Seton Hall Caps Off Road Trip with Clash at Creighton

Published: Friday, February 6, 2026

by Thomas Mazurowski

OMAHA, N.E. – The Seton Hall Pirates (16-7, 6-6) are heading to Omaha to face the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday evening (12-11, 6-6) following a difficult loss at Villanova.

The Pirates are looking to bounce back after dropping the season series to the Wildcats in a 72-60 loss on Wednesday. Despite staying within arms reach through the first 15 minutes, a 16-4 run from the Wildcats left Seton Hall desperate for answers heading into halftime.

Villanova continued to dominate early in the second half, establishing a 20 point lead on the struggling Pirates. Tyler Perkins would finish the night with 18 points for the Wildcats, boosted by 15 off the bench from Malachi Palmer, and a double-double courtesy of Duke Brennan.

Inefficiency from beyond the arc put a damper in the Pirates’ offensive effort. The Hall went 2-17 on three-point attempts compared to Villanova’s 9-29 performance, with Tajuan Simpkins and Mike Williams III being the only Pirates to drain it from range. Budd Clark upheld the Pirates offense with 18 points, their only double digit scorer of the night.

Seton Hall now have a tough contender in the Creighton Bluejays on hand. Their last matchup saw the Bluejays lead by as much as 16 points, requiring the Pirates to make one of many second-half comebacks this season. 

Aggressive defense forced last-second shots from Creighton, allowing the Pirates to control the pace in the closing minutes. Najai Hines secured the and-one with one second left on the clock after an inbound, barely pushing the Pirates across the line to win 56-54.

Both teams have found it difficult to keep pace with the rest of the BIG EAST since then. The Bluejays find themselves in the midst of a three-game losing streak, while both contenders have lost five of their last seven contests.

Creighton most recently visited the Georgetown Hoyas, losing 76-68. Jasen Green, Nik Graves, and Fedor Zugic evenly shared the burden of leading the Bluejays offense, with all three players breaking into low double-digits.

Despite this, Georgetown held a significant lead after breaking out in the second half. Zugic led a late charge, sinking a three from beyond the arc in the final two minutes, but it was not enough to stifle the Hoyas late momentum.

Controlling the paint on either end will be key for the Pirates in this matchup. Creighton has struggled crashing the boards in recent games, no doubt contributing to losses. Playing a close-quarters game might prove useful to the Pirates, given their low production when shooting from range.

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, with Ryder Nuesell and Jake Marcial on the call from the CHI Health Center on 89.5 FM WSOU.

Thomas Mazurowski can be reached at thomas.mazurowski@student.shu.edu.

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