Isaiah Coleman had best game of his young career Wednesday with 13 points and 8 rebounds in Seton Hall’s 25-point win over UAlbany. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
Whatever skepticism remains gave way, at least temporarily, to a prolific and balanced offense of a team now beginning to hit its stride and stack consistent efforts together.
Seton Hall spotted UAlbany a 7-2 run to start the game Wednesday after Hofstra transfer Amar’e Marshall knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute of action, but the deficit was short lived after a 17-2 spurt by the Pirates restored order en route to a commanding 96-71 victory over the visiting Great Danes.
The 96 points represent a single-game high in the one-plus seasons under Shaheen Holloway’s aegis, toppling the previous best of 88 set last December against St. John’s. Six players scored 10 or more points in the win for Seton Hall (3-0), with two more adding nine points to contribute to a total team effort and second straight decisive win.
“I feel like it was a great opportunity for us to handle business out there today, especially giving the older guys a break,” sophomore guard Jaquan Sanders said after he chipped in with 10 points off the bench. “I know we need them, so just to come in, give them time to rest and be able to take over the game, I felt like (it) was a great opportunity.”
Picking up where Seton Hall left off in the second half Saturday, Holloway was able to ride the hot hand of his second unit for extended minutes even after Kadary Richmond, Al-Amir Dawes and Jaden Bediako imposed their will on a smaller and less physical UAlbany roster. Although Holloway was displeased with his team’s defense — a common refrain from the hard-nosed former point guard — he walked away satisfied with the production from his group.
“The more these guys get a chance to play, the more they get confident,” Holloway reiterated. “A guy like Malachi Brown, today I thought he played phenomenal in the time he was out there (10 points). He showed poise, he showed he could handle the basketball, he didn’t get sped up, he’s relaxed. For me, that’s a sign that I could give him some more minutes, and I need to give him more minutes because I can’t play Kooks and Al that many minutes. So for him to get those minutes and play the way he played, that was a plus for me.”
“And like I told these guys, I don’t care what the score is, go out there and play because the more you play, the more confidence you give me to roll with you guys. The more we play the bench, it’s good for us.”
Brown added to his career-best night late in the second half, with Isaiah Coleman setting the table moments before him with 13 points and eight rebounds in the winning cause. Overall, Seton Hall shot 62 percent from the floor and made 19 of its first 25 shots Wednesday night, outmuscling UAlbany with a 58-28 margin in paint scoring.
“The goal for us is to try to drive the ball in and touch the paint,” Holloway said of his offensive mindset. “If you get paint touches, it opens up everything, right? That’s why as a defensive team, I don’t want teams driving the middle against us. We’re trying to get paint touches a lot. I think once you get paint touches, what happens is the court starts opening up and teams start to suck in. Now there’s threes, there’s layups, there’s backdoors. In the second half, Kooks got a couple of layups early just because we were moving. I’m trying to get paint touches.”
One more game remains on Seton Hall’s season-opening homestand, a Saturday afternoon tilt against Wagner and Pirate legend Donald Copeland, now in his second season as head coach of the Seahawks. From there, the Pirates head to San Diego for a Thanksgiving clash with Southern California, and we offer a trio of postgame takeaways from Wednesday’s affairs:
1) Sharing the Sugar
Steve Lavin, now the head coach at San Diego, coined that phrase during his time at Seton Hall’s Big East rival, St. John’s, to describe the emphasis and importance of distributing the ball equally. On this night, Seton Hall only recorded 17 assists, but the rock was fluid and did not stick, creating an offensive execution that was as efficient as it was a pleasant visual aesthetic.
“I want the ball to move more,” a vocal Holloway said of the offensive motion. “I’m trying to chart this. I know you guys are gonna laugh at me, I want to get like, 200-230 passes a game. And I think if we can get that, everybody’s happy because everybody’s touching the basketball.”
“Is that possible? I don’t know, I’m trying. I don’t know how many we had today, I didn’t look at the stats yet, but that’s the goal. We’re trying to get anywhere from 200-230 passes a game. I think if we could do that, it helps, that way people can’t say, ‘I’m not touching the basketball.’”
Sanders, one of the elder statesmen in the program despite his second-year classification, echoed the value in spreading the love.
“I feel like we talk about that a lot,” he revealed. “The more we share the ball, the more we’re gonna play for each other and do the extra things to win. Just sharing the ball opens up the floor for a lot of different people like Kooks, Al, Dre. Just doing that, sharing the ball, is gonna build a better relationship for us on and off the court and help us build up at the end of March.”
2) The Prophet Isaiah
Coleman, a 6-foot-5 wing from Virginia who was a summer signee this past offseason, had his shining moment midway through the second half. Not only did he attack the basket on consecutive possessions, he also created his own offense through stops on the defensive end and a renewed commitment to crashing the glass, something his coach was adamant about wanting to see more of.
“I’ve been on him to rebound the basketball,” Holloway intimated. “He got in and rebounded today. He’s a better shooter than what he’s showing. I don’t know if he made a three yet, (but) he’s a better shooter and he’s a good athlete. He’s building, man. He’s young, he’s hungry, he gets it, he’s a gym rat. He’s gonna be in the gym, he’s always working, he wants to get better watching the film. So like I said, he’s gonna be good. As the year goes on, he’s gonna be good.”
“I know what he could do on and off the court,” Sanders said as he was asked about Coleman’s nascent star turn. “I’ve got a lot of trust in him and I tell him I need him to be confident every time he gets in a game. He’s a freshman and he’s going to make mistakes, but to see him come out there today and give it his all, I’m proud of him.”
3) Be You, Do What You Do
To paraphrase the late 1990s and early 2000s Dr. Pepper ad campaign, perhaps the best medicine for the Pirates is to simply be themselves and do what comes naturally. The authenticity was mentioned following the FDU game last Saturday, and revisited again Wednesday night.
“To be honest, I just feel like we’re being us,” Sanders said of building momentum and progressing on a daily basis. “I know what we could do being tough, having toughness, being gritty. I feel like that carried over today, but I feel like we could get better.”
Before the game, Seton Hall also announced the signing of its first two commitments in the class of 2024, four-star recruits Godswill Erheriene and Jahseem Felton.
Erheriene, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound Nigerian from Long Island Lutheran by way of Nigeria, gives the Pirates additional front line depth next season. Only one player — Bediako, a graduate student this year — will exhaust his eligibility following this season. Felton, a 6-foot-5 guard from North Carolina and the cousin of former UNC national champion and NBA veteran Raymond Felton, adds to the versatility of Holloway’s backcourt.
“I’m happy,” Holloway said of the new signees. “I got two guys that we were targeting, two guys that could come in and play right away. As far as Godswill, we haven’t had an athletic big like that in a long time. He can run, he can jump, he can rebound, he can block shots and I think his best basketball is ahead of him. I’m super excited about him, and I’m excited about Jah as well. Jah’s a big point guard, he’s a big guard kind of like Kooks, could shoot it, could handle it, could get to the basket, got a great feel for the game. We’re really excited to have those two guys.”
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