JP’s 4 Thoughts: Seton Hall opens season with 105-point explosion against Wagner

Ike Obiagu asserted himself early and often at rim as Seton Hall powered past Wagner Tuesday in season opener. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — College basketball season returned in full force Tuesday night, and the 12th-ranked Seton Hall Pirates kicked things off against Northeast Conference foe Wagner, handling business with a resonant 105-71 victory at Walsh Gymnasium.

Here are the first Thoughts of 2019-20:

1. D-Fence

Seton Hall’s edge in size, strength and speed proved to be enough to not allow Wagner too many good looks at the basket early in the game, with the Pirates building a lead they would never relinquish. But Bashir Mason’s Seahawks, true to form, would not lay down. Wagner continued to fight back, and for a while, really did hang with Seton Hall. That all changed in the last four minutes of the first half, however, thanks to the Pirates’ defense. A lead that was only seven points late in the opening stanza ballooned to 15 at the intermission on the strength of a 13-5 run. Later, in the second half, Wagner continued to fight, and got within 12 points with 10:30 remaining, trailing 70-58. But once again, the Pirates put the clamps down on defense, leading to an extended 24-4 run that put the game far out of reach.

Both Myles Powell, who finished with a game-high 27 points on only 24 total shot attempts in the contest, and acting head coach Grant Billmeier said that the Pirates' defense isn't where it could be, and that is true, but when Seton Hall did string together stops, it allowed the Pirates to truly flex their muscles on the scoreboard to the delight of their fans.

2. Big Men On Campus

The Pirates happen to have a pair of seven-footers on the roster, and they both played quite well. In Ike Obiagu's debut for the Hall, he certainly looked the part of a 7'2" shot-blocking enforcer. The Florida State transfer, who somehow looks even bigger in person, proved to be adept at finishing strong inside as well, converting four dunks and three free throws for 11 total points, while rejecting three shots on the other end. 

Obiagu did pick up two quick fouls, leading to him sitting for a good chunk of the first half, but Romaro Gill came in and picked up where he left off. The Pirates' other biggest big man ended up with eight points and one blocked shot, basically replicating what Obiagu brought as a presence in the paint.

Meanwhile, Sandro Mamukelashvili also had a strong game, with 11 points of 5-10 shooting, five rebounds, three assists, one block and two steals. The most impressive of the assists was a Magic Johnson-like, blind behind-the-head pass to Obiagu for a two-handed stuff, a pass that, according to longtime beat writer Jerry Carino on Twitter, may have been the best he's ever seen by a post player.

Long story short, all the Pirates' big men did well tonight against the shorter Seahawks. We will see if they can carry that over to higher levels of competition coming up in the next few weeks.

3. Offense = Impressive

Looking at the stat sheet, the Pirates did what you might expect a Top 15 team to do against a lower level of opponent. Powell was an All-American tonight, drawing nine fouls on his own (including a couple while shooting threes) to get to the line often (9-for-11) and draining shots from the field when he wasn't busy getting to the stripe (7-for-13). He also had the timely baskets for the Hall tonight, stemming the tide whenever Wagner was looking like they had momentum — it was his four-point play that kicked off the aforementioned 24-4 run that put the game out of reach in the second half.

Also of note were point guards Anthony Nelson and Quincy McKnight, who combined for 17 points, 13 assists and just two turnovers. Having those two take pressure off Powell so he is free to score and be himself out on the floor will likely prove to be big this year, and Nelson in particular showed off his remarkable court vision, looking like a point guard who was more comfortable on the floor than a year ago as a freshman.

As a team, 20 assists on 37 field goals with only ten giveaways is a stat most coaches and fans would take any day of the week. And in terms of superlatives, it led to just the second time in the Kevin Willard era and first time since 2010 that the Pirates scored over 100 points in a game, as well as the highest-scoring season-opener for the Hall since Bill Raftery roamed the sidelines in 1977.

4. Walsh Rocks

The lovely thing about Walsh Gymnasium, Seton Hall's on-campus facility with an estimated capacity of a shade under 2,000 fans, is that it's a classic gym. The ceiling is relatively low, the fans are right on top of the action, and the architecture is such that when it gets loud, it gets LOUD, with the sound bouncing off of everything. They don't make them like this anymore, and nights like tonight serve as a reminder of the reasons why Seton Hall's winning percentage all-time at Walsh is nearly 80 percent.

As one fan said to me on Twitter during the game, "the faithful love to see the enthusiasm on the defensive end," and that was when the building got really, really into it. The saying is that defense wins championships, but defense also gets fans cheering loud, and at Walsh Gym, when that happens like it did tonight, opponents tend to struggle. Seton Hall won't leave the modern Prudential Center, nor should they, but I always enjoy the games on campus for that classic college basketball feel.

And so begins another college basketball season at Daly Dose of Hoops. We hope you follow along all season as the Pirates continue their quest for a fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and a Big East championship. Seton Hall returns to action on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against Stony Brook, back at Walsh Gymnasium.