NEWARK -- With its NCAA Tournament hopes floundering, Seton Hall needed standout performances from its offensive leaders against Creighton on Wednesday.
Junior guard Khadeen Carrington delivered the best game of his Pirates career, and one of the best in recent memory for the program.
Carrington had 41 points, seven assists, five rebounds, four steals and just one turnover to will Seton Hall to a 87-81 victory over No. 20 Creighton at Prudential Center.
Ismael Sanogo, who missed the last two games with an ankle injury, came off the bench and played through pain to help anchor a strong defensive performance, while Angel Delgado shook off a slow first half to make some key buckets in the second.
N.J. college basketball teams 1 month before NCAAT
The strong play of Carrington and Rodriguez had Seton Hall (16-9, 6-7 Big East) up by as many as seven points in the first half. But the Creighton (21-5, 8-5 Big East) fought to get the lead down to one point by halftime, and then went on a 10-3 run to build a seven-point lead of its own. Carrington took over down the stretch to get Seton Hall back even, but the two teams went back-and-forth with the lead for the majority of the second half.
Delgado missed two shots and grabbed two rebound before finally finishing a layup with 2:37 left that broke a 74-74 tie, and Seton Hall would never trail again. A wild scoop layup from Carrington with 41 seconds left had the lead up to three points, and a steal followed by slam with 16 seconds left all but assured victory.
TOP PERFORMANCES
* Khadeen Carrington was simply unstoppable. The Brooklyn native had one of the best first halves of his career with 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and he was even better in the second half as he put the team on his back. When Seton Hall envisioned an offense led by Carrington, this was the type of play they were hoping they'd see from him.
* Desi Rodriguez wasn't quite as efficient as Carrington, but was nearly as potent offensively with 18 points, including going 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
* Angel Delgado had 15 of his 17 points in the second half while grabbing 17 rebonds for yet another double-double.
* Ismael Sanogo was clearly not at full strength, as his ankle injury was apparent throughout the game. But he knew Seton Hall needed him badly in this game and he gutted it out to provide some strong defense.
TURNING POINT
Delgado's three offensive rebounds followed by a layup with 41 seconds left broke the tie and Seton Hall never looked back.
UP NEXT
The Pirates host No. 2 Villanova on Saturday at 12:30 in a rematch of last season's Big East Tournament final that Seton Hall won. Villanova blew out the Pirates in Philadelphia when the two squads met back in January.
Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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