Seton Hall earned a spot in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in four full seasons on Jan. 12. That’s the good news.
The bad news for the Pirates? They have lost all three of their games since. Seton Hall (14-5, 4-4 Big East) gets a chance to right the ship when it faces DePaul on Saturday in Chicago.
But this Big East clash is by no means a given for the Pirates. DePaul (11-8, 3-5) enters with three consecutive conference home wins for the first time since closing out the 2006-07 regular season on a four-game streak.
The Blue Demons’ recent success has mirrored senior wing CJ Gunn’s excellence. The reigning Big East Player of the Week has averaged 16.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in DePaul’s five games since the calendar flipped to 2026.
That includes career highs for points (31), 3-pointers (seven) and 3-point attempts (13) in DePaul’s last home game — an 80-75 win over Marquette on Jan. 16.
Gunn’s outburst occurred, in part, with the slender 6-foot-7 guard’s shift to the “four” spot for long stretches.
“Analytically, it’s been our best lineup,” DePaul coach Chris Holtmann said. “We try to get to it as much as we can.”
Gunn (14.6 points per game), point guard Layden Blocker (12.0 points, 3.8 assists per game) and center NJ Benson (10.7 ppg, 6.9 rebounds per game) are key parts of that lineup.
Seton Hall also tends to play smaller with veteran guards AJ Staton-McCray (team-high 12.2 ppg), TJ Simpkins (10.3 ppg) and Adam “Budd” Clark (10.1 ppg, 4.6 apg) leading the way.
But during the Pirates’ three-game losing streak compiled against No. 3 Connecticut, Butler and St. John’s, that trio has combined to average 25 points per game. On Tuesday at St. John’s, the Pirates squandered a 15-point second-half lead to lose 65-60.
Seton Hall didn’t help its cause by missing 7 of 14 free-throw attempts.
“This sucks,” said Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway. “Just got to get back to the drawing board.”
–Field Level Media
