JP's 4 Thoughts: Seton Hall rolls past Sacred Heart

Sandro Mamukelashvili's 23 points led all scorers as Seton Hall downed Sacred Heart Wednesday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, NJ -- Heading into Wednesday’s game at Prudential Center, Seton Hall was coming off a high-octane stretch of games that included Louisville and Kentucky, as well as archrival Rutgers. Looming on the horizon was Maryland in College Park, so the question was whether the Pirates would take their foot off the gas and look past the Pioneers towards yet another big Saturday matchup.

That didn’t end up happening, as the Pirates built a big lead and held it, beating the visitors by the final of 90-76 to move to 8-3 on the season.

Here are the 4 Thoughts:

1. Q and A

One of the biggest intrigues to this game was Quincy McKnight. The playmaking guard transferred from Sacred Heart to Seton Hall, and it’s rare that a transfer gets to face their old program in their first year eligible.

Much has been said about how McKnight’s more of a facilitator/defender for the Pirates than he was at Sacred Heart, but you could see in his play that he wanted to show out a little against his former school. He scored seven points in just five minutes to start the game with his usual stout perimeter defense.

Two early fouls, however, sent him to the bench, and that’s where freshman Anthony Nelson took over. With McKnight on the bench, Nelson amassed six assists against just a single turnover in the first half, which helped the Pirates hold a comfortable lead. He ended up adding a couple more assists in the second half to finish with eight against only two giveaways.

Head coach Kevin Willard spoke very highly of Nelson’s abilities as a “true” point guard in the preseason, and with every game, Nelson continues to show that those words of praise were warranted as he’s turned into a nice compliment to McKnight.

“Q for us, defensively, does such a great job, and Ant has a unique ability to get in the lane,” Willard said. “And the more he embraces being an eight-assist, two-turnover guy, that’s kind of what I expect from those two. Q got us off to a great start defensively, and I thought Anthony did a great job of getting everyone involved in the offense.”

What may have also helped in that regard was a switch in practice. Willard put Nelson with the first team and McKnight with the second team this week, and while McKnight said that it was to try and keep his own aggressiveness up, it also had a secondary effect for the younger lead guard.

“It’s getting Ant adjusted with the first group,” the junior said. “When he comes in the game now, he’s not confused as to what to do- he knows all the sets. I think that helped him a lot this week.”

2. Just Too Much

Give Sacred Heart credit: They didn’t come out with stars in their eyes. In the first half, the Pioneers weren’t afraid to get the ball inside and create contact. They ended up shooting a very respectable 45 percent for the half.

But stopping the Pirates on the other end was a different story. Myles Powell led the way with 11 seemingly effortless points before the break, but McKnight, Taurean Thompson, Myles Cale and Mike Nzei added at least six each to help build a 17-point halftime lead, one that wasn’t seriously threatened in the second half.

Sacred Heart was overmatched on paper coming in, and Seton Hall raced out to the early lead and never gave it up. Sometimes, you just don’t have the horses, and this was one of those nights for the visitors. The biggest horse for the Pirates on the stat sheet? Funny you should ask…

3. Mount Mamu

How about Sandro Mamukelashvili tonight? The polysyllabic Georgian put up arguably his finest night as a Pirate, posting a career-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and kept up a long-range hot streak, nailing four of five three-point attempts after hitting three against Rutgers on Saturday.

Mamu was described as a good outside shooter coming in last year, but that hadn’t really shown up in a game until the last two contests. All of a sudden (thanks in part to a coaching adjustment to his shooting motion that we covered in last game’s Thoughts), the sophomore looks confident in his jumper to go along with underrated toughness and skill.

“I think the biggest thing for Sandro is that he’s taking good shots. It’s not just technique,” Willard said. “All his shots the last couple games haven’t been rushed shots or quick shots, they’ve been within the flow of the offense.”

Longtime scribe Jerry Carino posted a tweet during the game that merits mentioning here, saying that “if his three-point stroke is here to stay, we’re going to start having serious discussions about his ceiling.” He then mentioned that he could end up in the same class as Arturas Karnisovas, the terrific Lithuanian post player from the early 1990s under legendary coach PJ Carlesimo, who also had an inside-outside game and went on to enjoy a long and productive professional career after starting on four straight NCAA Tournament teams.

High praise indeed, but with Mamukelashvili now confident in himself, a pretty darn good player is only starting to emerge.

4. Mount Maryland

The test before the test was passed, and to conclude non-conference play, the Pirates will trek down to College Park to take on a really good Maryland team that was ranked earlier this year and is currently receiving votes in the AP Top 25, not to mention placing 24th in the latest Coaches’ Poll.

The Terrapins are balanced and talented, led by Anthony Cowan, who is averaging 17.2 points per game and is a preseason All-Big Ten selection. But three others also average double figures, including big men Bruno Fernando (who’s put up 13.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore) and Jalen Smith, who’s averaged 11 and seven as a freshman. Their fourth leading scorer, Aaron Wiggins, is a 40 percent three-point shooter.

Looking ahead to Saturday, Willard offered up some thoughts.

“Handling their front line is going to be critical,” Willard mentioned, with Maryland outrebounding their opponents by an average of 12 per game as well. “I’ve been impressed on how locked in defensively they are for a pretty young group. We’re going to have to play offensively with a good tempo, and we’re going to have to take care of the basketball.”

A win on Saturday would put the Pirates at 9-3 heading into conference play, with an out-of-league resume that would certainly be Selection Sunday-worthy. But even if the game ends up on the other side of the ledger, the Pirates’ skipper likes what his team has accomplished so far.

“9-3 would be one game off what I thought we would be,” Willard said. “But I think we’ve emerged from the non-conference, no matter what happens on Saturday, in pretty good shape. We’re battle-tested, we’ve played every style of basketball, we’ve played big teams, we’ve played small teams. I think we’re prepared for Big East play, and that’s what I wanted for this team.”

Jaden Daly and I will have coverage from the Xfinity Center on Saturday night, so keep it locked to Daly Dose of Hoops for your Seton Hall coverage!