Credit: Asbury Park Press
Villanova Gets the Best of Seton Hall Once Again to Complete Season Sweep
Published: Thursday, February 5, 2026
by Jake Marcial
VILLANOVA, P.A. - The Seton Hall Pirates (16-7, 6-6) fell to the Villanova Wildcats (17-5, 8-3) 72-60 on Wednesday night, ending their run of two consecutive wins and dealing a big blow to their NCAA tournament hopes.
It was another rough first half for the Pirates, as they dug themselves into a hole early on. They hung around until about 5 minutes remaining in the half, but from there it was all Villanova. The Wildcats went on a 16-4 run over the final five minutes, including four three-pointers.
It was an abysmal half shooting from deep for the Pirates, as they went 0-8 from three, compared to 7-19 from beyond the arc for Villanova. An 8-0 run in the final few minutes gave the Wildcats a 40-25 lead going into the break.
The Pirates have had to come from behind in the second half in many of their wins, and they would have to do the same in this one. Villanova quickly grew their lead to 20 before TJ Simpkins finally hit the first three-pointer for the Pirates with 16 minutes left in the second half. That started a 9-0 run, but Villanova quickly stymied it by going on their own 8-0 run.
It was a half of short runs for the Pirates, as most of their scoring came in quick bursts. Trey Parker finished off a great defensive play with an emphatic dunk to bring it down to an 11 point game, but it would barely get closer than that. Seton Hall trailed by double-digits the entire second half, and ultimately failed to pull off another comeback.
Inefficiency from deep was the Achilles heel for the Pirates once again, shooting 2-17 from downtown on the night, with the second one coming with only 53 seconds left when the game was out of reach. Simpkins shot 1-6 and A.J. Staton-McCray shot 0-7, while no other Pirate took multiple threes.
It was also a tough night on the boards for Seton Hall, especially for Stephon Payne. Payne finished with just two rebounds, after not recording a single one in the first half. Villanova grabbed 10 more rebounds than the Pirates, winning the offensive rebound battle, 13-8.
The Pirates were mostly efficient from the field overall, shooting almost 43%, but the lack of success from deep hurt them when the deficit got too large. The Pirates won the points in the paint battle 38-22, but made seven less three-pointers.
“They make their threes, we don’t,” said Coach Shaheen Holloway in the postgame presser.
Budd Clark continued his hot streak coming off being named BIG EAST Player of the Week, notching 18 points on 8-13 shooting from the field, while also logging three rebounds and three assists. No other Pirate had double-digit points. Staton-McCray was second on the team with eight points, to go along with eight rebounds.
For Villanova, Tyler Perkins led the way with 18 points. Duke Brennan logged his ninth double-double of the season, dominating down low with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Malachi Palmer had a season high 15 points on 3-5 from three, and Acaden Lewis also dropped double-digit points with 11 and six assists.
The Pirates will finish up their road trip on Saturday to take on the Creighton Blue Jays in a must-win game in Omaha. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., with Ryder Nuesell and Jake Marcial on the call on 89.5 FM WSOU.
Jake Marcial can be reached at jacob.marcial@student.shu.edu.Posted in: sports,