5 Thoughts: Seton Hall stuns No. 15 UConn for resume victory

KC Ndefo (13)’s putback dunk in final seconds capped off 17-point comeback for Seton Hall against UConn. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — Wednesday night's game at Prudential Center felt like an inflection point for both Seton Hall and UConn coming in. The Huskies were reeling after starting out 14-0, having dropped four of their last five, while the Pirates stumbled early in the Big East, but had held serve against the bottom-feeders in the conference, and were in need of a quality win on their resume.

And it was Seton Hall putting together its best win of the season, coming back from 14 down at the half thanks to a smothering defensive effort, and using a clutch KC Ndefo putback with one second left for a 67-66 victory over the 15th-ranked Huskies, sending the Rock into a state of delusion.

Here are the Thoughts:

1. Wicked Shahp

Ok, so UConn isn't quite Boston, but's it's New England enough for me to make fun of the classic "Baw-stin" accent, and the Huskies came out focused in this game on the road. A pair of triples by Jordan Hawkins early that got things off and running, and UConn (Youk-hawn?) went on an 11-0 run at one point to build a lead that swelled to 17 at its largest, settling at 14 at the break.

This was especially impressive given that both head coach Dan Hurley and associate head coach Kimani Young were both missing in action after testing positive for COVID today. Assistant Tom Moore took the reins, and there wasn't any point in the game where it looked like there was a real dropoff. It helps when you have an assistant who had been a head coach for a decade, too, as Moore was at Quinnipiac.

So, the first half was all UConn. But the tide turned quickly once the teams came out for the second stanza...

2. Clamping Down Connecticut

According to Shaheen Holloway, what went wrong defensively was pretty much everything in the first 20 minutes. Facing a size disadvantage against the likes of Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan, the Pirates had to try and not let the big guys get what they wanted coming in. 

But they also lagged too far off of the outside shooters, and Hawkins and Alex Karaban took full advantage of the open space. The result was the Pirates giving up an uncharacteristic 7-of-15 from 3-point range, a sizable portion of their deficit on paper.

But the second half was a completely different story. After an up-and-down first four minutes, during which the Huskies hit three of their first four field goal attempts, they shot just 4-for-20 the rest of the game, going through not one, but two six-plus minute droughts without a bucket. Seton Hall's defense was in-your-face fantastic to help the Pirates come back and eventually win, returning to their identity with a vengeance.

"When we come out and do what we’re supposed to do, we put ourselves in position," Holloway said. "The second half, I thought we came out and understood the game plan better. The first half was a debacle. We just defended and scored off our defense, you know? Ballgame.”

"It was a great feeling," Ndefo said. "We got a lot of stops down the stretch, we were really executing our offensive game(plan). I felt we played a good stretch in the (second) half, and I'm happy that we executed."

3. Game Balls

Three players stand out to me, and the first is obvious. KC Ndefo's contributions may have gone under the radar at the start of the season, but they are front and center now for Seton Hall fans. There's a reason he's one of the best defensive players in the nation, and he spearheaded the Pirates' charge after halftime doing his usual things on that end of the floor. 

And then there were his offensive contributions: The rebound and putback to win the game marks his second game-winning bucket this season, joining his layup at Rutgers in December. But he also threw down two ridiculous dunks, one on a putback early in the second half that kind of woke up the crowd, and the other a jam in transition over Andre Jackson, Jr. that made it a three-point game and forced UConn to call timeout to try and calm down with Prudential Center's roof blown clean off its hinges.

"If you watch the game, just the second half, his deflections, his energy, his putback dunk…he did the things that I’ve seen him do for the last four years with me at Saint Peter’s," Holloway said. "I thought he did the last couple games. At DePaul he did it well, and tonight he did it in the second half.”

My second game ball goes to Tyrese Samuel, who did the lion's share of the battling inside against Sanogo and Clingan. He's a power forward playing out of position at center, but held his ground while also contributing nine points, seven rebounds, and a pair of late steals when UConn tried to get the ball to Sanogo.

“I thought it was a team effort," said Holloway on defending the UConn towers. "We tried to not let (Sanogo) get position, low position. We tried to push him out a little bit because once he gets position down there low, it’s over. There’s nothing you could do about it. But I thought Tyrese battled, I thought Tray (Jackson) battled also, and I was happy to see it."

"It's tough," the senior big man said afterwards of banging with the big boys of UConn. "You have to go in prepared, you know there's going to be banging the whole game. You kind of just have to go in with a whole mentality of being physical, they're always going to be physical with you, so you have to be physical with them, just match it. And that's perfect for us because we're a scrappy team, and when we play physical, we're a hard team to beat."

My third game ball goes to Kadary Richmond, whose 27 points a season ago were the headline in Seton Hall's overtime win over UConn in Newark. Today, the Pirates' point guard had 18 points to lead all scorers again, but he added 10 massive rebounds to help out the Hall's big men inside, all on the defensive glass.

"He’s starting to get it, and I think he wants it," Holloway said. "Him having 10 rebounds tonight was big... like I said, he has to play at a high level every game for us. And in order to do that, you’ve got to prepare like that. That means he has to do it in practice.”

4. Cashing In Charity

Another chunk of Seton Hall's halftime deficit came from a 4-of-10 showing at the free throw line. It's been written ad nauseum that this team has struggled to claim the free points available to them, especially glaring since they have gotten to the line so much this season. 

And in the second half, the Pirates made the shots when they counted, going 13-of-15 in the final 20 minutes (which was really 13-of-14 since Ndefo missed on purpose with 1.6 seconds left and UConn was out of timeouts). Richmond again deserves credit, leading with an 8-for-10 showing at the stripe, and according to Holloway, it's practice that makes perfect.

"I don’t think no one in the country shoots more free throws than us," the Seton Hall skipper said. "We shoot free throws — like, if it’s a two-hour practice, I would say for 30 minutes in between that two-hour practice. We’ve just got to go to the line and cash in. Guys made them down the stretch. I wanted KC to miss (in the final seconds), he missed, and the rest was history.”

5. Inflection Point?

Seton Hall's victory is its third so-called "Quad 1" win of the season, and Brad Wachtel, a prominent local bracketologist, tweeted out after the game, "Welcome to the bubble, Pirates." (He's worth a follow, by the way, if you like college hoops.)

Again, coming in, the Pirates had recovered from their 0-4 start to Big East play nicely, but had yet to top the Big East's upper echelon. Now, they've won five in a row, and surge into a Saturday matchup next against a legit Marquette team that shredded the Pirates in Milwaukee earlier this season.

They could certainly use more efforts like the second half tonight. Holloway also commented on that after the game.

“We’ve just got to understand we’ve gotta want it more than the other team," he said. "We’ve gotta take care of us, I keep saying that. I thought we had two solid days of practice, so when you win in practice, you win in the games. I think the team’s starting to understand what I want and how I coach, and it’s starting to get there. We’re still a long way away, but we’re taking steps.”

The Pirates are starting to come together, and their leaders as well as the fans are seeing it happen in real time.

"You see guys gelling more and buying into the system," Ndefo said. "We're more locked in, and it starts with chemistry, guys just playing with each other more often. We're just clicking."

The Golden Eagles are also ranked just like UConn, but are headed in the opposite direction at the moment, and another victory Saturday would very much put the Pirates in the NCAA Tournament conversation.