Seeing four players get called for their fourth foul within a span of 98 seconds was hardly an ideal scenario for Seton Hall.
At least now there is a blueprint for navigating significant foul trouble, although the Pirates would like to avoid the same situation Sunday afternoon when they host DePaul in Newark, N.J.
Seton Hall (14-9, 7-5 Big East) dropped its first three conference games to Providence, Xavier and Marquette but has won seven of nine since to climb into the top half of the league standings.
Of all those victories, Wednesday’s 84-72 comeback win at St. John’s might have been the most impressive.
Not only did the Pirates erase a 13-point deficit in the first half and a seven-point deficit midway through the second, they withstood K.C. Ndefo, Femi Odukale, Tyrese Samuel and key reserve Tae Davis getting whistled for their fourth fouls along with Dre Davis sitting out due to a sprained right ankle.
After Samuel got his fourth with 11:57 remaining, the Pirates faced a 53-46 deficit. They adjusted to the foul trouble by deploying a zone defense and outscoring St. John’s 38-19 the rest of the way, highlighted by Al-Amir Dawes hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 18 of his 21 points after halftime.
“We’ve just got a will to win,” Dawes said. “We just fight, no matter what.”
Kadary Richmond also helped the Pirates survive the foul trouble with 15 points and 13 rebounds and Jamir Harris added 10 points for his second-highest total this season.
DePaul (9-14, 3-9) is riding a four-game losing streak that has seen the Blue Demons allow 83.8 points and 48.9 percent shooting.
After taking a 20-point home loss to then-No. 16 Marquette on Jan. 28, the Blue Demons followed it up by allowing 50.9 percent shooting in a 90-76 home loss to No. 24 UConn on Tuesday.
It was the ninth time DePaul has allowed at least 80 points this season.
“We’ve just got to get better, be more connected defensively,” Blue Demons coach Tony Stubblefield said.
Javan Johnson scored 19 points and Da’Sean Nelson added 16 against the Huskies.
Seton Hall won the first meeting this season 71-67 in Chicago on Jan. 14.
–Field Level Media
