Seton Hall Secures Commanding Win Over Kansas State, Extends Winning Streak to Three

Published: Sunday, December 7, 2025

by Nick Diodato

MANHATTAN, K.S. – The Seton Hall Pirates (9-1) picked up a strong win at the Bramlage Colosseum on Saturday night over the Kansas State Wildcats (5-4), winning 78-67.  

The Pirates came into the night coming off a win at home in Walsh Gymnasium over the Central Connecticut Blue Devils, winning 77-61.  

In that game, three things were key. Players in double-digit scoring, consistent three-point shooting, and tough defense. Luckily, Seton Hall was able to hold on to two of those keys in this battle against Kansas State, and pick up a win in a contest that started slowly in the first half, but quickly became the Pirates game to win in the second.  

AJ Staton-McCray once again stepped up in a big way Saturday night, while Elijah Fisher also joined the mix as one of the key contributing factors in the Seton Hall victory. Both players put up 16 points, five rebounds, and two steals.

The other double–digit scorers were Najai Hines with 11 and Budd Clark with 10. Hines had three rebounds and two blocks while Clark helped the Pirates go on an 8-0 run to give them the lead going into the half.  

Seton Hall’s defense helped them big time tonight as well, as Kansas State shot 37% from the field and 20% from three. The Wildcats missed an absurd amount of free throws, as they shot 15-35 from the charity stripe, coming in at a 42.9% clip.

The big story of the night for Kansas State was the clear disappearance of star guard PJ Haggerty. Coming into the game, Haggerty was leading the nation in points per game with 25.1. However, Seton Hall locked him up the entire night, as he only managed to put up 11 points and shot a putrid 5-12 from the free throw line.

Haggerty also had six of the Wildcats’ 16 turnovers for the night. The star of the night for Kansas State was senior forward Khamari McGriff. McGriff was doing it all to try to keep the Wildcats in the game with 12 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks, while shooting 5-8 from the field in just 21 minutes.  

The first half saw a neck and neck game between both teams as they both had over two-minute periods where they went scoreless and ended with the Pirates only up by six. The second half changed that with the Pirates defense really pushing them over the top. Seton Hall grabbed a season high 44 rebounds on top of 10 steals and five blocks for the night.  

Luckily, this was able to outshine the Pirates not so great shooting night as they put up a season high 72 shots and only hit on 28 of them for 39%. 23 of those shots were threes with only five of them connecting, making a scary low of 22% from three-point range.  

The Pirates can breathe comfortably after this win as they now rest until Saturday, December 13th, when they will take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Prudential Center. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m., with Lauren Reese and Jack Pine on the call for 89.5 FM WSOU.

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

Posted in: sports,