Trying to carry Seton Hall to a Big East Championship, star guard Isaiah Whitehead converted on a wild jumper
The Seton Hall Pirates entered the 2016 Big East Tournament as the No. 3 seed and decidedly the underdogs when put up against the likes of the Xavier Musketeers and the Villanova Wildcats. After knocking off Xavier on Friday in the semifinals, though, the Pirates turned their sights on Villanova in the Big East Tournament Championship on Saturday with star guard Isaiah Whitehead looking to topple the No. 1 seed.
Whitehead carried Seton Hall to a big first half lead, but the Wildcats chipped away until it was a tie game at 50-50. With around eight minutes left in the first half, Whitehead found the fire again as he pulled up from the right side of the floor from mid-range with two Villanova players in his face. The hands in his eyes didn’t faze him at all as he calmly put the jumper off the glass and through the net to extend the lead:
"FADEAWAY. BANK. AND 1.Isaiah Whitehead with the RIDICULOUS shot for @SetonHallMBB. #BIGEASTtourney #MadeAtMSG https://t.co/avTZwTYwyv— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) March 13, 2016"
95 percent of the players in college basketball would be benched immediately for even considering taking that shot. With a player like Whitehead who lives for those shots in big moments, though, Seton Hall wouldn’t want the ball anywhere else or any other shot going up. Isaiah Whitehead is the type of player made for March Madness and plays like this for the Pirates star only further prove that point.