5 Thoughts: Seton Hall makes plays late, conquers Providence

TJ Simpkins (2) led Seton Hall with 22 points as Pirates downed Providence in Big East opener Friday. (Photo by Joey Jarzynka/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — For the first time since Seton Hall went down to Maryland and took down the Terps before the pandemic, the Daly Dose went on a road trip, this time up to Providence for a showdown between the Pirates and the Friars to open up Big East play.

And in similar fashion to that yesteryear win in College Park, tonight, Seton Hall had a wing player with a 2 in its number step up big, a big man have a breakout game, and a lead guard close it out, as the Pirates improved to 11-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Big East with a gut-check 72-67 victory in Friartown.

Here are the Thoughts from the building formerly known as the Dunk:

1. Simpkins Soaring

T.J. Simpkins has been an important piece of the Pirates’ resurgence this season as the first guard off the bench in a high-pressure defensive system, playing the critical role of sixth man.

Tonight in the first half, the Brooklynite was the first man, pouring in 14 points in the first half on 4-for-5 shooting (and 5-for-5 at the free throw line), accounting for 40 percent of the Pirate offense. He opened things by hitting a three, but everything else from the Elon transfer was downhill, attacking the basket. 

He had a quieter second half, but with Seton Hall down a point with about a minute left, he canned a cold-blooded triple from the left wing to put the Pirates up for good, finishing with a season-high 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting, and, importantly, 8-for-9 at the free throw line on a night where The Hall’s accuracy there was lacking.

It’s yet another indication that this Seton Hall team’s depth is real. The Pirates can attack from many different angles and with many different players, so although Simpkins now has eight double-figure scoring games this year off the pine, it’s not incumbent on him or any other Pirate to do it every night because there are three or four others capable of leading this team in scoring.

“(That’s) our team," Seton Hall head coach Shaheen Holloway said after the game. “We don’t have a stud, we have guys that, when some guys aren’t playing well, other guys can step up. T.J. is a guy that’s been doing it for us all year."

I’ll correct the skipper tonight, though. The Pirates had a couple of studs on the floor tonight. Simpkins was one, but more on the second one later...

2. Paint Touches

It’s always kind of been a maxim of basketball, especially in the early days, that getting the ball inside leads to success. In some games, that holds truer than in others, and with neither team really showing out offensively and down by two midway through the first half, Seton Hall put its head down and really started to attack the paint.

After not much luck taking jumpers from the outside, the Pirates found a lot of success getting paint touches, going on an 11-0 run to gain the lead. That encompasses not only getting the ball inside on passes or post touches, it’s getting the ball into the center of the defense on penetration. It’s something Holloway has tried to find more of this season.

“I’ve been trying to throw it in there,” he said. “We’ve got to seal better and post up a little bit more. Tonight, we did it, and we were able to get the ball inside. And the more that they do (that), that opens up everything.”

It would seem to follow that the more that Seton Hall plays the way it did tonight — the Pirates only attempted 15 total threes (making five) — the more success they'll have as a unit. After all, longer shots lead to longer rebounds, and a greater chance for the opposition to get out and run, which for a while tonight was the only offense the Friars could generate.

3. Payne Touches

Stephon Payne played his best game in a Seton Hall uniform, recording 18 points and 16 rebounds in Pirates’ win over Providence. (Photo by Joey Jarzynka/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Ok, now we get to the other stud player from the game this evening. Seton Hall was without freshman sensation Najai Hines due to undisclosed reasons, although it did finally get Godswill Erheriene on the court tonight for his season debut in his stead off the bench.

That meant that starting post Stephon Payne had a lot on his shoulders tonight, and boy, did he respond. The big man had four points in the first half, but cleaned the glass to the tune of nine rebounds, and most importantly, picked up just one personal foul that came with about 37 seconds remaining. 

He kept on his Angel Delgado-like pace the rest of the way, finishing with a season-high 18 points and pulling down a career-best 16 boards, all while avoiding costly fouls. It was arguably the best game of his entire college career, let alone bar none his best game as a Pirate.

“To be really the only big out there, and to come up the way he came up, that’s impressive,” Holloway said. “It’s got to be really encouraging for him. It’s encouraging for us. It just goes to show you like I said, any night, you have different guys stepping up big for us. And Steph’s been playing great for us the whole year, but to do that in your first Big East game, on the road, at this place? That’s pretty good.”

In Holloway-speak, “pretty good” really means “astronomical,” and Seton Hall needed every bit of that effort.

4. Clark the Closer

Against Rutgers last week, Budd Clark was THE story of the game, dominating from start to finish.

Tonight, Providence made it more difficult on him, often using bigger defenders to take away his space, but give the Pirates’ point guard credit. If the Rutgers contest showed he could take over a game, tonight showed that he can control things without putting up massive numbers.

Down the stretch, with the game in the balance, Seton Hall gave him the ball, and he delivered. Clark assisted on Simpkins’ dagger three, and then after the Pirates got a stop, Clark called his own number, and knocked down a tough turnaround jumper over shot blocker extraordinaire Oswin Erhunmwunse to seal the game, then hit a free throw for good measure.

“He’s learning on the fly,” Holloway said of Clark, who ended the game with nine points and seven assists. “The last two plays, we ran that same play against USC, and he gave the ball up to Steph for a layup. Today, he kept it, hit the pull-up jump shot and he got T.J. the three. That's learning. That’s being in the gym, watching film, and learning.”

Have we mentioned that Seton Hall having a point guard this year has made all the difference in the world? I think we’ve only said it a zillion times. But they don't win this one without Clark being Clark.

5. Return of the Kevin

Seton Hall may very well be ranked entering next week’s Big East home opener against Villanova, and boy, will the place be jumping. The Pirates’ former head man, Kevin Willard is now the coach of the team that was The Hall’s biggest rival when he was on the sidelines in Newark, and a large subset of the fanbase will be out for revenge given how things ended in 2022 (and despite all the good that came before).

Shaheen Holloway was such a big part of Willard’s success in that span as his top assistant, and reflected on Tuesday’s contest a little bit after the game tonight.

“Obviously it’s a big game,” he quipped. “You’ve got Coach (Willard) coming back to his house. He did a great job here at Seton Hall, nobody can take that from him. I’ve got a lot of respect for him, he did a lot for me in my career, so it’s gonna be a good game, but I’m not really focused on that yet. I’ll focus on that starting tomorrow night. Tonight, I’ve just gotta focus on these guys and these guys enjoy this, and then go to work on Sunday.”

As a postmortem, Seton Hall is playing as well as anyone right now, and just held a team in Providence averaging over 90 points per game to a season-low 67, on the road, in its own building, while holding the Friars’ leading scorer, Jason Edwards, to a season-low 10.

The Pirates will be ready for the new-look Wildcats, and will seek a nice pre-Christmas present at the Rock Tuesday night.