Kadary Richmond (1) penetrates Marquette defense for two of his 21 points as Seton Hall upset 7th-ranked Golden Eagles Saturday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
NEWARK, N.J. — As a Big East point guard in his own right a quarter-century ago, Shaheen Holloway made a name for himself as a hard-nosed, take-no-prisoner floor general, leading Seton Hall to a memorable Sweet 16 trip as a senior.
Now five-and-a-half years into a head coaching career, the intensity for which he came to be known has only grown exponentially, and has been adopted by his teams more and more in each game. Whether it was over his four years at Saint Peter’s — where he made history taking a 15th-seeded Peacocks team to the doorstep of a Final Four — or his 21 months at his alma mater, Holloway’s calling card has now become getting his teams to not only match the relentlessness he once exhibited on the floor himself, but produce a connectivity about them that enables them to control the tenor of contests and deliver knockout blows to opposing teams.
Seton Hall’s latest salvo, a 78-75 victory on its home floor against a Marquette team defending both the Big East regular season and tournament championships, may be its most resonant, all things considered.
“We expect to win games like this,” said Al-Amir Dawes, whose 23 points paced the Pirates in triumph. “This is what we’re here for. To see that it’s finally working and we’re getting it together, it seems pretty nice.”
Each of Seton Hall’s three conference wins has come against a ranked team, but the first two had asterisks attached. The Pirates’ Big East opener against fifth-ranked UConn came against a Husky team that lost all-league big man Donovan Clingan to a foot injury in the second half. Their most recent matchup, a road win at Providence this past Wednesday, saw Bryce Hopkins helped off the floor with what was later revealed to be a season-ending torn ACL. Against Shaka Smart’s Golden Eagles, Seton Hall faced a full contingent for the first time in league play and straddled the line between track meet and street fight deftly enough to emerge victorious over a squad ranked seventh in the nation.
In the loss, one thing that stood out to Smart — a true believer in the intellectual aspects of the game and the concept of behavior affecting winning more than talent — was the makeup of the outfit he faced, shrugging off the notion that the Pirates were overachieving with a 10-5 record and 3-1 Big East mark.
“He’s got a group of guys with toughness and grit, and poise that now aligns with his,” Smart said of Holloway and his roster. “And when you have that, and you’ve got an older team, you’ve got a chance to do really special things. They’re older, they have guys that have had success, and they’re committed to each other, committed to playing their roles.”
“I think overachieving is kind of a non-thing. To me, there’s your potential and how good you can be, and if you can reach that ceiling, then you’re achieving. Sha’s doing a great job getting those guys connected and playing well together.”
The most noticeable contributor to the Seton Hall synergy has been Kadary Richmond, who has blossomed more this season under Holloway and become the vocal leader his coach spent most of last year imploring him to be. Smart recruited the senior point guard when he was still the head coach at Texas, and after seeing him score 21 points against Marquette Saturday, was effusive in his praise for a player he dubbed a “bear” for his ability to create frustration for anyone tasked with defending him.
“He’s just very, very unique in the way that he moves,” Smart said of Richmond. “I don’t think I can name a player in college basketball that’s exactly like him, with the combination of his size, the way he moves and slithers around out there, and his poise. You know he’s not going to shoot a lot from outside, but he gets to the paint anyway.”
“We’ve played against him for a while. I think this is our fifth game against him, and he’s clearly getting better. He’s a guy that, right now, if you watch their games, he makes his teammates better in multiple ways, whether it’s his passing, his defensive disruptiveness. Right now, it’s interesting because he’s not a great outside shooter, but he has a lot of gravity. He’s pulling defenders to him.”
Richmond is not the only champion of the cause, however. Seton Hall’s bench has also embraced the buy-in regardless of how often its collective number is called. While Isaiah Coleman and Malachi Brown had multiple shining moments in non-conference play, the likes of Elijah Hutchins-Everett and Jaquan Sanders have come on strong in Big East play to add another layer of depth and versatility for a Pirate squad whose rotation’s durability has been tested.
“I feel like they’re sticking with it throughout the year, no matter if they play the minutes they’re looking forward to,” Richmond revealed. “If they don’t, I feel like they’ve been everyday guys and helping us get better with the first unit in practice.”
Finally, the assembly of the team in Holloway’s own image has been the last aspect to take root. The lack of a letup has been more conspicuous in recent days with the gritty win at Providence and a similar one against Marquette, albeit with a higher score and faster pace. According to Dawes, the ubiquitous presence of the Pirates’ leader has had the most profound effect.
“We’re around (Holloway) 24/7,” he said. “He’s not even with his family at times, and we realize that. He could be with his family, but he’s always with us and we’re taking that to heart.”
The skipper, though, opted for a more laconic explanation.
“I think we’ve got a long way to go,” a patient Holloway reiterated. “I think it’s coming. I just want our guys to play hard. Every night’s not gonna be pretty. We’re not gonna make shots, but if you play hard and you defend, you give yourself a chance to win, right? And that’s what I think is happening.”
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