Seton Hall’s NCAA desires require win over DePaul

They're the two biggest surprises in the Big East Conference. And while Seton Hall is the team with realistic NCAA Tournament hopes, DePaul has shown it's not the same old Blue Demons this season.

Seton Hall must continue its latest winning streak to keep postseason hopes alive when it hosts DePaul on Wednesday in Newark, N.J.

The Pirates (18-8, 8-7 Big East) have won two straight and four of six following Sunday's 63-56 road triumph over Butler. They're in fourth place in the Big East, but the consensus among bracket experts is that only UConn, St. John's and Villanova are making it from the conference as of now.

Seton Hall has opportunities against UConn and St. John's in the closing weeks of the season, but it can't slip up against DePaul in the meantime. The Pirates, who stood No. 50 in the national NET rankings on Tuesday, already have last month's 67-60 road loss to the Blue Demons on their resume.

The Pirates trailed Butler by seven with less than 10 minutes to play before AJ Staton-McCray guided the comeback by scoring 13 of his team-high 19 points in a 4:29 span down the stretch. Coach Shaheen Holloway saw a variety of contributions in the low-scoring affair.

"Even when it's not your night, you can do things to help the team win," he said in a radio interview. "I thought (Stephon Payne) did that with blocks down the stretch, I thought Budd (Clark) did that down the stretch with distributing and getting the ball to AJ when he needed to get the ball to him, and that's how you win games when things aren't going great."

DePaul (13-12, 5-9) snapped a four-game losing streak with a late 72-71 home win over Creighton last Wednesday. NJ Benson went off for 23 points (10-of-11 shooting) and 10 rebounds, and Brandon Maclin (17 points) hit the winning layup with 7 seconds left to help the Blue Demons overcome a late six-point deficit.

"(Maclin) plays agenda-less basketball," an enthusiastic DePaul coach Chris Holtmann told NBC Sports postgame. "When players play agenda-less basketball in January, February and March, when all they care about the front of the jersey winning and that's it, you see those guys thrive."

DePaul already has its highest conference win total since 2021-22 and is on pace for its best season since the 2018-19 team went 19-17 overall and 7-11 in league.

CJ Gunn is DePaul's leading scorer at 13.8 points per game, and he went for 19 when DePaul beat Seton Hall on Jan. 24. Clark and Tajuan Simpkins scored 14 apiece for Seton Hall; Clark averages 12.5 points, Staton-McCray 12.0 and Simpkins 10.7.