Men's Basketball: Seton Hall vs. Creighton
Seton Hall Pirates forward Angel Delgado (31) goes up against Creighton Bluejays center Geoffrey Groselle (41) to sink the game wining two-point basket during their men's basketball game at the Prudential Center. Seton Hall won 67-66. Newark, NJ 2/28/15 (Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Newark, N.J. -- During Seton Hall's (16-12, 6-10 Big East) 67-66 win over Creighton (13-16, 4-12) Saturday, Angel Delgado let his emotions run away from him in the first half.
And then he ran away with the game in the second half.
With 8:49 left in the first half, Delgado turned the ball over and then fouled the Creighton player who was fighting for the ball. That capped off a frustrating stretch where Delgado struggled in his role as interior presence, and coach Kevin Willard sat his freshman down for the remainder of the first half.
Delgado appeared to be crying on the bench at one point, remained sitting by himself during a timeout and finally stayed slumped in his seat as Haralds Karlis hit a key 3-point shot near the end of the half.
"Angel's emotional," Willard said after the win. "He got scored on twice and he missed two shots. When things aren't going well and you have a tough go at it, sometimes you just get down. We just had to kind of recharge his batteries."
Delgado agreed he wasn't at his best at the time he was benched.
"I was sleeping in the first half," he said in the locker room later. "I wasn't really playing good in the first half. (Creighton) scored two times in a row and I got a little bit frustrated. I needed to wake up in the second half."
As Delgado sat on the bench, he got a message from Sterling Gibbs, who was serving the second game of a two-game suspension.
"Everybody got addressed at the half. Everyone looked too lethargic, too passive. He (Delgado) took the message."
"I came in for the second half and played hard," Delgado said in what could be the understatement of the season.
After scoring no points and getting just 3 rebounds in the first half, Delgado attacked the paint with a vengeance in the second. He scored 13 points, and added 8 rebounds as well as two key blocks in the 17 minutes he played that second half and it turned the tide in the game.
"It came to my mind that I came here for one reason. To do my job," Delgado said when asked what clicked in the second half. "To get every rebound, and get my team a win."
He did just that, as not only did he pile on the rebounds and points, but his layup at the end was the winning basket.
Delgado is young and, by his own admission, very emotional. It's a double-edged sword - the passion he brings allows him to dominate inside, but when it gets out of control, that same fire can hurt his game.
He, his coach and his teammates all know he needs to work to get that under control. What fans saw Saturday afternoon was what can happen when he is able to do just that.
"I'm an emotional guy. I'm going to play hard. I'll do everything to get the win. I don't like to lose. I hate losing. That's why I play so hard."
Andrew Garda may be reached at andrew.garda@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @Andrew_Garda. Find NJ.com on Facebook.