SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Almost exactly 35 years ago, in 1989, Seton Hall beat UNLV in the quarterfinals of a national tournament to advance to the Final Four of said tournament. The margin was 23 points, and wouldn’t you know it? History repeated itself.
For the first time in 71 years, since they won the whole tournament when it was considered even more prestigious than the NCAA Tournament, the Seton Hall Pirates are in the NIT semifinals after an absolutely dominant thrashing of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels at Walsh Gymnasium by a final score of 91-68.
Here are the 3 Thoughts from the final home game Seton Hall will play this season:
1. South Orange Smackdown
This game was never in doubt, and almost the whole way, too. The Pirates came out focused on defense, with UNLV taken out of its rhythm right away. On offense, Seton Hall fed Jaden Bediako for seven early points, and with its cutting and screening, generally got whatever it wanted: Layups, open looks from both two-point range and three-point range, etc. The Pirates didn’t hit many outside shots early, but the effort led them to a 13-4 lead at the first media timeout.
“I watched (UNLV) against Princeton, and to go down there and win at Princeton is impressive,” head coach Shaheen Holloway said in the postgame press conference. “Then I watched them against Boston College and the way they played defense, the way they got after it, I was like, ‘wow, this team is really good.’ They’ve got good size, they’re athletic, they get in the lanes. So we watched a lot of film but we really couldn’t do too much on the court because we had limited guys. We watched a lot of film of what was going to be open. I thought early, Kadary came out and set the tone.”
The skipper was spot-on. Kadary Richmond was in his bag, putting up 13 points, four rebounds, and six assists in the opening 20 minutes. At one point, he either scored or assisted on 21 straight Pirates points, and finished with 16 points, 10 assists and four rebounds, controlling the entire tempo of the game when he was on the floor. It was a virtuoso performance in what might be his last home game for the Hall.
The Pirates’ defense also didn't quit, and UNLV looked at times like it was uncomfortable even shooting the ball outside of 15 feet. All but four of UNLV’s 26 points in the first half were in the paint, and the Runnin’ Rebels went 0-for-9 from three, and just 4-7 at the free throw line.
Fittingly, the half ended with defense. After Dylan Addae-Wusu got a steal and a transition slam at the buzzer, Seton Hall was up 18 at the break. Then, in the second half, Al-Amir Dawes came alive for three straight threes, pushing the lead out to 27 points, and that was essentially that.
All told, the entire starting five not only finished in double figures in scoring, but also had a plus-minus of 20 or better. Dawes ended up with 21 points, six rebounds and three assists along with a 4-for-7 mark from three. Dre Davis had a well-rounded 14-point, seven-rebound, four-assist game. Addae-Wusu had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists to go along with a couple positively Davis-esque fadeaways. And Bediako ended up with 11 points, four boards, and four blocked shots, while critically being able to stay on the floor and avoid foul trouble (more on this in a second).
It was one heck of a way for the group to go out in front of yet another packed, loud house at Walsh Gym.
“I’m super impressed with these guys,” Holloway said. “It’s been a long year — some ups, some downs — but the way these guys came out and handled themselves and didn’t cry, didn’t worry about things, stuck to the game plan…to play like we played tonight for this to be our last game at home was unbelievable. Unbelievable. I’m super proud of these guys and the fans came out big-time, so it was a great night overall.”
2. Deep Bench Diving
Word came down shortly before the game that the Pirates’ best subs, Isaiah Coleman and Elijah Hutchins-Everett, would both be out due to the flu and an upper-body injury, respectively. That put the Pirates in a bit of a bind. They couldn’t get in foul trouble, especially with Bediako or Davis, because there wasn’t really anywhere Holloway could go on paper.
Enter Sadraque Nganga and David Tubek. The little-used subs were both called upon to give the Pirates’ forwards a spell, and both responded by having some good moments. Nganga even ended up with seven points overall, including a three-pointer.
Jaquan Sanders, who has given the Pirates some pretty solid minutes in spurts lately, also hit a pair of threes in the second half and had six points along with a plus-14 rating off the pine. You have to applaud the reserves for being able to contribute at a moment’s notice tonight, applause that is seconded by the Pirates’ starters. It kept momentum in the Hall’s favor.
3. Party Like It’s 1953
With the win, Seton Hall advances to the national semifinals of the NIT for the fifth time in program history, where it will take on Georgia on Tuesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It will be a homecoming for Dre Davis, and a fitting way for him to (perhaps) cap his college career. And with six days separating the Pirates from their next game, hopefully that gives them enough time to get both Coleman and Hutchins-Everett back in the lineup.
When the Pirates were among the first four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament, it was devastating to the team and the fans. When news came out immediately after Selection Sunday that Rick Pitino and St. John’s would be rejecting a bid to the NIT, and that fellow first-four-outers Oklahoma and Pitt would do the same, there was speculation on whether the Pirates would join them, having come even closer and suffered even more of a snub.
Having watched this team all season, however, I had a hunch they would do nothing of the sort. This was a team, after all, that was made in Shaheen Holloway’s image, and I knew if Sha was a player in this spot, that he’d want to come back and prove the universe wrong.
So to see Seton Hall a) not thumb its nose at the lesser tournament, and b) really come together on the court to be playing this well speaks volumes about the group as a whole. They’ve hit their stride, with the last two games against North Texas and UNLV not even really being close, and have had Walsh Gym loud and proud throughout the postseason.
“Our fans are very passionate, sometimes in a good way, sometimes not in a good way,” Holloway said. “But I think they appreciate the way this team responded all year long, starting the year off a little rough, coming back, playing well. I think they just appreciate this team and the way they play, and the way they’ve carried themselves all year long.”
“It’s always special, man. Playing here, playing at Walsh, it’s always different than playing down in Newark at the Pru,” the head coach added. “The Pru is great, but it’s a different type of atmosphere here, right? They’re on top of you, they’re loud, they’re after it. Our fans were into it from the St. Joe’s game all the way until now, and I think our guys fed off of it. I’ll be honest with you, I’m not sure we’d be playing like this if we played at the Pru, because the Pru’s a little bigger, it’s kind of spaced out. These fans got these guys going all three games. There’s no doubt about that.”
The feeling is mutual. The players have gotten the fans going, which has gotten the players going, and onward and onward. It’s the kind of concurrent fuel that makes college basketball, and particularly postseason college basketball, the incredible thing that it is.
So for a final thought this season, I’ll say this to the Pirate faithful. Even if things go sideways on Seton Hall in Indianapolis, I think this season will be remembered fondly when the final buzzer sounds because of how these players fought all season long, and how when the going got tough, their own toughness shone through. They collectively made the sting of Selection Sunday fade away into ancient history, drowned out by a sea of blue at a historic gym that truly roared once more.
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