5 Thoughts: Seton Hall throttles St. John’s for 20th win

Romaro Gill helped carry Seton Hall past St. John’s Sunday, leading Pirates to 20th win. (Photo by Wendell Cruz/Finish First Photos)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — A full house of 14,658 fans packed the Prudential Center on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Newark, and they were treated to a show. In front of their largest home crowd of the season, the Pirates ended up with a wire-to-wire win, sweeping their geographic rival, St. John’s, with an 81-65 victory that was really never in doubt after the first few possessions.

Here are The Thoughts:

1. Annnnnd They're Off!

After what must have felt like an eternity for Seton Hall fans, today, the Pirates got off to a fast start today. Notoriously slow to get going in many games this year (before usually making a run in the 2nd half), this time around, Seton Hall ended up with a 13-4 lead in the first six minutes, and a 20-6 lead just past the midway point of the first half.

The offense was great, but as usual, it was the defense that set the tone. St. John's first shot attempt was an air-ball, and it wouldn't get much better from there as the Red Storm were limited to 24 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes.

“I really was happy with the fact that we came out with a good defensive mindset, to be honest with you," head coach Kevin Willard said. "I thought that set our tone. That was my biggest thing with these guys. I’m like, ‘let’s stop reacting,’ because we’ve been digging ourselves a hole because we haven’t played overly well offensively here. We got five straight stops early, and I thought that kind of relaxed us. Being up 14 at halftime, that was like being up 30, to be honest with you. It was just a different feeling. We haven’t had that feeling a whole lot.”

"It felt good, finally, to not be playing from behind," Myles Powell added. "We've been down 10, 15, 27 at Providence, so to be up at halftime (was great). When we came out of halftime, the first two or three minutes, we were kind of slow, but besides that I thought we did pretty well. We followed the scouting reports and played our basketball."

2. Sharing Is Caring

Basketball can be a beautiful game when the ball moves and the five players on the floor play as one unit. Seton Hall's ball movement today was exquisite, with 19 assists on 27 made field goals. Four players had three or more assists, led by Quincy McKnight's six helpers.

That ball movement also carried over into some really nice transition opportunities, and heck, there were a couple occasions where the Pirates actually over-passed the ball. All told, there were five players in double figures for the game, led by Powell's 18 points. Defensively, Seton Hall amassed 10 steals and seven blocked shots to go along with 34 percent field goal defense. On both ends today, this was a team effort, and combined with the hot start, it turned into a rare game where the Pirate faithful could rest a little easy.

3. Big Men On Campus

Seton Hall is one of the tallest teams in the nation, with an advantage along the front line against pretty much every opponent it faces. But it's been rare that all of the Pirates’ big men play well at the same time, and that was the case today.

Sandro Mamukelashvili, in particular, was off to the races right away, and finished with a well-rounded line of 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals. His presence on the court was huge for the Hall, as he was not active for the first game against St. John's, where the Red Storm press was such a huge factor at Madison Square Garden.

"Getting Sandro back in the lineup, it makes us harder to guard," Powell said. "You saw how they were trying to press us this time, and we just passed it to him and he broke the press. There were a couple times he took it all the way, tried to dunk on somebody, got a foul call, finished with his right hand, and even one time threw it up to Ro (Gill), so having that versatile big man who can put the ball on the floor, shoot, that makes everything easier."

The aforementioned Gill was his normal self as well, posting 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks. But then off the bench, Ike Obiagu scored three points, grabbed four rebounds, and swatted three more shots in some extended minutes in the middle of the game. Tyrese Samuel had three assists in just six minutes of action, and two of those were big-to-big alley-oop passes to Gill for dunks that really got the crowd going.

"I just pointed up, and he threw it up, and I went to go get it" Gill quipped. "It's normally me, Quincy and Myles, the guards (on the lobs). But Tyrese did it today, and Sandro did it, too. I guess we've got a new connection going there."

4. Caution: Gauntlet Approaching

Today was a nice victory for the Pirates, and one they definitely wanted to get because coming up, they have three monster games, all of which are Senior Night contests. First up, they have a week off before going to Milwaukee to take on Marquette, a game where the atmosphere will be supercharged, with Golden Eagles fans having waited all year long to boo Powell and the Pirates after their legendary Big East semifinal game in 2019.

The Pirates then have their own senior day against Villanova, which will be Powell's, Gill’s and Quincy McKnight's last home games with a huge crowd expected again. And last, but certainly not least, Seton Hall ends the regular season in Omaha at Creighton, a team that is nipping at its heels for the top spot in the conference standings.

"There’s no hiding anymore," Willard said. "What we have in front of us - obviously at Marquette is going to be Markus (Howard's) senior night, and then we come here for our senior night. I think ‘Nova’s as good as any team in the country, and obviously at Creighton for their senior night, I don’t think there’s anybody playing better basketball than Creighton in the country right now. The way I’m looking at it is three great opportunities to kind of solidify where we’re going to get seeded in the NCAA Tournament. It gives us a chance to win the a Big East championship, and it also gives us a chance to get a great seeding in the Big East tournament, so it’s three great opportunities.”

5. History For Willard

The victory, the Pirates' 20th of the season, marked a milestone for Willard today. He is now the first coach in the history of New Jersey Division 1 men's basketball to have five straight seasons with 20 or more victories. P.J. Carlesimo never did it, Pete Carril never did it. With all the great college coaches that have worked in the Garden state at the high and mid-major levels, no one had ever accomplished the feat. 

"I've always said that Coach Willard doesn't get enough credit for what he's accomplished here," Powell said. "You know (our) relationship, he's like a father figure to me. I'm happy for him. I know he's not going to get complacent with that (record), he's just going to keep wanting to do more and more, and if you ask him that when he gets here, he'll act like it's nothing."

Well, Willard didn't necessarily act like it was nothing, but as you'd expect, he put his trademark dry wit on his response.

“It means Myles Powell’s a hell of a player," Willard said.

Okay, coach, but that's only the last four years. What say you about the fifth?

"Angel Delgado’s really good, Isaiah Whitehead’s really good," the Pirates' skipper said with a grin. "I’ve been blessed to have a lot of really, really good players over however long I’ve been here, but I think over the last five, especially with the groups that have been with me and worked hard, I’ve had some really good players.”