Field Level Media
Mar 8, 2018
Tyler Wideman's put-back bucket with 3.6 seconds left Thursday night rallied sixth-seeded Butler to a 75-74 win over third-seeded Seton Hall in the quarterfinals of the Big East Conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Kamar Baldwin missed a driving layup, but Wideman slipped inside a Pirate defender and guided the ball off the glass. Myles Powell's running 3-pointer at the horn was short, assuring the Bulldogs (20-12) of their first win in five Big East tourneys.
Baldwin scored a game-high 32 points for Butler, while Kelan Martin added 17 despite making only 7 of 20 shots from the field. Wideman and Sean McDermott each finished with 10 points. The Bulldogs will face second-seeded Villanova in Friday night's second semifinal.
Khadeen Carrington stuffed the stat sheet for Seton Hall (21-11), finishing with 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds. His 3-point play with 11.6 seconds left gave the Pirates a 74-73 lead, but they were unable to finish their last defensive possession with a rebound.
Angel Delgado contributed 13 points and Ismael Sanogo came off the bench to net 12 for Seton Hall, which should get an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament when pairings are announced on Sunday night.
The Pirates cooled off dramatically in the second half, making just 28.6 percent of their field goals after canning 65.4 percent in the first half.
In the teams' second matchup in five days -- Seton Hall won the squads' regular-season finale on Saturday night -- the Pirates threatened to blow Butler out in the first half.
After Wideman's layup at the 15:23 mark pulled the Bulldogs within 10-8, Seton Hall rattled off a 14-2 run that lasted 4:50. When Myles Powell drained a 3-pointer with 10:04 remaining, the Pirates owned a 24-10 advantage.
But Butler gradually worked its way back into the game and sliced the deficit down to 34-31 as Martin drilled a 3-ball with 3:47 left. Seton Hall got the lead back to 10 before two Martin foul shots with a second left made it 43-35 at halftime.
--Field Level Media