Seton Hall Looks to Avenge Early Season Loss to Villanova

Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2026

by Jake Marcial

VILLANOVA, P.A. - The Seton Hall Pirates (16-6, 6-5) head back on the road for their second matchup of the season against the Villanova Wildcats (16-5, 7-3) inside Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday night. Both teams won their previous game, with Seton Hall fending off Marquette on Saturday and Villanova taking down Providence on Friday.

Villanova won comfortably against Providence, taking a 45-28 lead into halftime. They allowed 45 points to the Friars in the second half, but kept pace and cruised to finish off an 87-73 victory. Devin Askew led the way with 20 points off 5 three-pointers.

Seton Hall has turned around their fortunes after a four-game skid, winning their last two games against Xavier and Marquette. The Pirates once again dug themselves a hole, trailing 41-33 at halftime after never holding a lead in the first half. 

They chipped away at the Marquette lead in the first five minutes of the second half, before finally taking a lead with about 15 minutes left. A back-and-forth battle ensued, before A.J. Staton-McCray hit a big three with just over a minute left. Budd Clark knocked down two free throws to close out the 69-64 win.

Clark and Staton-McCray carried the load for the Pirates, with 19 points and 11 points, respectively. The Pirates shot 4-10 from three, three of which came from Staton-McCray. On the defensive side, Najai Hines had three blocks, and three different Pirates had multiple steals, forcing 16 turnovers overall.

Seton Hall and Villanova last faced off on December 23rd, during the beginning of conference play. Villanova gave the Pirates their first home loss of the year, defeating them 64-56. 

Seton Hall struggled from the field in that game, shooting 33% and just 3-13 from beyond the arc. Acaden Lewis led the Wildcats in scoring with 16 points, while three other Wildcats logged double-digit points. Elijah Fisher led the Pirates in scoring with 13 points on 6-11 shooting from the field.

The Pirates have struggled to put together complete games all season long. Villanova has six players averaging double-digits in the scoring department, so Seton Hall should not look to rely on another second-half comeback.

On the heels of his 19 point effort on Saturday, Clark was also named BIG EAST Player of the Week. Clark averaged 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists over two games last week, leading the team to two straight victories. The Pirates will continue to lean on Clark for his scoring abilities and to run the offense as they look to extend their winning streak.

The Pirates remain on the bubble of many bracket predictions with just over a month remaining until the BIG EAST tournament, and currently sit at 49 in the NET rankings. A win over Villanova, ranked 33rd in the NET, would go a long way to help the Pirates’ tournament résumé.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., while pregame coverage will start at 6:00 p.m., with Nick DiBlasi and Ryan Nelke on the call on 89.5 FM WSOU.

Jake Marcial can be reached at jacob.marcial@student.shu.edu.

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