Already without starting point guard Bryce Aiken, Seton Hall lost its other floor general, Kadary Richmond, less than four minutes into its game Saturday at red-hot Creighton. The Pirates trailed by 11 at one point in the first half.

Then came adjustments and grit, unlikely contributions and arguably the best win of the season for coach Kevin Willard’s Pirates.

The bench turned in a monster performance, Richmond’s replacement, Jamir Harris, was brilliant, and Jared Rhoden was clutch as Seton Hall pulled out its sixth Quad 1 victory of the year with a gutty 65-60 win in Omaha, Neb.

“Oh, this a huge win, a huge statement win for our team,” senior guard Harris said in a phone interview afterwards. “It just shows what we’re made of, and like I’ve said all year, the amount of faith we have in each and every guy on this team, we believe in each other.”

The Pirates are the sixth seed in the Big East Tournament and will open with No. 11 Georgetown on Wednesday night.

This is the sixth time in seven seasons Seton Hall (20-9, 11-8 Big East) has won at least 20 games.

Willard’s team is heading into the postseason with momentum, winners of five straight and eight of their last 10 games after completing a season sweep of the Bluejays. The Pirates are safely in the NCAA Tournament and trending up, and the injury news on Richmond was positive. Willard said in his postgame radio interview that Richmond re-sprained his right thumb and should be fine for the conference tournament.

Rhoden had 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a stellar all-around effort. Harris, playing out of position at point guard, scored 14. Tyrese Samuel scored 13 off the bench, which outscored Creighton’s reserves by a whopping 38-2.

Richmond’s injury and Ike Obiagu’s foul trouble forced major minutes onto Myles Cale (40), Rhoden (39) and Harris (35). It was a season-high in minutes for Harris, a New Jersey native who transferred back home this season after three years at American. He has emerged lately, scoring in double figures in three of his last five games.

“The fact that coach had the confidence in me to go out there and play the position and lead our team today, it means the world to me,” Harris said. “I just wanted to make sure I was ready and prepared for it.”

Trailing by four points with 8:26 left, Seton Hall went on a 10-0 run that began with a Harris 3-pointer and was capped by consecutive Rhoden jumpers. Creighton (20-10, 12-7) got as close as one, but Rhoden’s floater off the glass pushed the lead back to three with 58.3 seconds left. The Bluejays, led by 17 points apiece from Ryan Hawkins and Ryan Kalkbrenner, had multiple opportunities in the final minute to pull even, but couldn’t get a 3-pointer to drop.

This season has been a roller-coaster ride for the Pirates, who started 9-1, with wins over Texas, Michigan and Rutgers. Then came a lengthy COVID-19 pause and the annual January swoon that put an NCAA Tournament bid in doubt. Aiken suffered a concussion in a loss at Marquette on Jan. 15 and hasn’t returned. But since Jan. 26, Seton Hall has lost just twice, by a combined 11 points on the road to No. 11 Villanova and No. 18 Connecticut, and will enter the Big East Tournament playing its best basketball.

“We just stayed together,” Harris said. “Our togetherness and our chemistry and bond is something that I feel like is our greatest strength. We really tapped into that these last five games to go on this streak.”