Credit: GR Productions
Seton Hall Rides Dominant Second Half to Convincing Win Over Xavier
Published: Thursday, January 29, 2026
by Anthony Collins
NEWARK, N.J. - The Seton Hall Pirates (15-6, 5-5) took down the Xavier Musketeers (11-10, 3-7) 86-68 at the Prudential Center in a tale of two halves, where after another disappointing start, the Pirates put together their best half of the season.
After trailing by as much as 13 in the first half, the Pirates who once again seemed to have no answer offensively finally exploded, scoring 56 points in the second half thanks to two players.
Starting with Tajuan Simpkins, he led the game in scoring with a career-high 27 points and was very efficient beyond the arc, while Budd Clark took over this game with a season-high 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Moreover, Clark played 37 out of 40 minutes and led the press for most of the contest, controlling the entire pace of this game on both offense and defense.
Xavier came out firing threes, mainly from their star forward Tre Carroll, who could not be stopped in the first half, scoring 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
The Musketeers shot 45.6% from the field and the Pirates desperately needed an answer at halftime, as the weight of the season was caving in on a team that only several weeks ago was 14-2 and nationally ranked at #25.
Simpkins would be the one to provide the spark for igniting the second half outburst, finishing strong at the rim and hitting multiple threes, going 10-of-14 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. His fast-break three at the 13:41 mark gave Seton Hall its first lead of the contest at 42–41, which capped their 12–0 run and forced a Xavier timeout, which seemed to stun the entire Musketeers squad.
Clark, who was on the court for the majority of the night, was either pushing the pace, turning defense to offense finding the hot hand in Simpkins, or he was hitting stop-and-pop jumpers that were money all game, which the Musketeers defense never seemed to figure out how to defend.
Many key players for Xavier were shutdown in the second half by the relentless pressure that this Seton Hall squad applied. Most notably, Carroll, who had exploded for 22 points in the first half completely disappeared in the second, as he was held off the score card. Malik Messina-Moore had a rough night at the office with only two points, as his struggles were showcased, going 0-for-5 from downtown while committing four turnovers.
The Pirates shot 56.3% in the second half and 75% from the charity stripe which is a good sign going forward, given the fact that this offense was struggling to simply find the bottom of the net from anywhere on the court.
With this win, Seton Hall will look to build on this momentum as BIG EAST play rolls on with another opportunity at home versus the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday, who have had a rough go of things this season. Jack Pine and Jacob Glick will be on the call with tipoff scheduled for noon, with pregame coverage starting on 89.5 FM WSOU at 11:30 a.m.
Anthony Collins can be reached at anthony.collins@student.shu.edu.Posted in: sports,