5 Thoughts: Seton Hall vs. Fairfield

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — After a feel-good victory against Saint Peter’s, followed by a feel-not-quite-as-good victory over Wagner, the Seton Hall Pirates played the Fairfield Stags for the first time since 1980 on Monday night at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, and ended up with a nearly-wire-to-wire 82-59 win over their MAAC foes, improving to 3-0 on the season.

Here are the inaugural Thoughts for the 2025-26 season:

1. Better, Faster, Stronger

This was a game between a Big East team and a MAAC team, and although Braden Sparks (20 points) kept the Stags in it early, it wasn’t long before Seton Hall asserted its physical edge. They played their trademark defense, and essentially shut down everything Fairfield tried to do inside, finishing with 13 blocked shots while holding the visitors to 7-for-27 shooting from two-point range. Seton Hall finished with 12 steals as well among 17 turnovers forced, and outscored the Stags 17-1 in points off turnovers.

“We were just solid,” head coach Shaheen Holloway said of his team’s defensive effort. “I did a bad job last game of not seeing how the game was being played. I learned from that today. We didn’t trap as much, we just pressured them full-court and half-court and kind of wore them down. But we didn’t do a lot of trapping because we did that last game and they got threes and threes and threes and threes.”

They also shot nearly 50 percent from the floor in the second half, and went 23-for-28 at the free throw line, a marked improvement from last year’s season-long struggles at the charity stripe. Add in a 40-12 edge in the paint, a 19-7 edge in second-chance points, and you get a very businesslike victory that was good to see after the slog against Wagner.

2. Getting the Point

The first thing that was immediately obvious witnessing the Pirates for the first time this season was that they finally have a point guard. Budd Clark started hot out of the gates for The Hall, getting to his spots without overcommitting, and scoring seven points while dishing out a pair of assists in the first half to lead all Pirates in scoring.

The only thing holding him back in the first 20 minutes were two personal fouls, and with Clark out of the game, the Pirates and Stags were just about even on the scoreboard. It's something we’ll watch all year, as Trey Parker ran the point in Clark’s absence, but isn't the pure ball handler or playmaker that Clark is.

3. Feelin’ Fouly

Clark wasn’t the only Pirate that had to deal with an unfriendly whistle. Stephon Payne played just four minutes in the first half thanks to two fouls, and fellow starter Elijah Fisher ended up picking up his third and fourth fouls with about 14 minutes to go, putting Fairfield in the bonus with the latter.

Holloway echoed some of the fans’ frustrations with the whistle after the game.

“They were calling it tight today,” Holloway said. “But you have to adjust to the officials. Early in the season, it’s going to be like that. Once we get into Big East play, some of these fouls, you’re going to be wishing they were fouls for us, but they’re not going to call it.”

Playing the style that the Pirates play, it’s almost impossible to avoid committing fouls at times, but managing that foul trouble to key players, especially if their depth is tested by injury (reserve guard Jahseem Felton left the game with what Holloway said was a knee injury late), will loom large when the games get to be bigger come conference play.

4. Wingin’ It

Seton Hall’s starting wings also made a strong impression on me tonight. Long, rangy, and athletic, Mike Williams seems to fit the mold of a player that can thrive in Holloway’s system. He showed off a craftiness when he looked to score, and was in the shorts of whoever he was guarding on defense. 

A.J. Staton-McCray had his outside shot going tonight as well, finishing with a trio of three-pointers en route to a game-high 13 points. He is similar to Williams in build, so that also plays to the Pirates’ advantage.

Elijah Fisher is more solidly built than the former two, and it showed on a couple of his tough buckets inside, but he can also shoot it when given the space. 

It’s going to be really nice to have all of them working together with their varied skill sets, and it will be interesting to see how Holloway deploys them going forward, as at the moment, they are all in the starting five. All three of them finished in double figures tonight, and all of them will be big pieces for the Hall this season as they look to truly take on Holloway’s identity on the floor.

5. BMOC

We’ve somehow made it this far without mentioning Najai Hines, who has quickly become a fan favorite. Everything that's been said and written about the freshman sensation is true, he’s a big body with soft hands around the rim, and yet more cerebral than most freshmen you’ll find. 

Fairfield doubled him (or showed it) whenever he got the ball in the post, but Hines stayed patient, and was able to put the ball in the basket without having too many plays called for him. What he ended up with was 10 points and 10 rebounds on 4-for-6 shooting in 23 solid minutes, his first college double-double. Six of those rebounds were on the offensive glass, and it was essentially the very definition of “messed around and got a double-double.”

“I know I’m not going to be able to score every time,” Hines said after the game. “So I try to do other things, and it just so happened that when I crashed the boards on offense, I was able to get (tip-ins). (Then) it’s just a matter of whether they can box me out.”

“He’s learning,” Holloway added. “What people don’t understand about Najai is that he’s very unselfish. I’m trying to get him to go on the block and get the ball, and he’s on the block dribbling, throwing passes. I’m like, ‘my man, I need you on the block.’ He’s a work in progress, but the one thing he does is that he works hard and he defends.”

The Pirates host King Rice and the Monmouth Hawks next on Thursday at Prudential Center.