Angel Delgado knew it was coming.
The big man talked about it earlier this season, but on Sunday he put up a monster 20-20 performance. Delgado took over the paint against St. John’s, notching 21 points and 20 boards in Seton Hall’s 86-73 win. He went 10-17 from the floor and also dished three assists.
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With roughly a minute left on the clock and Delgado sitting at 19 rebounds and on the bench, it was unclear if he was going to get back in the game. Kevin Willard subbed him in though, and the junior took care of business immediately.
"I didn't know he had 19,” Willard said. “He did. He let me know."
“I tell coach, ‘Please!’ He was like, ‘Are you sure you’re going to grab it?’ I said, “Yea, I gotchu,’” Delgado said. “It feels great. That was my dream. I said when I came to school one day I gotta get 20 and 20. I did it.”
Delgado’s 20-20 double-double was the first by a Big East player since 2010 when Jamine Peterson had 29 points and 20 rebounds for Providence against Rutgers. It was also the first time a Seton Hall player went for 20 and 20 since Eddie Griffin did it in November 2000. The last Pirate to grab 20 boards was Herb Pope, who did it against Syracuse on Jan. 8, 2011.
Delgado joins six other Seton Hall players with 20 rebounds in a game.
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His dominant performance followed an outing against No. 1 Villanova in which he saw his streak of 11 straight double-doubles erased. Delgado said both he and his teammates were a little extra motivated on Sunday.
“We didn’t have time to prepare for a great team,” Delgado said of the Villanova game, which the Pirates got one day of rest for. “Next time we will get them.”
Delgado was limited by the Wildcats on Jan. 16, leading Willard to give his “workhorse” three days off. There was no stopping Delgado against St. John’s, however. When asked what he would have done to stop Delgado, Red Storm head coach Chris Mullin said, “Have him not play.”
“He looked like Moses Malone to me,” the NBA Hall of Famer added. "He carves out space and keeps it. He's got good hands and takes his time. Any time you get 20 points and 20 rebounds, you're doing a lot of good stuff. He's very solid."
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Delgado has looked like one of the best big men in the country this season, averaging a double-double. Teammate Khadeen Carrington said the Dominican Republic native has been putting up “video game” numbers – he’s just not sure how.
"I'm not sure what it is," Carrington said. "I think it's the Spanish food he eats. It's got to be something like that, but he's just getting better and better every game. He’s like a grown man down there with kids."
Gary Phillips can be reached at gary.phillips@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @GaryHPhillips.
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