Seton Hall Pirates Edge Marquette 69-64 Behind Clark’s Heroics

Ace Crawford | The Setonian

As I walked down toward the tunnel at Prudential Center, the arena was awash in royal blue. The crowd of 7,500 ranged from longtime fans to kids in pirate costumes with blue stripes on their faces screaming at the top of their lungs.

The energy felt like being in the middle of a roaring ocean, and it carried straight into the tipoff.

Marquette struck first as Ben Gold nailed a three, giving the Golden Bears an early 3–0 lead as their offense was cooking on all cylinders to start. They made four of their first five field goals from beyond the arc against the best defense in the Big East.

Pirates Respond Early

Seton Hall’s leading scorer, AJ Staton-McCray, scored five points after the 15:58 timeout, trimming the deficit to one. His quick burst ignited the Pirates’ offense, which desperately needed a string of life offensively after a slow start.

Both teams traded baskets in a back-and-forth for most of the first half. Marquette’s Ross drove for a left-handed layup, extending the lead to eight, but Elijah Fisher’s three-point play brought the Pirates within six with two minutes remaining in the first half.

The crowd roared, chanting, “Let’s go, Pirates!” as the intensity built. Marquette closed the half ahead 41–35, shooting over 54 percent, with reigning Big East Freshman of the Week, Nigel James Jr., leading all scorers with 12 points.

Combined, both teams hit 11 three-pointers, with Marquette accounting for eight. Seton Hall outscored them in the paint 20–14, despite trailing at halftime.

Second-Half Defensive Surge

The Pirates opened the second half with motion offense and heightened defensive pressure. Their full-court press forced a turnover, allowing Budd Clark to make a mid-range jumper to cut the deficit to four.

Clark attacked relentlessly, reducing the margin to three while demonstrating leadership on both ends. Seton Hall’s man-to-man defense slowed Marquette’s offense, forcing missed shots and turnovers.

Back-to-back highlight plays helped the Pirates take the lead as Stephon Payne soared to Mount Everest for a thunderous dunk, followed moments later by Clark’s crafty left-handed reverse layup to cut it to one as Seton Hall opened up on an 8-3 run. Momentum swung decisively in Seton Hall’s favor.

Clark and Fisher extended the lead to 49–46 after the 13:50 timeout, but Gold’s second three-pointer tied the game again. Clark continued to dominate, finding Najai Hines on a precise bounce pass to regain a 53–50 lead with over ten minutes left.

https://youtu.be/LmZJjwMAIwY?si=fch21N9IecVlLtzM

Crunch Time

Marquette went scoreless for more than three minutes until Royce Parham hit a floater, cutting the margin to one. James Jr. answered with a contested layup, tying the game at 60 after a missed traveling call. The crowd was livid.

However, the Pirates forced a shot-clock violation followed by Clark's continued brilliance as he lobbed it to Josh Rivera to take a two-point lead. Parham tied it at 64, but Rivera found Staton-McCray off an initial Clark pass for the go-ahead winning three-pointer.

"Josh made the right play," Staton-McCray said after the game. "Just knock it down. All the shots, all the work we put in, that's how you have confidence in that last shot." Even Clark, who delivered the initial pass, felt it was destiny: "As soon as he passed it, I knew it was going in. It was a great pass."

A final missed layup by James Jr. allowed Payne to grab the rebound, sending the crowd into a thunderous roar. Marquette fouled Clark moments later as he calmly made two free throws to give him 19 for the game, sealing a 69–64 victory.

Seton Hall Sweeps the Series

The Pirates swept Marquette for the first time since the 2020-21 season. Clark finished with 19 points, three rebounds, six assists, and two steals, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the second half alone.

“I just wanted to find a way to win,” Clark said. “I scored, dished out assists, got steals, and brought energy to lead my team.”

Seton Hall improves to 16–6 overall and 6–5 in conference play. They are now 9–0 when holding opponents to 65 points or fewer. Marquette dropped to 0–10 on the road, the worst in the Big East, and 8–15 overall, and 3–9 in conference play.

They’ll look to carry this momentum on their two-game road trip against the Villanova Wildcats (16-5, 7-3 BIG EAST) on Feb. 4, followed by the Creighton Bluejays (12-9, 6-4 BIG EAST) on Feb. 7.

If the Pirates continue this balance of offense and lockdown defense, they look poised to make a strong push in the Big East come March.