5 Thoughts: Seton Hall stuns Rutgers to take Garden State Hardwood Classic

Seton Hall celebrates with Boardwalk Trophy after defeating Rutgers for second consecutive season and first time in Piscataway since 2015. (Photo by Seton Hall Athletics)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Wow.

That's the prevailing word I can say right now after the Garden State Hardwood Classic returned to Piscataway for the first time since 2019. The Seton Hall Pirates came in under a new head coach with a lot of new players who had battled against a hyper-tough non-conference schedule with uneven results. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights were coming home after a bad no-call at Ohio State denied them a second-straight Big Ten, top-25 win, with a sold-out building considered (rightly) one of the toughest environments in all of college basketball to play in for an opposing team all jazzed up and ready to roar.

And in an absolute meat grinder of a basketball game, it was Seton Hall who incredibly prevailed, 45-43 to send the crowd of 8,500 fans into the rainy night both incensed and stunned.

Here are the 5 Thoughts from one of the most-impressive road victories I've seen since I started covering the Pirates a decade ago:

1. Silent Knights

A huge credit goes to the players and coaching staff here, as the Pirates were locked in from the jump. For the first 15 minutes of this game, Seton Hall played a practically flawless first half on defense. The Pirates were aggressive, omnipresent, and in sync with each other, with great communication and effort. If there was a player with the ball, there was a man right in front of them. If there was a ball screen, they read it. If there was a cutter, they saw them. 

That, plus a patient approach against Rutgers' 1-3-1 zone and a trio of triples led Seton Hall out to a 19-12 lead. The crowd, so ready to explode (when Rutgers hit its first shot of the game to tie the score at 3-3, you would have thought someone just hit a buzzer-beater), rarely had the opportunity to do so. The Pirates should save the tape of the first 15 minutes and try to replicate it every game on the defensive end, because it was truly outstanding.

2. And You're Gonna Hear Me Roar

Well, then what happened? At the RAC, in this rivalry, momentum can shift on a dime, and it started in a rather innocent way, when Tyrese Samuel (who was arguably the first half MVP on defense) picked up his first foul, kind of a cheap one hooking the arm of Rutgers' Cliff Omoruyi. The center hit both ends of a 1-and-1, and then Seton Hall turned it over against the press, leading to a great pass by Paul Mulcahy to a cutting Omoruyi for an and-1 dunk. 

All of a sudden, the RAC came alive, and Rutgers rode that momentum to a 10-0 run, eventually stretching it out to 14-3 to close the half up 26-22. If not for a Jamir Harris three that momentarily quieted the crowd, it would have been 14-0, and who knows what could have happened at that point. 

It served as a lesson of sorts for a whole lot of Pirates who had not yet experienced Seton Hall-Rutgers at the RAC, and another feather in the cap of the Hall in this game is that despite not starting the second half outstandingly well, the Pirates took that big punch, and got up off the deck.

3. Jerseyball

After Seton Hall was down seven points just under three minutes into the second half, it went on an 8-0 run to get right back in the game, and what transpired from there on out was a classic, hard-nosed, New Jersey rivalry game. 

This whole contest really felt like one from the outset, but it seemed like in the second half, neither team could get a run going because they kept trading the same thing on both ends of the court: Made shots, turnovers, fouls, etc. In a game like that, pride is a huge driving factor, and this game had tons of it. 

For example, Seton Hall forced 19 Rutgers turnovers in this game, and although the Pirates got just nine points off them, it denied the Scarlet Knights valuable scoring trips down the floor all the same. The defense returned to form after its lapses around the halftime break, battling for every inch of court. Twelve of those turnovers were also Pirate steals, including six from Kadary Richmond, who played a quality game with four points, six rebounds, and just two turnovers off the bench. 

It was grimy, greasy, and not for the faint of heart. But this game usually is when there's so much Jersey pride at stake.

4. KC and the Sunshine Band

Which brings me to the difference-maker, the Joe Calabrese MVP of this game, the Pirates' KC Ndefo, a player from Long Island who had never taken part in this rivalry matchup, but who as an undersized forward his whole career, was very used to the type of effort it takes to win games like this.

It started when Samuel and Tray Jackson got into foul trouble in the early stages of the first half. Shaheen Holloway went small, and that meant that Ndefo had to defend Omoruyi inside, a player about four inches taller and 50 pounds heavier. And KC held his ground, forcing the Rutgers center out of the paint and forcing the Scarlet Knights to look for offense elsewhere.

And then came the final sequence of the game. With Seton Hall up 45-43 after a basket by — who else? — Ndefo, the Pirates forward blocked Omoruyi's shot, a huge play on its own. But then Richmond got a layup blocked on the other end by Scarlet Knights defensive ace Caleb McConnell, so it was back into the meat grinder. After both teams missed again, Ndefo challenged Mulcahy's baseline shot and forced another big miss with the seconds ticking away. Aundre Hyatt's putback attempt was errant, and then Ndefo came all the way from the opposite side of the floor to save the ball in bounds on the baseline to Dre Davis, forcing Rutgers to foul with just 0.6 seconds left.

And that was that. Mulcahy's three-quarter-court heave was off the mark after Davis missed both shots at the stripe, and the Pirates won. Ndefo finished with nine points, eight boards, two steals, and three total blocked shots, fittingly the MVP of a game that came down to getting multiple stops. If Pirates fans hadn't noticed the little things the grad transfer from Saint Peter's had done so far this year on defense, this was about as in-your-face as it could get when it comes to making a difference down the stretch.

5. Of Course, Hijinks

Remember Rutgers' loss to Ohio State last week? Well, Rutgers should have won because the referees missed the player who made the game-winner at the buzzer for the Buckeyes stepping out of bounds before the shot, and failing to reestablish himself in bounds before catching the ball and nailing the ensuing long 3-pointer.

As fans were rapidly filing out of the RAC following Ndefo's heroics, the big board showed Ndefo's foot on the baseline as he was pursuing the ball. In other words, exactly the same thing that happened in Columbus, albeit in a different manner on defense rather than offense. This sent the fans that saw it into a rage, and the referees were reviewing the monitor at the time, but reviewing it for time left on the clock. Just like against Ohio State, Ndefo stepping on the line before saving the ball was not reviewable, and that was that. 

You can add it to the long list of hijinks over the years that have made this rivalry what it is today. They may only get to meet once a year now that Rutgers is in the Big Ten, but it's good to know that some things never change, and Seton Hall vs Rutgers is one rivalry that is never lacking for drama.

For a final thought, Seton Hall earned this win by getting the better of the Scarlet Knights in the hustle stats, and a team that needed a confidence boost got a shot in the arm, surviving one of the toughest buildings and most rabid crowds they'll see all year. Color me impressed, and color New Jersey blue and white once again.