NEW YORK (AP) - Seton Hall, the team that didn't clinch a spot in the Big East tournament until the last game of the regular season, advanced to the semifinals with a 58-40 victory over No. 18 Georgetown on Thursday.
The Pirates (16-13) opened the second half with a 24-3 run to take control and held the Hoyas (23-7) to half their season scoring average in matching the fewest points ever allowed in a Big East tournament game.
Andre Barrett had 12 points to lead Seton Hall, which started the year ranked 10th in the preseason poll before going 5-11 in the conference. The Pirates weren't guaranteed a trip to Madison Square Garden until they beat Connecticut in the regular-season finale.
Seton Hall defeated St. John's 78-66 in the opening round and then came up with a super defensive effort Thursday to advance to Friday's semifinals against No. 10 Boston College (24-4), a team it did not play during the season.
The win was the third straight for the Pirates after losing eight of nine.
The Hoyas, who had an opening-round bye and swept the season series from Seton Hall _ including a 99-91 victory that was the most points ever allowed by the Pirates in Continental Airlines Arena _ led 26-25 at halftime.
But the Pirates scored the first 11 points of the second half to take a 36-26 lead with 15:35 to play on a jumper by Barrett.
Georgetown missed 13 of its first 14 shots after halftime and committed six turnovers in the 24-3 run that was capped by Barrett's three-point play that made it 49-29 with 9:09 left.
Georgetown's 14 points in the second half set a Big East tournament record for fewest. The old mark was 16, done three times.
The only other time a team scored 40 points in a tournament game was when Georgetown beat Miami by 27 points in the opening round in 1993.
Eddie Griffin, Darius Lane and Ty Shine each had 11 points for Seton Hall.
Lee Scruggs scored 12 points to lead Georgetown, which got two points from its starters in the second half. The Hoyas, who had won three straight and four of five, finished 17-for-58 from the field (29.3 percent), including 6-for-28 (21 percent) in the second half.
It is Seton Hall's first appearance in the semifinals since 1994, when it lost to Georgetown.
