NEWARK, N.J. — The Delaware men’s basketball team pulled within seven points three times in the second half, but Seton Hall answered each time as the Pirates recorded an 81-68 victory over the Blue Hens Saturday night at the Prudential Center.
Seton Hall, which won its fifth consecutive game and was coming off a victory over 16th-ranked South Carolina on Monday, improved to 9-2 on the season. The Blue Hens dropped their second straight while falling to 5-5 on the campaign.
Pirates forward Angel Delgado was a force inside, posting his fifth consecutive double-double with game-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds. Madison Jones added a season-high 15 points for Seton Hall, while Desi Rodriguez chipped in with 12. The Blue Hens did limit Pirates leading scorer Khadeen Carrington to just 10 points, his lowest total of the season.
Blue Hen junior point guard Anthony Mosley scored a season-high 21 points for Delaware, going 13 of 14 from the foul line and dishing out a game-best five assists. Freshman Ryan Daly produced his second consecutive outstanding effort with 19 points and a team-leading seven rebounds for Delaware, which finished 20 of 22 from the foul line.
Seton Hall proved to be too much inside for the Blue Hens, as the Pirates held a 43-35 rebounding edge, a 44-28 margin in points in the paint, and a 17-3 edge in second chance points.
Seton Hall took a 34-26 lead into the break and quickly extended the margin to 41-28 and forced a UD timeout with 18:22 to play. The advantage grew to 14 points five minutes later at 51-37, before the Blue Hens scored seven of the next nine points to close within 53-46 with nine and a half minutes remaining.
It was still just a seven-point game at 60-53 when Chivarsky Corbett found Daly for a layup at the 6:45 mark, but the Pirates scored the next four points and Delaware could not get closer than nine the rest of the way.
“We executed the game plan, controlled tempo and made Seton Hall play in the half court, we were just a possession here or there from really putting some game pressure on them,” Blue Hen head coach Martin Ingelsby said. “I love the fearlessness of our team, and I thought our guys really battled back in the second half. We had some layups that we missed, but I like what we did from the foul line. Playing a really good team like Seton Hall is a great experience, and we can build on this heading toward conference play.”
Seton Hall jumped out to an early 9-2 lead five minutes into the game, but Delaware got within 13-11 on a Mosley layup with 11:45 on the first half clock. The Blue Hens were still down just four at 28-24 after consecutive jumpers by Darian Bryant, Cazmon Hayes and Devonne Pinkard, before the Pirates scored six of the final eight points of the period to take an eight-point cushion into the half.
Extra points
Seton Hall improved to 4-0 all-time vs. Delaware… UD fell to 1-30 against teams that currently comprise the Big East Conference. … Mosley set career-highs with 13 free throws made and 14 attempted … New Jersey Governor and UD alumnus Chris Christie attended the game and spoke with Ingelsby afterward.