National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Providence 80, Seton Hall 74
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, March 14, 2014
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: # Jeff Anderson, # James Breeding, # Ed Corbett
Attendance: N/A

Providence 80, Seton Hall 74: LaDontae Henton scored a season-high 26 points to go with 14 rebounds as the Friars topped the Pirates in the semifinals of the Big East tournament in New York.

The fourth-seeded Friars (22-11) likely punched their NCAA tournament ticket with the victory and will face second-seeded Creighton in Saturday's title game. Bryce Cotton contributed 18 points and 10 assists while Tyler Harris notched 17 points for Providence.

Fuquan Edwin scored 20 points to lead the eighth-seeded Pirates (17-17), who upset top-seeded Villanova on Thursday behind Sterling Gibbs' buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Gibbs added 13 points and six assists off the bench in this one while Eugene Teague pitched in 11 points.

The key sequence came when Henton drained a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to turn a 58-53 lead into an 11-point advantage with less than eight minutes left. Edwin's three-point play brought the Pirates within 74-69 with 1:14 to go, but Henton answered with a layup and Harris made two foul shots to push the lead back to nine.

Josh Fortune and Harris made back-to-back 3-pointers to complete a 12-0 run that put Providence ahead 25-14 midway through the first half. Brian Oliver hit a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the half to draw Seton Hall within 38-34 at the break.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Henton scored 15 first-half points to lead all scorers. ... The Friars have only won the Big East tournament once - in 1994. ... Seton Hall got within 78-74 in the final 10 seconds, but Edwin missed a contested layup before Fortune made two foul shots to seal it.
Top Game Performances
 
Seton Hall   Providence
Fuquan Edwin 20 Scoring LaDontae Henton 26
Sterling Gibbs 6 Assists Bryce Cotton 10
Patrik Auda 9 Rebounds LaDontae Henton 14
Patrik Auda 5 Free Throws Made Bryce Cotton 7
Fuquan Edwin 1 Steals LaDontae Henton 2
Gene Teague 1 Blocks Carson Desrosiers 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Seton Hall 74 44.1 6-23 16-20 12 26 1 4 7
Providence 80 48.9 9-19 25-35 14 37 4 3 12