If THIS St. John’s shows up consistently, Big East season could yield massive payoff

Kadary Richmond caps off first-half layup as St. John’s captivated crowd with dominant win over DePaul in Big East opener. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/St. John’s Athletics)

NEW YORK — Time and time again, no coach proves he or she is more adept and sending and conveying messages than Rick Pitino.

Leading up to his St. John’s team opening its conference season Tuesday against DePaul, the two-time national champion did not take the Blue Demons—cannon fodder for Big East opposition for the majority of DePaul’s near two-decade membership in the league—lightly. Instead, he told the media that the Chicago school was being disrespected in a sense with regard to the point spread on Tuesday’s game, urging anyone who would listen that the contest would be a war.

Message received.

The Red Storm led from the start Tuesday, and unlike previous affairs where it would let an opponent hang around and make things interesting into the second half, there was less doubt as the game went on, becoming an 89-61 rout by the time the final buzzer sounded.

“I was shocked,” a candid Pitino revealed. “We were sick over this game. We were preparing as if it was the last game of the season and we had to win it because of the way (DePaul) shoots the ball. But our defense was absolutely brilliant. This was our best game by far, in so many different areas. I thought all the guys were terrific. Their focus was absolutely great. I can’t tell you how blown away I am by the score here.”

“We got a lot of guys on our team who can just go,” Simeon Wilcher added. “That’s part of the reason why you see so many changes in the starting lineup, because it doesn’t matter who’s out there. They all could go out and there and have 30 if they want to. It’s just a testament to the guys and what they’ve been working on. Everybody will eat, which is a testament to what happened (Tuesday).”

Does Wilcher, the sophomore who spurned North Carolina when the opportunity to receive more minutes closer to his New Jersey home opened up shortly after Pitino’s hire, see a trend continuing after firing such an impressive opening salvo?

“A thousand percent,” he declared. “And we’re just gonna keep getting better as the games go on.”

Wilcher was among the most efficient players for a 9-2 Red Storm outfit Tuesday, scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. RJ Luis added 19 of his own, Zuby Ejiofor contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, and Deivon Smith—who shows more of the classic explosive guard game Pitino rode to a national championship behind Russ Smith and Peyton Siva a dozen years ago—flirted with a triple-double through his nine-point, eight-assist, six-rebound effort. Then, there was Kadary Richmond.

Richmond, the much-hyped Seton Hall transfer who is still acclimating to a different style on this side of the Hudson, turned in perhaps his best effort as a Johnny, chipping 18 points into the winning cause and supplementing the offense with seven rebounds. But while his coach is still giving him a reasonable amount of leeway almost halfway through the year, Tuesday’s performance was no shock to those with whom the Brooklynite goes to war on an everyday basis.

“Kadary was just being Kadary,” Wilcher deadpanned. “It’s not like, ‘whoa, what is that or who is this?’ We know who he is and we know what he does, day in and day out. I feel like he’s figured everything out that he needs to. He’s just going out there and being himself.”

St. John’s has done an excellent job of putting to rest an underwhelming—in terms of record—Bahamas trip last month, erasing the aftertaste of a heartbreaking loss to Baylor and hard-fought loss to Georgia with four consecutive wins. Pitino’s second-year teams usually make the most marked jumps during his tenures, and this group seems to be on track to replicate that trend as the Red Storm builds off of a 20-win campaign a year ago. The man in charge of the renaissance, though, is trying to be realistic as he looks ahead.

“I think we played great (Tuesday),” Pitino reiterated. “I think we have the potential to be an outstanding team, I haven’t seen it except the Virginia game and (Tuesday). Are we taking a quantum leap? We’ll see when we play Providence on the road for the first Big East road game, in probably the toughest environment in the Big East. We’re four points away from probably being ranked in the top 5 of the nation, but we didn’t get the job done (against Baylor and Georgia). You’ve gotta not fall in love with yourself.”

Preparing for a marathon, but living in the moment, the St. John’s players are taking notice of such potential, caring not for independently formed narratives and merely committing to displaying a cohesive and efficient product for 40 minutes at a time. Smith seems to have noticed a change in results under that mindset.

“Honestly, it’s fun,” he opined. “I think once we put all the stuff we can’t control to the side, and just lock in and play for each other, we play our best basketball.”

Shooting woes evident as Quinnipiac drops first home game in heartbreaker to Holy Cross

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

HAMDEN, Conn. — On a night where nothing would fall from three-point range, Quinnipiac lost its first home game of the season to Holy Cross, 70-69, snapping the Bobcats’ two-game winning streak.

“If we grow from this loss, then something good comes out of it,” head coach Tom Pecora said.

The Bobcats went just 4-for-21 from three compared to the Crusaders’ 14-for-29. Usually reliable shooters such as Ryan Mabrey and Khaden Bennett went a combined 1-for-10 and missed some pretty good looks, a common trend all night.

“We guarded them, got up into them, but they just kept on moving back and making them,” Pecora said. “You’re not going to give up 14 threes and beat a team at home, away, neutral site, it doesn’t matter.”

Inside the arc, it was a much different story. Paul Otieno and Savion Lewis were able to get whatever they wanted in the paint—Otieno using his signature lefty hook and Lewis opting for some floaters and layups. They each scored 13 points to lead the team and were two of five Bobcats in double figures.

One positive to take away for Quinnipiac was the continued growth of its young guards, Jaden Zimmerman and Bennett. They finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively, and have grown up really quickly amid all the injuries the Bobcats had early in the season.

“I thought he would be a guy that would come off the bench and play 15-20 minutes per game,” Pecora said of Bennett. “He’s done a great job playing with the ball in his hands with Savion out and off the ball tonight.”

Quinnipiac led by seven in the second half before collapsing on both ends of the ball. Whether it be a turnover or missed three, it always seemed like the Crusaders capitalized on the other end right after. A 20-6 Holy Cross run over a near eight-minute stretch in the second half flipped the game, and it was uphill for the Bobcats after that.

“We get up seven, but we’re not able to get that stop,” Pecora said. “We shouldn’t have been surprised by their ability to shoot the ball from three.”

The final two minutes was filled with great shot making, as Lewis and Amarri Monroe connected on back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 64. Bennett followed up a few possessions later with one of his many contested layups to put the Bobcats in front by two, but right away, Kahlil Singleton hit a three for Holy Cross for a 67-66 lead with 50 seconds left. Lewis hit a baseline floater to take the lead back at the 40-second mark, but after drawing up a play, Holy Cross found the hot hand of Singleton once again, and he hit a go-ahead three once again to make it 70-68. Singleton finished with a game-high 20 points and six threes.

The Bobcats had a chance to tie or take the lead, and opted for Monroe to drive to the hoop and look for contact. The star forward drew a foul and headed to the free throw line with seven seconds left down by two, but he split the free throws.

“I was just trying to extend the game in that regard,” Pecora said on his decision to go for a two-pointer. “Hell, if he puts that bucket in and goes and makes one free throw, you steal a game.”

After fouling Holy Cross’ Max Green, the Bobcats had one last chance as he missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Bennett’s half-court heave was off the mark and the Crusaders escaped with the win.

The Bobcats will have a chance to wash this one away on Saturday, when they make the short trip to New Britain to take on Central Connecticut.

UMass Lowell shows signs of potentially breaking through America East ceiling

By Ray Curren (@currenrr)

LOWELL, Mass. — There was a time, not so long ago, when the UMass Lowell men’s basketball team could celebrate any victory over a Division I opponent. After all, the River Hawks have been in Division I for only a decade and there were plenty of growing pains along the way.

The program is now fully grown.

Coming off a shellacking of in-state big brother UMass, the River Hawks beat LIU last Wednesday, 69-62, at the Costello Center, but struggled down the stretch and turned the ball over an unacceptable 17 times. Saturday afternoon, UMass Lowell found itself down nine at the half as Dartmouth came in and hit a barrage of threes. River Hawks coach Pat Duquette didn’t have to raise his voice in the locker room or turn over any tables, though. 

His veteran team already knew it was capable of better and showed it with a dominating second half, outscoring the Big Green, 57-39, en route to a 92-83 win, moving the River Hawks to 8-4 and a perfect 7-0 at home.

“(Dartmouth) shot 17-of-36 from three and we still won the game,” Duquette, now in his 12th year in charge, said. “If anybody didn’t notice how much better a team we were in the first 10 minutes of the second half than we were the first, it was just so clear and I hope it’s clear to my guys. They came out after halftime and decided they were going to play the right way, find the open man, and all of a sudden, it was a different team and everyone was a part of it.”

And the goal for UMass Lowell is simple: Win the America East regular season title and stay in Lowell for the entire America East tournament in March. The king of America East has long been Vermont, of course, who has won the last EIGHT regular season titles and represented the conference in the last three NCAA Tournaments. But the River Hawks have been second the last two campaigns and have started the same five seniors in all 12 games this season. The computers agree, the River Hawks are 40 spots higher than any of their conference rivals in KenPom, even after taking a slight hit in their last two contests.

Even without shooting many threes (323rd nationally), UMass Lowell has creeped up to 98th in offensive efficiency (Bryant is next best in America East at 176th) with a tremendous balance. Four of the five seniors are in double figures, led by Quinton Mincey at 17.3 points per game. The only one not is point guard Quincy Clark, who came from Jacksonville State this season and runs the show with his size (6-foot-4) and strength.

“I’ve got a lot of fourth and fifth-year guys that have played a lot of basketball,” Duquette said. “They know they have to do what works for you. If the shots aren’t going down, you can’t let it affect your defense. And if you do play good defense and they hit a tough shot, you can’t let that affect you, either. You have to stay confident.”

Saturday’s star was Max Brooks, who was just 12-of-12 from the field for 26 points and 9 rebounds. Brooks is shooting 73.3 percent from the field this season, as the River Hawks were 30-of-41 on two-point shots Saturday, getting to the rim at will, particularly in the second half. 

Said Brooks: “I was born in the dunker spot, they say. So as long as they hit me, I can put them in. Most of them were close enough, I could put them in with my eyes closed.”

When they need an offensive boost off the bench, the River Hawks call on freshman Martin Somerville, averaging 13.1 points per game and shooting 45 percent from behind the arc. Yuri Covington, a 6-foot-1 guard who does whatever Duquette asks, and Cam Morris—a 6-foot-8 forward whose length is tough for any mid-major to deal with—are the other two seniors, each of whom is capable if someone else is having an off night.

The River Hawks know to win in the America East, they will have to defend. Right now they are just 227th nationally in efficiency due to a dangerous combination of not forcing turnovers (16 percent, 262nd) and struggling on the defensive boards (66.8 percent, 289th). Saturday, UMass Lowell forced 13 turnovers (18.3 percent), but eight of those came in the second half.

“You could really feel the energy in the second half within our team,” Mincey said.

All the pieces seem to be there for UMass Lowell to make a run at its first America East title and first NCAA Tournament. Of course, being in a one-bid league is fickle and variance in March has ended many a dream of veteran teams like the River Hawks. After all, it was Lowell’s most famous native son Jack Kerouac who wrote, “It all ends in tears anyway.”

But don’t be surprised if UMass Lowell becomes one of those No. 15 seeds an unsuspecting No. 2 seed has to worry about in the first week of the NCAA Tournament.

St. John’s topples Fairfield en route to best non-conference start in 14 years

Joe Tartamella looks on as St. John’s takes on Fairfield Sunday. (Photo by Sebastian Zelaya/The Torch)

By Kyler Fox (@kylerrfox)

NEW YORK — Having won 10 of their first 11 contests, Joe Tartamella and his St. John’s women’s basketball program pride themselves on owning a defensive identity.

In a matinee matchup in Queens, Tartamella’s crew was forced to pivot from its usual style of play to a balanced offensive attack due to a monstrous 30-point performance by Fairfield’s Kaety L’Amoreaux. The change in tactics was successful, as five Johnnies tallied double-digit scoring totals in a wire-to-wire 77-68 victory for the hosts.

“I thought we guarded enough, even though we gave (L’Amoreaux) 30,” Tartamella admitted postgame. “Which is a problem, but we did enough and certainly needed this for the bigger picture.”

The triumph at Carnesecca Arena pushed the Red Storm’s record to 10-1, its best start ahead of conference play since the 2010-11 campaign—two seasons before Tartamella took over the helm. And if it not for a gut-wrenching loss in the final seconds on November 28 against Harvard, St. John’s would have headed into Villanova undefeated.

“When you talk about scoring, defense, and pressure, (we’re) an interesting team,” Tartamella said. “We’ve won in a million different ways that I don’t see at practice, but they find a way to perform with and for each other.”

Sunday’s win exemplified the 45-year-old head coach’s comments, showcasing the group’s “next man up” ability. After Penn State transfer Kylie Lavelle fell into foul trouble early, St. John’s turned to its veteran backup big, Phoenix Gedeon. Now in her second season in the red and white, Gedeon provided an instant impact upon arrival. The Red Storm had committed six turnovers in the opening frame alone, but once it began utilizing the senior anchor in the pick-and-roll, the mistakes subsided.

Gedeon’s performance extended beyond an 11-point outing. On the other end, she grabbed seven rebounds while putting her body on the line to the tune of three drawn charges.

“Phoenix was terrific today. There’s nothing else I can say about it,” Tartamella said. “This is the best stat sheet she’s ever had.”

Beyond Gedeon’s grit, Miami transfer Lashae Dwyer and second-year Johnny Ber’Nyah Mayo combined to neutralize the visitor’s top option. The backcourt duo combined for 31 points, accounting for nearly half of their team’s total scoring output. And then there was Ariana Vanderhoop, a fifth-year senior transfer out of Monmouth, who may be Tartamella’s most visually pleasing offensive weapon. While her nightly average has dropped, her flashes of talent remain evident, highlighted by the second-highest scoring total of her St. John’s tenure. Vanderhoop’s rhythm was on full display early, resulting in a 13-point afternoon.

“I’m just excited to see us keep growing going into conference play,” Vanderhoop confidently declared.

Boasting a historic record ahead of Saturday’s clash at Big East rival Villanova, Tartamella and the Red Storm look to lean on their versatility to climb beyond their current ranking of 42 in the NCAA’s NET ranking.

UConn’s Garden return sparks cathartic atmosphere in non-conference finale

Madison Square Garden attracted near-capacity crowd as partisan UConn fans made pilgrimage to Manhattan to watch Huskies defeat Gonzaga. (Photo by Position Sports)

By Sam Federman (@Sam_Federman)

NEW YORK — Before walking up the escalator to the sixth-floor concourse at Madison Square Garden, UConn fans had already started the festivities.

If UConn basketball is a religion, and in Connecticut, it is, then its high holidays are the days in which the Huskies travel to the Garden. The journey on Metro North’s New Haven line from the Nutmeg State to midtown Manhattan is the hajj, ending at the Mecca on 33rd and 8th.

By the time the thousands of Husky diehards poured into the arena, they’d already been riled up for hours. Surrounded by UConn fans on trains, at bars, and throughout the afternoon, they made it a special atmosphere in a special place. You could tell immediately, as ginormous cheers awaited the UConn team entering the floor while boos rained down on Gonzaga.

After three losses in Maui, No. 18 UConn (8-3) capped off its non-conference slate with four wins in a row, including three big ones against Baylor, Texas, and now, the Zags. On Saturday night, the two-time reigning champions returned to what their fans call Storrs South and gave the team the boost it needed to take home a 77-71 win over No. 8 Gonzaga (7-3).

“This isn’t the first time that UConn Nation really helped us give energy (at MSG),” Alex Karaban said. “(They do it for) the Big East Tournament and these types of games too. They’re always there for us.”

Within the first moments, the Huskies matched the crowd’s energy. Samson Johnson won the opening jump, and UConn dialed up a set to get the big man an alley-oop dunk immediately. Gonzaga responded with a basket, but the Huskies punched a flurry, including another Johnson slam, a three-pointer by Liam McNeeley that bounced off the back of the rim before dropping, and finally, a two-hand flush by Solo Ball that forced Mark Few to call timeout at 11-2.

The building went feral. The feeling of catharsis was ever-present, as any of the lingering negative energy that built up around the fanbase during the trip to Maui was released in that moment. UConn fans could feel that everything was going to be okay, and they roared with approval. And they didn’t stop roaring all night.

“We felt the backlash, everybody just kind of gave up on us after what we did in Maui,” Karaban said. “The only response we had to do is prove to everyone the type of team that we are, and we definitely got that these three games.”

Gonzaga didn’t shy away from the challenge, even as it may have been startled by the energy of the first few minutes. Shotmaking from Khalif Battle and a settled-down Ryan Nembhard helped the Zags claw back, even taking the lead on two occasions in the first half.

But both times Gonzaga took the lead, UConn responded by pushing out to seven and five-point leads, igniting a crowd that didn’t need to be ignited.

“It was like a prize fight,” Zags coach Mark Few said. “There was energy, you could feel it. I think the guys could feel it. (UConn) definitely had a home court advantage here.”

He also shouted out the Zag fans who made the trip, and while outnumbered, tried everything they could to match the energy that the Husky fans brought. However, there was nothing stopping this UConn crowd from seeing a victory on Saturday night.

McNeeley, a freshman from Texas making his MSG debut, had just about everything going his way. He scored 13 points in the first half. When Gonzaga sent more defensive attention his way, it didn’t phase him. On a night where Karaban couldn’t hit water falling off a boat, and Ball also struggled to get his threes to fall, McNeeley rose to the occasion, with 26 points and eight rebounds.

After Gonzaga hit two threes to tie the game at 55 midway through the second half, UConn exploded with four quick baskets, capped off by a McNeeley three, forcing Few to call timeout. The freshman motioned for the already deafening crowd to get even louder.

“That shot fired me up,” McNeeley said. “So I just wanted the crowd to feel my excitement.”

Holding onto a four-point lead with just over three minutes left, McNeeley drove the lane and flipped the ball toward the backboard as he lost control of his body. Somehow, it kissed off the glass and through the net.

“That was Madison Square Garden right there,” he said. “The aura this place has, the aura the crowd brought.”

Hurley, UConn youth growing together leading into Big East opener

Alex Karaban exhorts Madison Square Garden crowd as UConn won fourth straight Saturday to erase aftertaste of winless Maui trip. (Photo by Position Sports)

NEW YORK — After his UConn team continued exorcising its Maui Invitational demons last Sunday, Dan Hurley had a proposition.

“Maybe,” the Huskies’ head coach postulated, “the people with the shovels and the dirt, maybe they were too quick to grab the shovel and throw the dirt on us. Maybe. We’ll see.”

Hurley shared his sentiment after UConn followed its statement win over Baylor with an equally resonant road victory against Texas four days later. And after Saturday’s resilient dispatch of a Top 10 program in Gonzaga, on a de facto home court at Madison Square Garden, the only shovels and dirt being thrown around these days are to bury a Hawaii excursion that now looks more like an aberration than a Waterloo of sorts.

“Listen, Maui was a very complex trip,” Hurley recalled. “There were a lot of things going on, and the three games felt like one long game. It was a total blender we were in out there. When you’re in a tournament like that, it’s hard to separate and evaluate, and for us, the level of success we’re having as a program, to go out there and lose that first game—that thing with the officials—I think it was just a great thing to go through, very valuable for me. Part of it was I coached the guys mad out there in Maui, mad that they weren’t playing the caliber of basketball that I wanted them to play, and I think I learned a lot from that experience. Some of the criticism I took, I deserved.”

Moreover, Hurley appears to have made believers out of his players again, a quality that has been UConn’s biggest intangible during the Huskies’ latest dominant run atop the sport’s summit.

“Even just as players, we felt the backlash of just (how) everyone kind of gave up on us after what we did in Maui,” Alex Karaban revealed. “The only response we had was to prove to everyone the type of team we were. We got these three games, which we needed badly, but at the same time, we know we start Big East play and Big East play is no joke. I’m glad we proved to everybody who we are, but we have so much more work and so much improving that we can do as a team.”

Throughout non-conference play, Hurley has harped on the development of his freshmen and sophomores, a trait that was on full display Saturday as Liam McNeeley dazzled with a career-high 26 points while Jaylin Stewart tallied several clutch baskets in the second half, including the first five points of the 10-0 run that flipped the script permanently into the Huskies’ hands.

“They showed tonight that we probably made the right decision to take some lumps early,” Hurley said of his younger core. “The upside of Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross and Solo Ball, I think, gives us a chance to improve a lot more throughout the course of the year than maybe, a lot of teams that are really old right now, maybe don’t have the upside that we have once our guys really grow up.”

McNeeley, who had never played at the Garden prior to Saturday, added his name into the annals of UConn legends who have had baptisms at the World’s Most Famous Arena, and according to his teammates and coaches, that performance was merely a small piece of what is to come.

“It means everything just for him to have that confidence, have that swagger and really propel us to a win,” Karaban said of McNeeley. “To do it as a freshman, too, it’s unbelievable. He’s just continuing to prove himself. That’s who he is as a player, and his hard work’s truly paying off.”

“I just think we’re still trying to figure out and build different ways that we can get him advantages,” Hurley echoed. “I don’t think he’s even starting to shoot the ball anywhere near the level that he’s gonna shoot the ball at, but you could see just us getting him involved in more zooms and more grenades, and more movement where he can get his shoulders downhill at the rim. And at 6-foot-7, he’s gonna get adept at throwing those lobs to our centers. He can see the 3-point line, he can finish at the rim and he can get to the foul line, so I think to mitigate the losses of (Tristen Newton) and Steph Castle and Cam Spencer, it’s like, he’s got so much pressure on him as a freshman in this program. I thought his game against Texas was incredibly mature. He’s playing winning basketball, smart, tough basketball. His performance (Saturday) should shoot him to the top of any of these lists I see of the best freshmen in the country. He’s doing it at both ends. He’s doing it on the backboard, he’s not volume scoring, and there’s so much pressure on him because he’s our second-best player next to Alex.”

And as UConn grows as a team, its leader does too as a coach. Hurley has always been vocal about needing to consistently evolve, almost as much as the pressure he puts on himself to succeed, which sometimes borders on insanity. On Saturday, the coach worked official Tommy Morrissey after a call, then put his arm around him in a moment that not only went viral, but showcased his ever-present metamorphosis.

“Every year, 18 months, I have an episode with the referees,” he admitted. “It’s not a nightly thing. You saw me hugging those guys and smiling, and for the most part, I’ve grown a lot that way.”

And after a disastrous Thanksgiving week, UConn appears to have grown as well, moving closer to the product Hurley expected it to be even if it is still far from last year’s juggernaut.

“For us, we were able to save our non-conference,” he said. “We were able to do that with the Baylor win and this, and winning at Texas was really good. Just thinking about what we were able to do, and show our character in a champion’s will coming out of the MTE, I think we’re in a good place in terms of our confidence and our belief that we can be where we want to be with this team.”

Where does Seton Hall go after Rutgers buzzer-beater?

Garwey Dual (33) and Dylan Harper (2) watch as Harper’s eventual game-winning three goes in at buzzer, sending Rutgers to victory and Seton Hall to another heartbreaking loss. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — On one side, it was a moment that will live forever.

For the other, it was the latest punch in the gut to conclude a non-conference season full of them. On that same side, amid the numerous missteps and an uncharacteristic sub-.500 record, it was the coup de grace of a seven-minute stretch where a litany of mistakes erased a 10-point lead and left Shaheen Holloway somewhat perplexed to add to his usual dejection after a loss.

“I’m not sure what was going on,” the Seton Hall coach assessed of the conclusion to the latest chapter of the Pirates’ intrastate rivalry with Rutgers, one that ended on a Dylan Harper 3-pointer at the buzzer. “For seven minutes, we kind of lost our mind.”

While Harper took the game over in the second half as both teams struggled to make free throws and string together a consistent rhythm offensively, Seton Hall still managed to fend Rutgers off by and large. Even as the Scarlet Knights retook the lead, the Pirates fought back to tie the score as both Harper and fellow wunderkind Ace Bailey each missed a pair of critical free throws in the final seconds. The comeback proved in vain, as the same issues that plagued The Hall in losses to Fordham, Hofstra and Monmouth once again manifested Saturday.

“It’s us,” a candid Holloway said. “We just kind of self-destruct, we stop running offense. We stopped doing what we were doing to give us the lead, which was sharing the basketball and making plays.”

Before the ill-fated final stretch, Seton Hall built a 41-31 advantage and squeezed as much juice as possible out of a capacity crowd at the RAC, hoping to thwart Rutgers’ bid to win consecutive games against the Pirates for the first time since 2013. Instead, Harper’s heroics offered an alternative ending to what those clad in blue had envisioned. But despite a 5-6 record heading into Tuesday’s Big East opener at Villanova, Seton Hall’s most recent opponent believes better days are on the horizon.

“Sha does an excellent job,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said, praising the Pirates by calling them “tough as nails.” “They’ve got good length and athleticism, and the way they rebound the basketball, the way they steal it and hold the ball, they play at a different pace.”

“They play great defense,” Harper echoed. “Coach Sha does a great job of getting his guys in gaps like that, playing team defense. He does a great job emphasizing defense. That’s how they’re gonna win games, so props to him. They’ve got some very good players.”

Never one to mince words, especially after the emotion of a bitter defeat, Holloway—as he usually does—wore his heart on his sleeve in his postgame press conference, but did concede that the majority of Saturday’s contest fell more in line with what he envisioned for a team he was still trying to get to know.

“Everybody that’s part of the program should feel this sting,” he intimated. “Then tomorrow, we gotta get back to work, plain and simple.”

Part of that includes rehabilitating guards like Chaunce Jenkins, who battled a knee injury last week against Oklahoma State and is still working his way back into top form, while also continuing to develop Emmanuel Okorafor as the starting center. Isaiah Coleman again showed promise as the go-to guy when the Pirates need him, but just a sophomore, he is still one of the several underclassmen that is rising up to give his coach a glimmer of hope heading into the arduous Big East slate.

“We gotta grow quickly,” Holloway said. “We’ve got a lot of older guys, but we’ve got a lot of guys that didn’t really play that much, even on teams they were on last year. So we’re asking those guys to step up, and I’m proud of my guys.”

“This is how I want us to play. This is how I thought we were gonna play, and this is how we have to play for the rest of the year. (When) you play like this, you give yourself a chance, and you’ve just gotta make plays down the stretch.”

UConn keeps rolling, defeats Gonzaga at MSG as McNeeley shines

Liam McNeeley celebrates 3-pointer as freshman set career high with 26 points in UConn’s win over Gonzaga. (Photo by Position Sports)

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

NEW YORK — UConn and Gonzaga.

A clash between the premier program of the northeast and the premier program of the Pacific Northwest. A budding rivalry that was rejuvenated in Las Vegas in the Elite Eight two seasons ago when the Huskies blew the doors off the Bulldogs on the way to their fifth title. Then the next year, UConn traveled out to Seattle and never trailed on the way to a 13-point win.

Now, the Zags returned the favor and headed east to finish this de facto home-and-home series, if you can even call it that. The Huskies and Bulldogs played Saturday in the Hall of Fame Series at Madison Square Garden, in which UConn defeated Gonzaga, 77-71, to win its third straight since returning from a winless Maui trip.

“Thrilled with the win, really gutted it out,” Dan

Hurley said. “Third straight game against a really good team and as good a team that we’ll play all year.”

Perhaps the biggest storyline to come out of The World’s Most Famous Arena on Saturday for UConn was that of Samson Johnson, who took a scary fall early in the first half and suffered a concussion, according to Hurley. 

“He’s going to go into the (concussion) protocol,” Hurley said. “It’s a shame, because he started that game in electrifying fashion.”

Johnson caught a lob from Hassan Diarra on the opening possession, and later had a left-handed jam to finish with four points in just six minutes. The Huskies opened up the game on an 11-2 run in less than three minutes and forced a quick Bulldog timeout after gaining great momentum.

In his Garden debut, Liam McNeeley didn’t disappoint. The freshman dropped a career-high 26 points, most of which came at key points in the game to halt Bulldog runs. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.

“Liam McNeeley has been the perfect Cam Spencer replacement,” Hurley alluded.

“He was special out there,” Alex Karaban said. “To have a game like this going into Big East play, that’s all you really need to continue playing well.”

Hurley’s not wrong about the Spencer comparison. McNeeley showed great evolution in his game all throughout, grabbing some big offensive rebounds and putting them back in addition to going 10-for-12 from the charity stripe. His 26 points are the most any Husky has scored in a game this season surpassing Tarris Reed, Jr.’s 22 against Memphis.

Speaking of Reed, in Johnson’s absence, he stepped up and scored 12 points off the bench. He had some timely buckets down low and had a sequence where he blocked back-to-back shot attempts from Braden Huff and then finished an and-1 on the other end.

“With Tarris and how he improved his efficiency,” Hurley said, “I think we made the right decision to take some lumps early.”

Another Husky who is clearly quite comfortable at MSG is Jaylin Stewart. Dating back to last year’s Big East tournament, the sophomore scored at least eight points off the bench in his third straight game played in downtown Manhattan. Against the Bulldogs, he scored 10, including a personal 5-0 splurge in the second half that erupted the Husky faithful in attendance.

“The upside of Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross and Solo Ball gives us the upside to improve throughout the year,” Hurley said.

Stewart also played some solid defense when matched up on players such as Michael Ajayi and Ben Gregg, not making it easy for either of them to get shots up.

“They just have the heart of a champion, man,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “It’s a handful to guess where it’s going to come from.”

This time around, it was those sophomores. Ball hit some big threes and Ross played excellent defense down the stretch, picking up a scoop-and-score layup after he picked Ryan Nembhard’s pocket and finished on the other end.

Every time it felt like the Bulldogs were going to take a lead or at least tie the game, the Huskies responded. After Khalif Battle and Nembhard hit consecutive threes to tie things at 55, they went on a 10-0 run to quickly get the game back to double figures, after which the majority-UConn crowd was the loudest it was all evening.

The Bulldogs cut the lead down to three late, but a backdoor cut from Karaban pushed the lead back to five with just under a minute remaining and the lead never dropped below that again.

“The fans always show out when we play at MSG,” Karaban said. “This isn’t the first time that UConn Nation really helped us give energy through the gym.”

McNeeley was impressed by the aura that the building brought, and credited some of his tough buckets to Madison Square Garden. The win marks the Huskies’ eighth straight at The Mecca in a span of 361 days, dating back to last season’s Empire Classic.

“I’ve heard a lot about it just from the success of last year’s team,” McNeeley said. “I just wanted to carry that forward and keep that momentum up in this place.”

The win marks the end to a roller coaster of non-conference play for the Huskies. They started 4-0, then went 0-3 in Maui, and followed that up with another 4-0 stretch, including two Top 25 wins and a road win against an SEC school in Texas. Hurley realizes that it could have been a lot worse than 8-3.

“We could have easily been under .500 going into league play with that stretch of games,” Hurley said on his team’s early December schedule.

The Huskies open up Big East play Wednesday at home in Hartford against Xavier, as they look to defend their regular season title from a year ago.

Queens outlasts Gardner-Webb behind Colimerio's career day

 

Queens forward Leo Colimerio led all scorers with 27 points in Saturday afternoon's victory. (Photo:  Queens University of Charlotte Athletics)

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BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – It’s obviously a different sport, but there may be a little bit of John Smoltz in Leo Colimerio.

The Queens senior forward was the Royals’ starter, scoring 24 points in the first half. He then served as the closer, knocking down the two free throws that helped his club stave off a fierce Gardner-Webb comeback. Queens used the career day from Colimerio to get its second consecutive win away from Curry Arena, claiming an 85-83 victory over the Runnin’ Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at Paul Porter Arena.

“Those guys responded,” Gardner-Webb coach Jeremy Luther said when speaking of his team’s response and rally down the stretch. “I think we were down 10 or 11 and we came back and took the lead. We just didn’t have enough plays after that to complete it.”

Queens (6-5) proved to be the early aggressor. The Royals were able to work Colimerio into the paint to set up short jumpers or passes to scorers at the basket, shaking off an early pair of baskets by the Runnin’ Bulldogs to seize the advantage. Creating separation proved to be a bit of a struggle, however, as Queens could open no larger than a two-possession advantage for much of the opening stanza. The Runnin’ Bulldogs pulled level on a Jamaine Mann dunk at the 9:45 mark – only for Colimerio to unleash a personal 7-0 run to put Queens in a bit more comfortable situation.

The margin stayed roughly the same for another five minutes, before Gardner-Webb answered another Colimerio triple with a 7-0 burst of its own, with a Buddy Simmons trifecta and Anthony Selden layup following a Mann bucket to again pull the Runnin’ Bulldogs within a single point. Queens then counterpunched to end the half, closing on a 15-8 burst capped by a Mahan Jabriel three at the first-half horn to take a 44-36 ledger reading to the interval.

Queens grabbed the first two buckets of the second half and quickly opened a double-digit lead. Gardner-Webb (4-7) halved the deficit on an and-one from Mann with 13:17 to play. Just as quickly, however, Queens fired back to push it back to 10 with 12:18 remaining. The Runnin’ Bulldogs had a strong response prepared.

After Queens took a nine-point lead at 63-54, the home side scored 15 of the next 21 points to square the proceedings at 69 on an Ademide Badmus and-one with 6:51 to play. Jaxon Pollard countered 24 seconds later, though, drilling a corner triple to give the lead back to the Royals.

“There were a couple things that led to their run,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said. “There was a little bit of foul trouble on our part, which was on us, because we weren’t guarding well enough. Then, we had a couple careless turnovers, which allowed them to get loose in transition, so those two things were really it.”

Queens would lead by as many as five before Gardner-Webb made yet another charge.

Brendan Mykalcio converted an and-one with 4:15 left to again even the contest at 76. Simmons would then put Gardner-Webb back in front at 78-77 with 3:12 to play. That would be the final time the Runnin’ Bulldogs would lead in the game.

Nasir Mann would put home a teardrop runner as the shot clock evaporated to allow Queens to wrest away control with 2:21 to play. Yoav Berman canned a deep three to put the Royals up four. After Gardner-Webb cut it to one on a Simmons bucket with 30 seconds left, Pollard then put home a free throw, while Colimerio would sink the eventual game-clinching tries from the stripe with nine seconds to play.

“I’m just thankful for my teammates being able to find me in the high post,” Colimerio said. “This year’s been big for me, especially in getting my confidence up.

“It’s been a big emphasis for us in practice for how we’ve got to finish (games), and rebounds are major for us. I just feel like we’ve got to keep doing the little things on the road and execute the plan that (Leonard) gives to us. If we can follow that, then everything will be okay.”

Colimerio led all scorers, with his 27 just three points shy of equaling the career-high he set last season at Fresno State against BYU. The senior hit 8-of-12 from the deck (3-of-5 from distance) and 8-of-9 from the line. Center Malcolm Wilson added 11, hitting five of his six shots. Four additional Royals scored at least eight points apiece. Queens shot 56.3 percent (27-for-48) from the field, hitting nine threes in 17 tries. The Royals also hit 22-of-29 from the line, including 16-of-22 second-half tries.

Guard Bryce Cash was one of the four aforementioned Royals nearing double figures, as he shook off any concerns over an injury he was nursing to guide his team in 34 minutes of play.

“In Bryce I trust,” Leonard said. “If he says he can go, he can go. I trust the decisions he’s going to make with the ball. If you want to know why we’re better on the road this year, it’s Bryce’s decision-making and toughness. A couple years ago when we had (former guard) Kenny (Dye), we had that, and now we have it with Bryce. That’s not to knock anyone on last year’s team, but it’s the mental toughness that really wins on the road.”

Simmons tallied 23 for Gardner-Webb, hitting 10-of-16 attempts from the field and knocking down three threes in six tries.

“I thought he played really well tonight,” Luther said. “He got some big stops and hit some big shots. He’s got a long career ahead of him. He’s going to be really good.”

Mann booked 18, hitting 7-of-8 from the field. The Runnin’ Bulldogs shot a sizzling 61.5 percent (32-for-52) on the afternoon, with a 63 percent shooting effort in the second 20. Gardner-Webb struggled from the line, which proved problematic in the end. The Runnin’ Bulldogs hit just 11-of-22 (50 percent) from the stripe.

Both teams resume action with weekday tilts following final exams. Gardner-Webb travels to Statesboro, Ga., to square off with Georgia Southern Tuesday night. Game time is set for 7:00 (Eastern) inside the Hill Convocation Center, with streaming coverage slated for ESPN+. Queens welcomes Mercer to Curry Arena for a 7:00 tip Wednesday evening. That game will also be streamed via ESPN+.

QUEENS 85, GARDNER-WEBB 83

QUEENS (6-5)

Mathews 2-5 4-4 8, Cash 4-9 0-0 8, Ashby 0-3 4-4 4, Colimerio 8-12 8-9 27, Wilson 5-6 1-2 11, Mann 3-6 1-2 9, Shine 0-0 0-0 0, Jabriel 1-1 0-0 3, Nevill 0-0 0-0 0, Pollard 1-1 4-8 7, Berman 3-5 0-0 8. Totals 27-48 22-29 85.

GARDNER-WEBB (4-7)

Selden 3-6 0-1 7, Mann 7-8 3-7 18, Boyogueno 2-6 3-4 9, Badmus 2-2 1-1 5, Simmons 10-16 0-0 23, Mykalcio 2-2 2-4 6, Hudson 3-7 1-2 7, Lazar 1-1 0-0 3, Hawkins 1-2 0-0 2, Richards 1-2 1-3 3. Totals 32-52 11-22 83.

Halftime:  Queens 44-36. 3-Point goals:  Queens 9-17 (Mathews 0-1, Cash 0-1, Ashby 0-1, Colimerio 3-5, Mann 2-4, Jabriel 1-1, Pollard 1-1, Berman 2-3), Gardner-Webb 8-19 (Selden 1-3, Mann 1-2, Boyogueno 2-5, Simmons 3-6, Hudson 0-1, Lazar 1-1, Richards 0-1). Fouled out:  NA.  Rebounds:  Gardner-Webb 26 (Mann 7), Queens 25 (Cash 6). Total fouls:  Gardner-Webb 21, Queens 20. Technicals:  NA.

Points off turnovers:  Queens 20, Gardner-Webb 18.  Points in the paint:  Gardner-Webb 46, Queens 36. Second-chance points:  Gardner-Webb 10, Queens 6.  Fast-break points:  Gardner-Webb 9, Queens 7.  Bench points:  Queens 27, Gardner-Webb 21.