Seton Hall Pirates 77 | Xavier Musketeers 68 | Cintas Center, Cincinnati, OH | March 3, 2026
Well, this wasn’t the ideal Senior Night for X, another heartbreaking loss to close out the year at Cintas. However, I still give a huge congrats to the young men who were honored last night. Shoutout Tre Carroll, Isaiah Walker, Malik Messina-Moore, Roddie Anderson, Filip Borovicanin, Ian Sabourin, Michael Wolf, and team manager Niko Heister.
The game started out slow, with a lot of missed shots. This wasn’t the biggest problem though, as Tre Carroll injured his hip and had to be helped to the locker room. That would end his senior night with an abrupt exit. We are currently waiting on an update to see the severity.
Despite the loss of Tre, Xavier trailed by just 1 at halftime. The Musketeers came out firing in the second and took a 60-56 lead with 11:24 to go. The charge was being led by Filip Borovicanin, Malik Messina-Moore, and Pape N’Diaye. However, the absence of Carroll proved costly. Under the surface, a collapse was brewing.
In the last 11 minutes of the game, Seton Hall scored 21 points to Xavier’s 8. Without Carroll, the offense didn’t have enough firepower, and there were multiple scoring droughts lasting more than a minute of game time. Seton Hall pulled ahead and never seemed to look back; this was a tough, but predictable loss. I had Seton Hall storming back and winning 74-71. The score was a bit off, but the heartbreaking fashion was correct. This was a perfect game to sum up the Muskie’s season.
Revisiting the keys
Taking Care of the Ball: Seton Hall came out of the gate pressuring Xavier, but Pitino had his team prepared. The Musketeers’ press break looked solid at times, though they still finished with 11 turnovers to Seton Hall’s 8. Xavier averages 10.1 turnovers per game this season, so this was slightly above their norm. More critically, the Pirates forced several crucial turnovers late that sealed the victory.
Control Fouls: Both teams did a good job here, showing why it was a close game. Hall committed 16 fouls and X had 15. No one fouled out and it was a pretty clean game overall. It’s impressive how the Pirates can play such aggressive, scrappy defense and stay out of foul trouble.
3 Point Perimeter: Seton Hall continues to struggle to defend behind the three point line, consequently, Xavier stayed in the game through their shooting. The Musketeers shot 41% from 3. However, late in the game X went cold from 3 and was forced to work inside. As previously mentioned, X struggles inside the arc, and the late game collapse was due to their inability to get good looks inside.
Key performances
Seton Hall
- Budd Clark: 16 pts, 4 ast
- Elijah Fisher: 6 pts, 7 reb
- AJ Staton-McCray: 12 pts, 3 reb
Xavier
- Filip Borovicanin: 15 pts, 7 reb, 7 ast
- Malik Messina-Moore: 12 pts, 5 reb
- Pape N’Diaye: 10 pts, 6 reb
Big East Tourney Seeding
There are two main scenarios here for the Muskies, I will explain how each plays out.
8/9 Seed: The most likely scenario for the X-Men is an 8/9 matchup with Butler, leading into a matchup with UConn. I don’t know about you, but I would not like to see UConn again. If we win on Saturday @ Villanova, we remain in this slot. If we lose we may also remain. However, there is a way to avoid UConn.
10 Seed: This is the more ideal scenario for a couple of reasons; Xavier would most likely matchup with Providence in game one, and with a win, they would play St. John’s in MSG. This also isn’t an ideal matchup, but it is much better than UConn, as they destroyed X twice. In order for this to happen, Marquette must win one of their final two games; the most likely opportunity for a win would be tonight against Providence. If Marquette can do that, and X were to lose on Saturday, X would get the 10 seed. This is a more preferable path to advance in NYC next week. Make sure to keep your eyes on Marquette @ Providence at 7 PM tonight on Peacock.
Summary
Closing Thoughts: This was a tough loss to take at home, but this season has been about seeing progress—and there’s been plenty of it under Pitino. The season isn’t over yet, either. If Carroll can return for the Big East Tournament, the Musketeers have a legitimate shot at making a run.
Photo Credit: @ CoachPitinoXU on X.
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