dealing most of the damage for Creighton, but Jasen Green started to contribute as well. Green contributed ten points on 5/5 shooting in the second half.

The momentum shifted again midway through the half, this time swinging in Seton Hall’s favor. Trey Parker capitalized on several trips to the free-throw line, while Tajuan Simpkins drew a foul on a corner three-point attempt and calmly sank all three free throws. The surge pulled the Pirates within four, as Creighton held a 45–41 advantage with ten minutes remaining.

Defensively, the Pirates started to make Creighton much more uncomfortable. They sent traps, forced highly-contested, end of shot clock looks, and played great interior defense without bailing out the Bluejays with fouls. 

In the final two minutes, Creighton’s lead was trimmed to two as Hines converted a pair of free throws, making it a two-point game at 53–51. Two empty possessions later by both teams, Nik Graves of Creighton was fouled by Parker and headed to the line to make it a two possession game. Graves made the first, but missed the second, leaving the door open for Seton Hall with thirty seconds to play.

On the ensuing possession, Clark got to the rim and found an open Josh Rivera cutting on the baseline who went up for the easy two-handed dunk. 54-53 Creighton.

With Creighton having possession on the Seton Hall baseline, Coach Holloway sent a full court-press. After one successful jump-ball forced by the Pirates, the possession arrow still favored Creighton. Coach McDermott called timeout trying to rekindle his team, with the ball now on the sideline closer to Creighton’s basket.

On the next inbound, Swartz found Issac Traudt in the backcourt, but was immediately swarmed by Clark and Fisher, causing another jump ball. This time the Pirates had possession and with ten seconds left, they had a chance to win.

After a Coach Holloway timeout, Clark drove right, and was forced into a right elbow pull up jumper that just rimmed out. However, Hines controlled the glass and grabbed the offensive rebound and dropped in the putback layup plus the foul from Ty Davis of the Bluejays.

Hines converted on the free-throw and sealed the Pirates 56-54 win over a Creighton team that was previously undefeated in BIG EAST play. Sunday marked Coach Holloway’s first win over Creighton as head coach and snapped a six game drought. Fisher led Seton Hall in scoring with ten points, followed by Parker with nine.

After Sunday’s thriller, Seton Hall will be back in action next Saturday, January 10th, against Georgetown live from Capital One Arena in Washington. Chris Heite and AJ Rayer will have the call for 89.5 FM WSOU, beginning at 6 p.m.

AJ Rayer can be reached at alexander.rayer@student.shu.edu.

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