Adam Clark overcame a late injury scare and finished with 16 points and four assists as Seton Hall dominated the last 10 minutes to defeat Xavier 77-68 in Cincinnati Tuesday night.
The Pirates (20-10, 10-9 Big East) locked up a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament with the win and have one last chance to impress the NCAA Tournament committee when it faces No. 18 St. John’s in Newark on Friday.
Seton Hall has eight 20-win seasons since 2013, and is now 14-1 this season when it scores 70 or more points.
Xavier (14-16, 6-13) has lost four out of five. Filip Borovicanin led Xavier with 15 points, while Malik Messina-Moore added 12.
The Musketeers played Tuesday with Big East leading scorer Tre Carroll on the bench for all but the first four minutes. Carroll, who came in averaging 18.6 points per game, appeared to injure his hip in a collision with Tajuan Simpkins and did not return.
Xavier went on an 8-2 run late in the first half highlighted by threes by Borovicanin and Messina-Moore to take a 31-27 lead, but Seton Hall would finish the half strong, with Stephon Payne scoring inside with 45 seconds left in the half. The Pirates led, 33-32, at the break.
Xavier still led 60-56 after a driving layup by Messina-Moore with 11:54 to play, but Seton Hall took command with a 9-0 run that included a three by AJ Staton-McCray (one of four he made in the second half) and a fast break basket by Mike Williams.
During the run, however, Clark went down awkwardly after a drive to the basket and was favoring his left knee and left the contest. He checked back in with 5:30 remaining and the Pirates up, 67-62.
A baseline jumper by Messina-Moore pulled Xavier to 67-64 with 3:11 left, but the Pirates dominated the rest of the way, closing things out with a 10-4 run.
Seton Hall outrebounded the Musketeers, 37-30, and outscored the hosts, 38-30, in the paint.
There was more potential injury concerns for the Pirates though, star freshman Najai Hines rolled his left ankle while going up for a rebound with under a minute to play and limped to the bench.
