Pirates' Upset Bid Falls Short in Final Minutes at UConn

Published: Saturday, February 28, 2026

by Nick Diodato

STORRS, C.T. – The Seton Hall Pirates (19-10, 9-9) fell short Saturday afternoon against #6 UConn (27-3, 17-2), losing 71-67 after suffering a full-on breakdown in the final minutes of the game.  

Coming into to game, both teams were coming off big time wins. Seton Hall beat Georgetown 51-47, with the Pirates playing a strong defensive game and Najai Hines picking up his third double-double of the season.  

UConn defeated #15 St. John's in a blowout this past week, winning 72-40. They held the Red Storm to just 14 points in the 2nd half, as they knocked down 11 shots total throughout the game, putting them at 19.6% from the field.  

The game started off slow for both teams in the first five minutes, before a Mike Williams tough, and-one layup gave the Hall momentum.

The first half ended up featuring a lot of back-and-forth play, and it really looked like it could have been anyone's game. There were countless lead changes and deadlocked scores, and neither team looked better than the other.  

At the half, the Pirates led by one at, 33-32, off a last second layup from Hines which ended a hard fought first half. Hines ended the game with his fourth double-double of the season, with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks.  

The second half looked to be Seton Hall's to win, and up until the final five minutes, it seemed like it was going resume-defining victory for the Pirates. AJ Staton-McCray was the clear leader for the Hall with a 20-point outing, along with three rebounds, two steals, and four threes.  

Staton-McCray's effort, alongside Williams and Elijah Fisher helped the Pirates go up as much as eight, with eight minutes to go. As Seton Hall started to loosen up their play thinking they would be cruising to a win, UConn had other plans.  

With it being Alex Karaban’s last home game of his Huskies career, he did not disappoint. 23 points, two steals, two blocks, and five threes while shooting a stellar 8/11 from the field led the UConn comeback. Back-to-back threes from Karaban plus another from Braylon Mullins put the Huskies ahead by two, and from there, the game was controlled by the Huskies.

While the Pirates did keep the game in reach, the Huskies just had more clutch moments and came up with key stops down the stretch, including forcing Budd Clark into an ugly-looking shot attempt to end the contest.  

For the Huskies, they notched their 27th win on the season, while Seton Hall just has two more games to go in the season, looking to make a push for the NCAA tournament. It is possible, but the odds are slim now, with the BIG EAST tournament appearing to be the only path left.

This Pirates team can make it, as UConn Head Coach Dan Hurley saying in the post-game press conference, “They were awesome in non–conference play. If you watched this game, that's a team that's NCAA caliber.”  

Seton Hall will play their penultimate game of the season on Tuesday when they face the Xavier Musketeers in Cincinnati.  Nick DiBlasi and Jacob Glick will be on the call for 89.5 FM WSOU, with tipoff 7 p.m. 

Nick Diodato can be reached at nicholas.diodato@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: sports,