JP’s 5 Thoughts: Seton Hall overcomes mid-game sloppiness to rout Florida A&M

Jared Rhoden recorded first career double-double Saturday, with 10 points and 12 rebounds as Seton Hall made short work of Florida A&M. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — In its last tuneup for a gauntlet of a tournament at the Battle 4 Atlantis this coming week, No. 13 Seton Hall welcomed Florida A&M for a noon tipoff in Newark. And as far as 36-point, blowout wins go, this one was a tad more interesting than most.

Here are the Thoughts from the Pirates' 87-51 romp at the Rock:

1. Sleepwalking

Seton Hall and early tip times at home usually haven't mixed too well, but the start of the game was what you would expect. The Pirates were getting generally good things going offensively, and smothering the undersized Rattlers on the other end.

Then in the last four minutes of the first half, things just started to look off. The Pirates were a little careless with the ball, started missing shots (1 for their last 11 heading into halftime), and the visitors clawed back into the game. This actually spilled over into the second half, too, as the lead was single digits as late as the 13:30 mark. Why the malaise against a lesser opponent, particularly in front of a stellar crowd?

As Allen Iverson once put it, we're talking about practice.

"I don't think we played Seton Hall basketball," said Myles Powell, who finished with a game-high 23 points. "Coach emphasized to us that that's how we practiced (this week),  he just said that (to be) the team that we want to be, we have to practice to get better, not just to get through it. He said that all week we were just trying to get through practice, get it over with, and it showed today."

"This week in practice was kind of 50-50," added sophomore forward Jared Rhoden, who finished with his first career double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. "That's kind of why we came out slow."

But the Pirates eventually did turn it up, and ran away from FAMU, outscoring them 44-16 over the final 16 minutes. And they have their subs to thank.

2. Bench Pressing

The game turned in the second half when the Pirates went to their bench. Rhoden was the star in this regard, as he ended up as the only player on either team in double figures on the glass, finishing with a career-best 12 caroms, including four on the offensive end. It's something he works on in practice (yes, we're still talking about practice).

"In practice, coach puts me at the four a lot," Rhoden says. "He says to run a couple plays, try to get a couple rebounds against the big guys, and that's what I try to do. I've done it in practice so much that when the game comes, it's kind of just easy."

"Jared is slowly getting back to the way he looked before he got hurt in August," head coach Kevin Willard added. "He's getting his bounce back, he's getting above the rim again. He hasn't shot it well, but he's shooting well in practice, so he's getting close to being a guy that's a big-time player for us."

Rhoden wasn't alone. With Sandro Mamukelashvili not playing well (two points, 1-of-6 shooting, three turnovers), freshman big man Tyrese Samuel stepped up. With seven points and six rebounds, he was able to stabilize that position on the floor, and help the Pirates eventually turn it on again in the second half.

Another source of energy was Shavar Reynolds, Jr. He knocked down a couple threes, finished with eight points and five additional rebounds, and played his usual energetic style of defense, something Willard credited as key to boosting the entire team. 

The proof lies in the plus-minus rating. Rhoden was plus-29 in 22 minutes, the best mark on the team, and Reynolds and Samuel were each plus-21 in 19 minutes. The only other Pirate in that realm at the end of the game was Quincy McKnight, who finished second on the team in scoring with 14 points, five assists and one turnover. 

With the schedule the way it is this week in the Battle 4 Atlantis, with potentially three ranked teams in three days over Thanksgiving, the bench will likely be key for the Hall in the coming weeks. Perhaps this performance can solidify such a thing. More on that in a second.

3. Rise and Shine

That's what the Pirate fans did today, as despite the early tip time and the fact that Florida A&M will never be mistaken for Michigan State, the announced crowd was 9,656. The fans continue to respond to this group in a way that they hadn't before, even during the Whitehead-Delgado-Rodriguez-Carrington years. In fact, Willard said that the fans showing up like they did was part of the reason he was "pissed off" that the Pirates didn't play up to the level he expected.

But the tenth-year skipper also said something illuminating about the fan base later in the press conference. When asked about how he creates a family-style atmosphere for the players during the numerous Thanksgiving tournaments he's taken the Pirates to over the years, when the players can't be with their biological families, he said that it's easy to accomplish.

"One of the great things about this job is our fans travel to our Thanksgiving tournaments," Willard said. "I think we bought more tickets than any program in the history of (the Battle 4 Atlantis). Our fans make it special for our guys. The people, the booster club that gets down there, they travel and make our kids feel great. I don't have to do much because our fans do such a great job."

Another feather in the cap for the blue-and-white faithful.

4. Taurean Thompson Sighting

Enigmatic forward Taurean Thompson got his first action of the season today after sitting out the Pirates' first four games due to the now-completed investigation into tampering when he transferred from Syracuse two years ago. All he did was grab four points, one rebound, one assist, a plus-9 rating in just four minutes, and one acrobatic layup in the paint that got the students (and everyone, for that matter) up and cheering.

It remains to be seen what he will contribute to the team this season (you may recall that without him, Seton Hall doesn't upset Kentucky at Madison Square Garden last year) as he can still make some plays that make you scratch your head. Plus, the Pirates' rotation is pretty much set at this point with a bunch of guys with size down low. But he's always got that little bit of extra mustard in his back pocket, too.

5. On To Atlantis

Every single college basketball fan has had this tournament circled on the calendar ever since the field was announced. The 13th-ranked Pirates will take on fellow Top 15 squad Oregon on Wednesday night, then potentially a Top 10 Gonzaga team the following day. On the other side of the bracket, North Carolina (Top 5 as of this writing) and Michigan (receiving votes for the Top 25 poll), along with high-majors Iowa State and Alabama could also potentially await the Pirates.

This is the toughest of all the Thanksgiving tournaments this year, and the toughest the Hall has ever played in. Not to mention that if Seton Hall wins its first game (which tips at 9:30 p.m. or so), the Pirates have to turn around and play at 4:00 on Thanksgiving Day, and perhaps at 2:00 the following afternoon if they also win that contest.

"Our next two weeks are brutal," said Willard. “The three in Atlantis, then come back and play at Iowa State, at Rutgers, then home against Maryland, so it's a big test. It gives us a chance to see where we're at, and if it doesn't go our way, to see where we need to go."

One thing's for sure: Willard won't be accepting a stretch of practice like the Pirates had this past week heading into the glamorous event.

"Coach just finished telling us that we have practice tomorrow, and we're going to get taped and everything," Powell said. "We're going to be going full out tomorrow, and we're definitely going to be ready to get out to the Bahamas. I'm sure you'll see a much different team than the one you saw today."