Tajuan Simpkins’ late 3-pointer and Adam Clark’s turnaround jumper helped visiting Seton Hall maintain its dream start by defeating normally potent Providence, 72-67, in the Pirates’ Big East opener.
After trading the lead across the final two minutes, Clark kicked it out to a wide-open Simpkins, who drained a huge 3-pointer to give the Pirates a 69-67 lead with just over a minute to play. Clark then iced the game with a smooth jumper with 17 seconds left.
Simpkins led Seton Hall (11-1, 1-0 Big East) with a game-high 22 points off the bench. Stephon Payne dominated the glass with a career-high 16 rebounds and added 18 points, while Clark finished with nine points, seven assists and four steals.
Providence (7-6, 0-2) was fueled by its bench sparkplug in Stefan Vaaks, who scored 15 points and made three 3-pointers. Leading scorer Jason Edwards was limited to a season-low 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting but contributed five assists. Jaylin Sellers added 13 points.
It took nearly 24 minutes for Edwards, the Big East’s leading scorer, to make a shot but his first was a momentum-swinging corner 3.
That helped kickstart a 14-4 Friar run as Vaaks hit another big 3-pointer to give Providence its first lead since the 7:24 mark in the first half. The Friars led 46-45 with 14:30 to play.
Shoddy free-throw shooting from the Pirates – 63% for the game — kept the game close at 62-55 with 5:26 to go.
Seton Hall went more than five minutes without a field goal, before Clark made a layup off the glass to respond to an Edwards layup to take back a one-point lead for the Pirates with 2:19 to play.
The Pirates forced Providence to miss 10 of its final 14 shots.
It was a defensive stalemate through the opening 10 minutes, with Seton Hall holding a 12-10 lead. The Pirates started 4-for-16 from the field, while the Friars were 3-for-15.
An and-one by Williams and a stepback by Clark cracked the floodgates a bit for Seton Hall, who opened a first-half nine-point lead with five minutes left in the half.
Payne capped the Pirates’ first half with an alley-oop slam and a 35-28 lead after holding Providence to just 9 of 28 from the field.
It was the Friars’ lowest scoring half of the season.
