The 74th battle for New Jersey College bragging rights went to Rutgers in solid fashion as the Seton Hall Pirates dropped to 5-4 on the season in a 70-63 loss in the annual Garden State Hardwood Classic, this year at the Prudential Center. A year after the lackluster 45-43 Seton Hall win last year Seton Hall never lead as Rutgers pulled out to an early 12-5 lead, quickly silencing the heavy Seton Hall crowd in the first 6 minutes as Seton Hall went 2 for 11 from the field before going on a 9-2 run and pulling to a 14-14 tie with just under 11 minutes left in the half. However the rest of the first half was red as the Scarlet Knights went on a 19-9 run, ending the first half with a 33-25 Rutgers lead.
The second half started out with a Rutgers bang as Aundre Hyatt picked up a quick 3 points barely 10 seconds into the start of the first half followed by a second 3 pointer before Seton Hall even got on the score sheet for the half, causing the only sounds heard from the arena being the Rutgers faithful. With under 6 minutes left and Rutgers up 16, the only voices you heard from the crowd were the Scarlet Knight faithful. However a glimmer of hope (and life for the home crowd fans) as the Pirates pulled to within 10 based with 4 minutes to play & within 6 with 40 seconds remaining. However in the end Seton Hall ends their 2 game winning streak in the classic and fall to Rutgers 70-63.
Next up for the Pirates in a quick turnaround and another matchup on Tuesday, as they face the (also) 5-4 Monmouth Hawks at the Prudential Center. More info on that match will be below.
5 STATS TO KNOW:
1) This was the 74th meeting between the two clubs, with Seton Hall’s record falling to 42-32. As is tradition with the Hardwood Classic, next year will be hosted by Rutgers in Piscataway, NJ.
2) Kadary Richmond’s 21 points is tied for his high water mark of the year and lead the team in points. This was the 4th time in his SHU career he scored 20 or more points and the second time this season (also with 21 against Northeastern back on November 29)
3) The Pirates were heavily plagued by struggles in what is typically solid areas. Guard Al-Amir Dawes, whose 3 PT percentages his historically hovered around 38-39% for his entire SHU career, ended the night going just 3-20, something head coach Shaheen Holloway both acknowledged, and ignored, stating “When you have a guy who’s a career 40% for his career, you don’t tell him don’t shoot the basketball.”
4) Speaking of, even their Free Throw numbers, which was 4th in the country at 80.1% struggled mightily, going just 16-27.
5) As mentioned, next up for the Pirates they remain at the Rock to take on the 5-4 Monmouth Hawks at the Rock. This is a matchup that’s needed for a club that’s lost 4 out of the last 5, as they are a full 14-0 against Monmouth head to head.
About the author – Scott Churchson has been an actor in every way for the past 13 years, from BG to stand in to stunts and principal, a sports writer for the past 4 and is one of the people that created Stream Punk Entertainment. He’s married to a veterinarian, has a cat with three working legs, a mother-in-law who just moved in and is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe.