Seton Hall beat Providence in the completion of their suspended game on Thursday, but will likely be without senior wing Desi Rodriguez for Saturday’s big game against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.
“He won’t be back for St. John’s,” Pirates head coach Kevin Willard told Tarik Turner of Fox Sports. “We’re hoping Wednesday against Nova. He sprained it pretty good. Obviously we need him, but we need him healthy.”
Via text, Willard told me that Rodriguez is “more than likely” out for Saturday.
Rodriguez sprained his ankle Wednesday night on a slippery floor at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, and the game was suspended at the 13:03 mark. Behind Khadeen Carrington’s 25 points and Myles Powell’s 20, Seton Hall won the completed game Thursday 89-77 to improve to 19-9, 8-7 Big East.
Providence fell to 17-11, 8-7.
The Pirates will be without Rodriguez for at least one game, and will be lucky if Rodriguez’s injury isn’t worse than it could have been.
“We extend our sincere apologies to the Providence College and Seton Hall basketball programs and the fans for the conditions that disrupted last night’s game. Player safety is paramount, and the officials made the right call to suspend the game,” Convention Center Executive Director James McCarvill said in a statement.
“We have met with building management and mechanical engineers today to discuss plans to improve court conditions and prevent this from happening again. Our capital-improvement plan already includes a number of measures that should address the problem, including the installation in the coming months of a fully-automated energy management system.
“We appreciate the support and understanding from our partners in the PC Athletic Department. We’re confident The Dunk will be ready for the next home game on March 3.”
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