Seton Hall Seeks to Upset #18 St. John’s in the Final Game of the Season

Published: Thursday, March 5, 2026

by Thomas Kvaloe

NEWARK, N.J. – The Seton Hall Pirates (20-10, 10-9) welcome the St. John’s Red Storm (24-6, 17-2) to the Rock as they look to secure a senior night win to round out the season.

Both teams are coming off wins going into this game, with both teams needing those victories, but for different reasons. Seton Hall needed their win because it kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive, while St. John’s wanted to near closer to capturing the BIG EAST regular season title.

For this game, there is sizeable pressure on the visitors, as the Red Storm is playing for better seeding in March Madness, as well as for the BIG EAST title. Their hopes of reaching preseason projections took a huge hit after losing 72-40 last week against UConn, but losing to the Hall would see them tumble.

On the other hand, the hosts have pressure, but in a different fashion. Seton Hall has finalized their position in the BIG EAST tournament, but still holding slim odds for an at-large bid, so a win against St. John's would go a far way.  Therefore, they are still going to play their hearts out to show how strong they can be, so that they can give the committee a reason to let them in the tournament.

The last game between these two teams was a close one, with St. John’s taking the win after a second-half collapse from the Pirates. This marked the fourth defeat in a row for Seton Hall in this match-up, spanning back to March 2024.

It must be a team effort in this one if the Hall wants a result, but key players such as Budd Clark and AJ Staton-McCray will have to step up. The latter has shown that he can be a reliable scorer in big games, scoring the most points in the previous game against UConn, as well as the last time the Hall played St. John’s. 

This Seton Hall roster has shown that they can have big second halves, so the key to their success in this one is to not fall too far behind in the first. If they can do this, they can put pressure on like no other team and sneak out a victory in a match no one is backing them to win.

The motivation for the Pirates is to strengthen their bubble resume going into the BIG EAST tournament, where they will likely have to face both St. John’s and UConn if they want a shot at the title. 

Tip off is set for 9 p.m. at the Prudential Center, with seniors Joe Morales and Nick DiBlasi on the call for 89.5 FM WSOU.

Tommy Kvaloe can be reached at thomas.kval@student.shu.edu.

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