Seton Hall beats NC State 94-83 in foul-filled NCAA matchup
WICHITA, Kan. – Khadeen Carrington scored 26 points, Desi Rodriguez added 20 and eighth-seeded Seton Hall beat North Carolina State 94-83 in a foul-filled first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
Myles Powell added 19 points and Angel Delgado scored 13 for the Pirates (22-11), who led the entire way a year after a late meltdown cost them an early exit against Arkansas.
Seton Hall will play top-seeded Kansas on Saturday in the second round of the Midwest Regional.
Allerik Freeman hit six 3-pointers and had 36 points to lead the No. 9 seed Wolfpack (21-12), who returned to the tournament under first-year coach Kevin Keatts for the first time in three years. Torin Dorn added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Lennard Freeman contributed 13 points.
The only thing that slowed down the high-scoring, up-and-down matchup was the whistles. The teams combined for 53 fouls, resulting in 66 total free throws. Seton Hall had two players foul out – Delgado was one of them – and the Wolfpack had three players relegated to the bench.
Three other players finished the game with four fouls apiece.
The high-scoring tempo was set early on, when the Pirates scored on their first eight possessions and hardly missed a shot. If not for Allerik Freeman’s outside shooting, the bruising boys from the Big East might have put away their stunned ACC rivals before halftime.
The Wolfpack made a run of its own midway through the half, but was never able to gain the lead, and Seton Hall used another late charge to take a 51-41 lead into the locker room.
North Carolina State closed within 63-60 midway through the second half, as Freeman began to complement his 3-point shooting by slashing to the basket for easy layups. But he didn’t get a whole lot of help from a team that had relied on balanced scoring all season.
During one five-minute stretch, Freeman was the only player to score for North Carolina State.
Carrington and Powell were just effective at the other end for Seton Hall. They combined to score 12 straight points for the Pirates, highlighted by a 10-2 run to seize control, and the starting guards showed plenty of poise when North Carolina State tried to make one last run.