Selden, free throws lead Gardner-Webb past Longwood

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Anthony Selden scored a game-high 27 points to pace five Gardner-Webb players in double figures as the Runnin’ Bulldogs overcame a frigid start from the field to upset the Longwood Lancers, 92-87.

“This was huge,” GWU head coach Jeremy Luther said after the game. “I did not think we would get to 92 points after the way we started, but we settled down and started making shots.”

Gardner-Webb was held without a field goal for the first four minutes of the game, and trailed 10-2 after a Michael Christmas three. Shahar Lazar broke the streak with a layup, but the home team still trailed 10-6. The teams traded triples as the offenses started to heat up. Kyrell Luc hit a three for Longwood to keep the Lancers in front, 19-15, midway through the half.

Jamaine Mann hit a deep three for GWU, along with a short jumper, but the defense had a hard time getting stops as Longwood was shooting at over a 50 percent clip to that point. Christmas hit another trey as Longwood built a double-digit lead at 32-22. Freshman Colin Hawkins came off the bench to convert a backdoor layup and Buddy Simmons hit a three, but Longwood kept shooting at a torrid pace, leading 36-28 at the final media stoppage of the half.

Simmons got hot from deep, hitting two in a row after the timeout and Selden scored on a drive to the bucket to cut the deficit to 39-38. Johan Nziemi hit a 3 on the other end for Longwood to give the Lancers a 42-39 lead at the break.

Selden opened the second half with a putback and by the time Simmons hit a three, GWU had its first lead of the game, 46-45, with 17:08 left in the game. Christmas tied the contest at 48 later in the half with a deep three. The lead kept changing hands until a quick 6-0 spurt from Longwood gave the Lancers a four-point lead. Selden answered with a triple and Simmons scored a layup as the Runnin’ Bulldogs retook a 57-56 advantage.. After Longwood retook the lead, Selden hit a three from the corner and Simmons followed with a driving layup. By the time Jacob Hudson hit a pair of free throws, Gardner-Webb had its largest lead of the contest, at 68-62.

Angelo Brizzi hit a three to spark a 7-0 Longwood run that saw the Lancers take a one-point lead,  The game then turned into a foul shooting contest down the stretch. It was a back-door layup from Mann and a three from the far corner from Pharrell Boyogueno that gave the home team a 79-74 lead with 3:10 left in the game. Selden came up with a big block on the other end to stop a Lancer fast break and Simmons scored on a drive to the basket. Luc answered on the other end for the visitors, but GWU led, 81-76, with 1:18 left. Lazar missed a three for the Bulldogs but grabbed his own rebound for a layup.

“That was a huge play in the game,” Luther said of Lazar’s layup. “But it’s not a huge surprise. He does that all the time in practice. He never gives up on a play.”

Luc hit a 3 for Longwood, but Mann sank a pair of critical foul shots as GWU held an 85-81 lead with 28 seconds left. Christmas hit another three for Longwood, but Selden and Isaiah Richards went a combined 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Longwood tried to lengthen the game with successful drives to the baskets, but Boyogueno iced the game with two more free throws as GWU won by the 92-87 final.

Free Throws Tell The Story: Many times during the Runnin’ Bulldogs' 23-year Division I history, poor foul shooting has cost Gardner-Webb victories. Tonight, GWU was 23-for-29 from the line (79.3 percent) while Longwood was just 9-for-21 (42.9 percent).

“We finally had one go our way,” Luther said. “I’ve been here for 13 years, and countless times, we would lose games by a very slim margin because of foul shooting. Tonight was the opposite. Honestly, we have so many drivers on the team. Ant (Selden) and Jamaine (Mann) are power drivers. They can get to the line along with Pharrell. Tonight, we made the most of those chances and that was the difference in the game.”

A Selden Showcase: Not only did Selden score a game-high 27 points, but he was also very efficient from the field. He was 9-of-11 from the deck including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

“We are in the gym constantly, putting up shots, from the free throw line and from the floor,” he said. “That’s just the makeup and the mindset of this team. Even after practice, we are putting up shots. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but we are the toughest team in the league. I think that was the difference tonight in a close game. We wanted it more than they did.”

As Luc Would Have It: Longwood’s Kyrell Luc had an outstanding game as well. He notched 25 points and also dished out six assists in a losing effort.

Up Next: Gardner-Webb (9-12, 4-4 Big South) will look to pick up its first conference road win of the season when it travels to Winthrop for a massive matchup on Saturday. Both teams enter the contest with a 4-4 Big South mark, tied for fourth place in the standings.

“We have to be confident and play with grit,” Selden said. “If we play hard the whole time, I think we win the game.”

Longwood (16-7, 5-3 Big South) will travel to Charleston Southern. Both tipoffs are set for 2 p.m.

Winthrop locks in late, turns away pesky Presbyterian

Winthrop forward Kelton Talford lodged 17 second-half points on the way to a double-double in Wednesday's victory. (Photo:  Winthrop Athletics/Professional Photography Group)

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ROCK HILL, S.C. – Just under three-and-a-half minutes remained on the clock. Winthrop’s Paul Jones tried a layup. Presbyterian’s Jaylen Peterson rejected the try. The ball fell into the hands of Winthrop star Kelton Talford, who went back up to attempt a putback. Peterson tried to contest the shot and was assessed a personal foul. Almost immediately thereafter, he was also given a Class A technical foul.

Winthrop proceeded to knock down three of the four free throw tries it was awarded. The Eagles capitalized on the opportunity, closing the game on a 14-5 run and claiming a 76-67 victory before an announced crowd of 1,884 at Winthrop Coliseum Wednesday night.

Presbyterian coach Quinton Ferrell took a long time to gather his thoughts, then talked to his team after the game. Though it is tough to argue that a single play could change a game, Ferrell was struggling to understand why the play happened and how to convey what he was told about the foul.

“(Peterson) jumped really high is what he said,” Ferrell said. “They told me that another block that he had was a block, but it was a dangerous play. That part’s unfortunate, but in games, you’re going to have stuff that you can’t control. That’s why we needed to be better on defense.”

“That was a huge shift in the game. It was a tie game. We blocked the ball and got possession of it. We came out of that situation down three, so we were kind of fighting uphill through adversity. We’ll get better from it.”

“There’s a million plays throughout the course of a game,” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said. “It’s not one play. It’s not one moment in that game decides the end. It’s sort of the culmination of everything. It was a tie game and we got to go to the line. (Guard) Kasen (Harrison) stepping up there and making one and KT stepping up there and making two changed the complexion (of the game) in some ways.”

Winthrop (14-9, 4-4 Big South) took control of the game early. The Eagles scored 11 of the game’s first 14 points, getting early boosts from Talford and guard Ryan Jolly . Winthrop enjoyed its biggest lead of the first half at eight points on a pair of occasions before the visitors launched a charge. Presbyterian (9-14, 2-6) used a 17-9 run over the next eight-and-a-half minutes to level the score at 27 with 1:49 remaining in the first half. Five Blue Hose scorers contributed to the burst.

Winthrop then closed the half on a 5-0 stretch, using a Jones three-pointer and pair of free throws from forward K.J. Doucet to take a 32-27 lead to the interval.

Presbyterian persisted, though, despite trailing by as many as seven almost immediately into the second half. The Blue Hose chipped away, thinning the Eagle lead to as few as three points and finding themselves on the precipice of tying the game or going ahead. They never managed to do so until a key sequence with around nine minutes remaining in the second half.

Winthrop led by seven after a pair of Talford free throws. Kobe Stewart converted a layup for Presbyterian, then Kory Mincy made a layup of his own. Following a 30-second Winthrop stoppage, the game remained scoreless for the next minute and a half. Mincy then converted a pair of free throws, then finally gave his side the lead on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer following an offensive rebound.

The home side would seize back the lead with a 5-0 burst, only for Carl Parrish to hit an equalizing three-pointer for Presbyterian with 4:59 remaining. Nick Johnson again evened the score on a pair of free throws, only for Triston Wilson to give the advantage back to the Blue Hose on a pair from the stripe. Kasen Harrison then evened up the game again on a runner, only for the sequence between Jones, Talford, and Peterson to unfold.

Ferrell stopped short of citing the sequence as the lone key to the result, but it did highlight a recurring theme for the Blue Hose. Presbyterian has found itself in several close games – especially in Big South play – only for the team not to close the way it hoped. The Blue Hose leader commented after the game on those late-game concerns.

“Pretty much all our league games that we’ve lost in the (last four minutes) in the second half, we’ve either been tied or it’s been a one-possession game. We’ve just struggled to get stops to close out the game,” Ferrell said. “It’s what we’ve been emphasizing and talking about a lot. Most teams in the last three minutes are not doing anything new that they haven’t been doing in the first 36, 37 minutes of the game.”

“I don’t know what it is with our guys when we get in those situations, in terms of executing our rotations and things of that nature. We’ve got to figure out a way to do what we did from the eight-minute mark to the 3:30 mark, because we were down seven and we took the lead. In that stretch, we were getting stops. They were running the same things. We just needed to guard the ball better. The difference in the game was the free throws, in terms of how many free throws they made compared to us.”

To Ferrell’s point, the Eagles attempted double the amount of free throws as did the Blue Hose. Winthrop also sank nine more tries from the line, hitting 19-of-26 to the Blue Hose’s 10-of-13.

Talford bounced back with a strong effort following limited minutes due to foul trouble in Saturday’s game at High Point. The senior logged another of his many double-doubles, scoring 25 points and snaring 10 caroms. 17 of those points and six of the boards came in the closing 20 minutes.

“We just needed that to get back into the groove of things,” Talford said. “They’ve got a good coach and good guys on their team. You could tell they planned for us.”

“The look in his eyes the last couple of days has been different,” Prosser said of Talford. “There’s a pride level in this program. He has put his blood, sweat, and tears in this uniform. He’s very proud of what this program’s about. He was terrific today.”

Doucet and Johnson added 12 and 10, respectively, for the Eagles. Winthrop shot 46.4 percent (26-for-56), despite hitting just 5-of-20 (25 percent) from distance. Center Logan Duncomb also offered a strong performance in reserve duty, scoring eight points and snatching five misses in just over eight minutes of play.

Mincy paced the Blue Hose, booking 20 points on 6-of-16 from the field. Stewart logged his second double-double of the 2024-25 campaign, registering 12 points and 10 boards. Peterson and Carl Parrish provided big games off the bench, with Peterson scoring nine, grabbing five boards, and swatting away six shots. The blocked shot total matched the highest in Big South play this season. Parrish scored 13 in 25 minutes of play, hitting 5-of-8 from the field (3-of-6 from distance).

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in the guys that come off our bench,” Ferrell said. “All of those guys have had big games already in conference. They’re all young guys, too.”

Both teams return to conference play at home Saturday afternoon. Presbyterian welcomes second-place High Point to the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C. Winthrop hosts rival Gardner-Webb. Both games are set for 2:00 (Eastern) starts, with streaming coverage over ESPN+.

WINTHROP 76, PRESBYTERIAN 67

PRESBYTERIAN (9-14, 2-6 BIG SOUTH)

King 1-5 0-1 2, Stewart 5-14 1-2 12, Mincy 6-16 6-6 20, Harvey 2-7 0-0 5, Scott 1-2 0-0 2, Wilson 1-3 2-2 4, Pettaway 0-2 0-0 0, Parrish 5-8 0-0 13, Peterson 4-6 1-2 9. Totals 25-63 10-13 67.

WINTHROP (14-9, 4-4)

Jolly 2-6 0-0 5, Talford 9-13 7-7 25, Johnson 3-8 3-6 10, Harrison 1-3 3-4 5, Doucet 4-8 4-6 12, Wilson 1-1 0-1 3, Jones 1-5 0-0 3, Diallo 0-0 0-0 0, Kamarad 1-3 0-0 2, Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0, Duncomb 3-5 2-2 8, Baker 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 26-56 19-26 76.

Halftime:  Winthrop 32-27u. 3-Point goals:  Presbyterian 7-24 (King 0-2, Stewart 1-6, Mincy 2-4, Harvey 1-5, Pettaway 0-1, Parrish 3-6), Winthrop 5-20 (Jolly 1-4, Johnson 1-4, Harrison 0-1, Doucet 0-2, Wilson 1-1, Jones 1-3, Kamarad 0-2, Baker 1-3). Fouled out:  Peterson (PC).  Rebounds:  Winthrop 42 (Talford 10), Presbyterian 33 (Stewart 10). Total fouls:  Presbyterian 23, Winthrop 15. Technicals:  Bench (WU), Peterson (PC).

Points off turnovers:  Presbyterian 11, Winthrop 7.  Points in the paint:  Winthrop 42, Presbyterian 32. Second-chance points:  Winthrop 15, Presbyterian 12.  Fast-break points:  Winthrop 13, Presbyterian 10.  Bench points:  Presbyterian 26, Winthrop 19.

 

UConn closes January on positive note, prepares for February gauntlet

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

HARTFORD, Conn. — The month of January has fared in completely different directions for Dan Hurley and his UConn Huskies over the past two years. 

In 2022-23, after starting 15-1 in the season’s first two months, the team mustered off a 3-6 start to 2023 before finishing 13-1 and eventually hoisting the national championship trophy. The next year featured an historic Huskies squad that went 8-0 in the first month of 2024 en route to the program’s second straight title. Two completely different January journeys, but both ended in the same result in April.

This year’s rendition of January UConn finished somewhere in the middle of that. Not close to the perfect 8-0 last year’s team pulled off, but also nowhere near the complete collapse that 2023 featured. There were highs. There were lows.

The month started out very sour for the Huskies, even in a convincing road victory at Wintrust Arena against DePaul. In the win, star freshman Liam McNeeley twisted his ankle and had to depart. That game against the Blue Demons would end up being the only one he played the entire month of January as he rehabbed from a sprained ankle.

Outside of that win at Wintrust, each of the other seven games in the middle provided its own unique challenges. In a home win over Providence, the Huskies trailed by as many as 14 and needed a ferocious second half comeback to pull off the win. The road loss to Villanova followed with the now-infamous Alex Karaban missed free throws. Then, it looked like both Karaban and the team had turned a corner and put that tough loss behind them when they defeated Georgetown on the road.

“They’re used to dominance,” Hurley said of his team’s adjustment to playing all these close games.

Unfortunately, the rough patch was only starting. One week after the Georgetown win, UConn lost its first home game in nearly two full years when Creighton came to Storrs and defeated the Huskies. A mere three days later, it took overtime to defeat a Butler team who was 1-7 in Big East play after leading by as many as 15 in regulation. Lastly, after narrowly pulling off an overtime win before Christmas, Xavier got the best of the Huskies in round two at the Cintas Center last Saturday to close a 3-3 stretch without McNeeley going into Wednesday.

“If we’re able to get Liam on the court again, when he was on the court, we were playing at a Top 12 level,” Hurley said. “We need him out there.”

The final game, and one to potentially either salvage or ruin the month, was shaping to be the latter. Hosting DePaul, who came into the game 1-9 in Big East play, seemed like an easy test to end the month on a high note. That’s what everyone thought until the Blue Demons jumped out to a double-digit lead in the blink of an eye, and maintained it for most of the first half.

“Credit to DePaul. We get everyone’s best effort. I guess we’ve earned that,” Hurley said. “We get the best version of everyone every time we step on the court.”

Surely that’s not how this movie that is the month of January ends, right? As I said, it wasn’t full 2023 collapse level. UConn outscored DePaul by 19 in the second half on the way to a comfortable looking 72-61 victory. Four Huskies finished in double figures, with Solo Ball and Tarris Reed, Jr. leading the way with 16, while Jaylin Stewart chipped in 15.

“A big part of our turnaround was all the coaches getting on us and continuing to believe in us,” Ball said. 

“Coach was on us hard at halftime, but rightfully so,” Reed added. “We weren’t playing to our capabilities. We knew what we needed to do coming out of the locker room into the second half.”

So, with the win against DePaul, UConn finishes what many considered would be an easy January at 5-3, easy in comparison to the Marquette-St.John’s-Creighton gauntlet to start February. If you were to ask Hurley how he’d assess the past 29 days?

“If we can get consistency from some of our guys and this kid (McNeeley) returns, I think we’ve got a chance to get things rolling again,” he said.

That’s probably the best way to look at it if you’re Hurley, with a glass half-full mentality. From being ranked in the Top 10 to being on the verge of being unranked and falling multiple seed lines in bracketologies in just a couple of weeks, it can be challenging to keep a positive mindset. But you just have to in order to have success or get back to where you were the past two seasons.

As long as Dan Hurley is the man in charge, UConn is never going to go away. They may have less than ideal January stretches from time to time, but as we saw two years ago, the Huskies bounced back.

“While I’m getting crushed by all types of people in the national media, the UConn fans have had my back,” Hurley said. “They’ve been loyal to me, and I’ve returned it right back. That’s why I’ll never coach basketball at another place unless you guys don’t want me here anymore.”

Can this 2025 team pull a 2023 February-type bounceback? We’re about to find out.

4 Thoughts: Seton Hall dealt heartbreak again in loss to Providence

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — The last time we saw the Seton Hall Pirates at home, they were in the midst of a blowout loss against 10th-ranked Marquette last week. Then, without Chaunce Jenkins and leading scorer Isaiah Coleman on Saturday in Omaha, they played a solid first half against Creighton, but could not sustain it in a fifth straight loss.

But despite facing their first repeat opponent of the Big East season in Providence, and storming back to take the lead in the second half, the Pirates could not nail the door shut, as the Friars hit just enough shots from both the field and free throw line to win, 69-67, at Prudential Center on Tuesday night.

Here are the Thoughts from another tough defeat, Seton Hall's fifth this season by a single possession:

1. First, The Stumble

Seton Hall actually started this game pretty well, with good activity on defense forcing Providence to shoot 1-for-7 to start. The Pirates held a 14-13 lead midway through the half, but then went into a drought, not hitting a basket for over seven minutes and not scoring for three, during which Providence surged back in front.

The Friars then extended their lead out to eight points, at 25-17, before the Pirates came back. They got within four points at the break for their efforts, trailing 30-26.

Head coach Shaheen Holloway credited an adjustment made from the two teams’ first meeting in Providence a couple weeks ago for the lower-scoring, close tilt. 

“We slowed the game down,” Holloway said. “I don’t know what we were doing up there trying to get into a track meet with those guys, that’s how they want to play.”

The second half started very much not well. Providence came out of the break roaring on both ends of the floor, and while they couldn’t quite turn the contest into the aforementioned track meet, the Friars hit five of their first six shots en route to a 12-3 run that put Seton Hall down 13 before the Pirates could blink. The visitors ended up with a 44-29 lead at its greatest, and were still up by that margin with 13 minutes to play.

And then, a familiar sight at Prudential Center....

2. The Comeback, Again

With the Friars shooting the ball from three so well for almost the whole game, it turned out that the best defense against it was to not let them get shots up at all. 

Stop me if you've heard this before: Seton Hall was able to claw its way back into the game thanks to a swarming full-court press. And boy, did it swarm. 

As a result of the Pirates’ pressure, ten of Providence’s 19 giveaways came in the second half, and thanks to that, the Pirates were able to score a whopping 27 points off turnovers, keeping them in the contest despite allowing 49 percent shooting overall and nine three-pointers.

It is the third time they had fallen into a cathedral-sized hole this season and come all the way back to within striking distance this year, but the difference this time is that unlike Oklahoma State and Georgetown, they actually completed the comeback and took the lead. 

That is what makes this loss such a tough pill to swallow. And despite a couple key missed free throws down the stretch, Holloway knows where the contest was lost.

“What lost the game for us was the first five minutes of the second half,” he said. “The locker room is a mess right now. They are super down, crying, and it’s supposed to hurt, right? It’s supposed to sting, but we can’t come out like we did. We can’t wait until we get 10 points down, 12 points down, then try to play hard. We gotta play hard from the door. If we play hard from the door, then we won’t be in that hole, but we’re keeping ourselves in holes.”

3. Prince Power

Prince Aligbe played a huge role in Seton Hall’s comeback. Holloway ditched a conventional lineup, put the Boston College transfer at the five spot, and it turned things around. He was able to be a reliable pick-and-roll man, finishing around the rim, several times through contact, and scored 17 of his team-high 19 points after halftime as a result, tying his career high. 

Holloway was asked about Aligbe after the game.

“I thought what helped us—and what helped him—was when (Providence) went small,” Holloway said. “Then he could start playing the five and things start switching, and we start reading the mismatch how we should have read it, and now he’s got a guard with him going up. So that helped, but overall, like, he’s a good player and he’s gotta act like a good player. Like, sometimes, he gets lost in the sauce, but Prince, he overthinks everything. I need him to be consistent.”

While Holloway meant more consistent minute-to-minute as opposed game-by-game, Aligbe has been pretty consistent looking at the final stat sheets lately. After averaging just 4.6 points per game in his first 14 games despite being a regular starter, Aligbe is averaging a cool 14.0 points per contest in Seton Hall’s last seven games, beginning with the overtime triumph over DePaul on January 8.

While he isn’t the biggest guy in the world, he’s quick enough at 6-foot-7 to exploit mismatches against bigger players while also being strong enough to outmuscle smaller defenders, and that’s what you saw tonight against the Friars. It’s a real asset for Seton Hall going forward.

4. Felton Flexing

Pirate fans can see how talented freshman guard Jahseem Felton is just by watching him on the offensive side of the floor. He can attack off the dribble, he can shoot, he’s got pretty good court vision, all the things you could want in a point guard. But on the defensive side of the floor, he has struggled, so much so that Holloway hasn’t been able to use him for extended stretches to help out what has been, for most of the season, a struggling offense. 

Tonight, he was actually on the floor for the first part of the Pirates’ comeback—yes, also in the press defense—and offensively, he scored six of his eight points in the second half, helping to turn all those Providence turnovers into production. His plus-5 at the end of the game was tied for the third-highest on the team behind Gus Yalden (plus-12) and Aligbe (plus-6).

“I’ve got confidence in him, but he gotta guard,” Holloway said of Felton. “I told him and Isaiah, they started picking up those two guys, those two guards started doing isos for him (on defense), and I’m not blaming Jah at all. But down the stretch, (Jabri) Abdur-Rahim, they went at Jah because he was on him, and he scored five quick points. But overall, his confidence and his scoring ability is helping us, and I thought he had some good reads as well.”

What Holloway said about Abdur-Rahim rang true. After the Pirates took the lead, Providence responded with a 7-0 run to regain the advantage, a stretch that included back-to-back baskets by the son of former NBA player Shareef Abdur-Rahim. 

So things are still in progress for Felton, but hopefully, he can continue to learn and grow for the Pirates, who kind of have a knack for developing point guards as a program. It’s something Holloway himself has done not only as a player, but also as an assistant and head coach.

Sha Sounds Off: Providence

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

On Isaiah Coleman’s back spasms:

“That’s a loaded question, Jerry. I don’t know, I mean, like I told the radio (announcers), yesterday was the first day he did something since the Marquette game. I think Marquette was last Tuesday? He had one practice, and I’ll be honest with you: He and Dylan weren’t supposed to play this much tonight, but they both wanted to play. I might get in trouble with our doctors and trainers, but we were trying to win a game and they both wanted to be out there, so to answer your question, I’m sure it had something to do with it, the rust after not doing anything for four days, five days. His back is feeling better, though. I’m sure he’s still a little banged up after today, he played a lot of minutes.”

On positives from Seton Hall’s comeback:

“That didn’t lose the game for us. What lost the game for us was the way we came out in the second half, every game. But give (Coleman) credit, he found a way to get fouled, to get to the free throw line, so that’s kind of what good players do. But that didn’t lose the game for us. What lost the game for us was the first five minutes of the second half. And I’ve been trying with this team, I’ve tried everything with this team, to come out with energy. I just told them in the locker room, this is the first time I’ve seen the whole team like, the locker room is a mess right now. They are super down, crying, and it’s supposed to hurt, right? It’s supposed to sting, but we can’t come out like we did. We can’t wait until we get 10 points down, 12 points down, then try to play hard. We gotta play hard from the door. If we play hard from the door, then we won’t be in that hole, but we’re keeping ourselves in holes.”

On Prince Aligbe:

“Yeah, it’s not consistent, and what I mean by that is, like, the first half. I gotta get on you at halftime, I gotta show you things in film, and then I thought what helped us—and what helped him—was when (Providence) went small. Then he could start playing the five and things start switching, and we start reading the mismatch how we should have read it, and now he’s got a guard with him going up. So that helped, but overall, like, he’s a good player and he’s gotta act like a good player. Like, sometimes, he gets lost in the sauce, but Prince, he overthinks everything. He overanalyzes everything. But to answer your question, yeah, it’s coming along, but I need him to be consistent. And for him, he’s gotta be consistent.”

On Garwey Dual and his progression:

“A lot. For one, he’s shooting the basketball, he’s shooting the ball early. Honestly for him, I think (today) was a little personal, right? Because he went there, but I thought for the most part, he played a good floor game, made some good reads down the stretch. I wanted the ball in his hands a couple times down the stretch and we didn’t get the ball in his hands. I’m a little upset about that, because he was making good reads. So I think the progression’s coming along, but he’s still got some ways to go.”

On Jahseem Felton:

“Jah, he’s a freshman, right? And with him, I’ve got confidence in him, but he gotta guard. I told him and Isaiah, they started picking up those two guys, those two guards started doing isos for him, and I’m not blaming Jah at all. But down the stretch, (Jabri) Abdur-Rahim, they went at Jah because he was on him, and he scored five quick points and that’s kind of why I made the sub. But overall, his confidence and his scoring ability is helping us, and I thought he had some good reads as well.”

On defensive adjustments from the first game against Providence:

“We slowed the game down. I don’t know what we were doing up there trying to get into a track meet with those guys, that’s how they want to play. Slow the game down, grind it out, last time, they had 14 threes or 12 threes, today was nine. You can’t win games when teams hit eight-plus threes, and they had a couple big ones down the stretch.”

On one-possession games:

“They’re killing me. We do a lot of special situations towards the end of practice, but this game was kind of tough, though, because it was a one-day prep, pretty much. We got back late Saturday night, and obviously you can’t do too much Sunday, so yesterday was kind of our only day to do something. But we do a lot of special situations to try to get ready, prepared for this one game. I thought tonight was better as far as how we executed and not trying to look for a three, but drive, get a quick two and then foul, extend the game and then when we need a three, try and get one. So I thought from that standpoint, I felt we’re getting better as a team, understanding late clock situations.”

On defensive adjustments moving forward:

“I have a matchup zone in my pocket, but we can’t figure it out. I’ve been trying to figure it out with this team from the summertime to now, and we can’t figure it out. I think it can help us just to change things up, we just can’t figure it out. And even when I press, it’s not as effective as it was because guys just can’t move. Some guys are just banged up, which everybody in the league is banged up, so I’m not gonna give that excuse. But you’ve gotta guard your guard. I use that all the time, guard your guard, meaning guard your man. Don’t look for help, don’t look for a turn. The thing with us is teams do a lot of ghost, meaning slips, and I’ve got them to switch. And I keep telling them, don’t look to switch. Stay in front of your man. And we’re having trouble with that.”

On Aligbe’s second half and Yacine Toumi:

“I just thought Prince was playing well. I thought DT, in the first half, got some offensive rebounds for us and like I said, with me, I coach with film, I look at matchups. Those guys are quick, Yacine is not a great defender, so I wanted to go with guys that are better defenders for games like this.”

On locker room morale:

“I mean, it should hurt. It took a loss like this for us—I’ve never seen that the whole year, even after a lot of the losses we’ve had, I’ve never seen them like this. They are super down right now, and I told them: It should sting, it should hurt, because when it hurts, that means you care. I’ll be honest with you, I want to cry every freaking game, but I gotta be strong for them. I gotta be strong, I’m the captain of this ship, so it should hurt. I’m not happy they’re crying—I don’t want you guys to print that because that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying it’s good to see that they’re feeling what I’m feeling, because this sucks right now. It does.”

On adjusting his style:

“I’m trying everything. Everything. Positive stuff, being around them more, doing more things with them. Everybody’s not built a certain way, you gotta adjust to your team, and I’ve been doing that. I’m trying everything, like, everything you could name, I’m trying. We just gotta get one. I think if we get one, I think this team could make a run, but you gotta get that one. I thought tonight, we’d get it, but Providence is a really good team. They’ve got really good guards, Kim (English) is a great coach, making a lot of adjustments, and I just thought those first five minutes of the second half killed us.”

Seton Hall’s transition game steals win for Pirates against St. John’s

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — There are times in studying the course or the why of a game that one thing jumps right out at you. In this case, it was points off turnovers.

Seton Hall 25, St. John’s 2. Case closed.

The Pirates scored a 57-48 victory over St. John’s Saturday at a sold-out Walsh Gymnasium. The win saw

Seton Hall improve to 14-5, and 6-2 in the Big East, while the Red Storm dropped to 11-9 (1-8).

“I thought we competed,” St. John’s coach Joe Tartamella said. “But you are not going to win a lot of games when you give up 25 points off turnovers. You’ve got to be really good on the road and I thought we gave away too many opportunities.”

Seton Hall established a seven-point lead late in the first half. St. John’s then went on a 7-0 run the final 90 seconds to tie the contest at 24 and gain some momentum. In the third period, the Red Storm was able to build a nine-point lead. Jada Eads and Savannah Catalon drained three-pointers for Seton Hall. Eads was then fouled on an attempted layup in transition. The freshman guard canned both free throws, cutting the deficit to one. Lashae Dwyer of St. John’s, closely guarded, hit a buzzer-beating shot from close range to give the visitors a 41-38 lead after three.

The final period was all Seton Hall. The Pirates dominated, outscoring the Red Storm by a 16-4 margin over the initial nine minutes and holding the visitors to just seven fourth-period points.

“I thought our defense was really the difference in

this game,” Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella commented. “We went into the fourth quarter and really buckled down.”

Forcing turnovers was a priority in the Pirate game plan.

“We had to win that and points in the paint,” Bozzella said. “We were close (St. John’s had a 24-22 edge in points in the paint), but we were able to overcome a really poor shooting day.”

For the game, the Pirates shot 39 percent from the field

including 4-of-20 from three. St. John’s checked in at 40 percent, and 27 from long distance.

“I think both teams struggled to score,” Tartamella said. “We gave them offensive looks and I thought we had good looks, but the ones that were good, we missed. I thought we played really well in spurts, and didn’t have enough at the end. Unfortunately, that’s been the story in a few of our games.”

Points of Emphasis:

Leaders: Ber’Nyah Mayo of St. John’s led all scorers with 18 points. Seton Hall placed three in double figures. Faith Masonius scored 16 points, while Savannah Catalon and Jada Eads had 12 and 11, respectively. Lashae Dwyer, St. John’s leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, was held to eight points.

“We’re still trying to figure out ways of getting her going,” Tartamella said of the senior guard. “I would like to see her shoot a little more, but she played hard.”

St. John’s held a 37-27 advantage off the glass. Phoenix Gedeon and Dwyer led the Red Storm with eight each. Masonius paced Seton Hall with eight as well.

St. John’s was guilty of 23 turnovers, an excessively high 31 percent turnover rate. Seton Hall had 12 miscues for a 17 percent rate.

Difficult start: Picked fourth in the Big East preseason poll in October, St. John’s sits near the bottom of the pack to date. The only conference win for the Red Storm has come over Xavier, who is also 1-8 in conference play. Despite the rough early going that has seen four losses by three possessions or less, the Red Storm remains focused.

“They are a very resilient group,” Tartamella said. “It’s certainly not easy when you’re not winning, but they will get back to practice, go about their work and get ready for Wednesday (against Providence).”

Host of contributors: A number of players, some in relief, stepped up and helped get the Pirates in the win

column. Seton Hall sophomore guard Savannah Catalon, a 12-point scorer, was praised by Bozzella for more than point production.

“She drew eight fouls, I think four or five charges,” Bozzella said. “She’s a special kid.”

Bozzella also singled out Messiah Hunter for helping out against the St. John’s press. Hunter, a junior forward, scored just two points, but was another player with a value beyond the box score.

“She was a plus-9 for 11 minutes,” Bozzella praised. “Without her, we don’t win the game.”

Kayde Lawson, who hit a “big-time three that changed everything,” and Kaitlyn Carrick who didn’t play a minute, received well-deserved praise from Bozzella. An assistant athletic trainer at Seton Hall, Carrick was instrumental in helping Catalon recover from a recent injury.

“She did an amazing job,” Bozzella said. “I’m going to give a lot of credit to our trainer, Kaitlyn, and of course, Savannah.”

Notes: In a 66-possession game, Seton Hall showed an 86-73 advantage in offensive efficiency. In the 16-possession fourth period, when Seton Hall outscored St. John’s 19-7, the Pirates held a 119-44 offensive efficiency edge. In fact, the Red Storm had as many turnovers as points those final ten minutes.

It was a homecoming for St. John’s assistant Kaity Healy, a three-time captain during her playing days (2015-19) at Seton Hall. Asked pregame how it felt coming back and coaching against her alma mater, Healy just said, “it feels a little weird.”

The game had a Final Four-caliber officiating crew of Maj Forsberg, Fatou Cissoko-Stephens and Joe Vaszily, who worked Friday’s marquee LSU-South Carolina game.

Both teams are at home for their next Big East matchups. St. John’s hosts Providence at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday, while Seton Hall entertains Butler at Walsh Gymnasium the same night.

Inside the Numbers: Charleston at Elon

Charleston forward Ante Brzovic recorded an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double in the Cougars' win at Elon Saturday.  (Photo:  Charleston Basketball)

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ELON, N.C. – Elon coach Billy Taylor described Saturday’s contest against Charleston as “our first real stinker” after the game. There were many areas to which one could point in making this diagnosis.

We’ll expand a bit on that diagnosis now, and we’ll do so…Inside the Numbers!

• The easiest issue to diagnose comes on the boards. Charleston compiled an absolutely dizzying 19 offensive boards and 27 second-chance points, which led to the Cougars answering every attempt at a Phoenix run. Charleston also tallied 48 points in the paint, which neutralized the Phoenix duo of Sam Sherry and Matthew Van Komen.

“We got beat on the boards badly,” Taylor said. “We didn’t take care of the basketball and you can’t do that against good teams in this league.”

“I just think we weren’t in the correct positions,” Sherry added. “I could have been better on the boards, obviously.”

Charleston’s sports information department also noted that Elon was sixth in the nation in rebounds per game coming into the contest, only for the Cougars to outrebound the Phoenix by seven.

• More to Taylor’s point, turnovers also helped tell the tale. Charleston committed just six miscues on the night, while Elon more than doubled that number in finishing with 13. The Cougars converted those 13 turnovers into 22 points, while Elon capitalized with just eight points in that category. The Phoenix finished upside down in the assist-to-turnover numbers, helping on just eight of 23 baskets.
  
  
• Elon also struggled in transition, scoring just one point on the break. Charleston, conversely, notched 10 fast-break points, helping to further illustrate the chasm between the sides.
  
  
• As much as Elon struggled in the second half, the tide really turned at about the 6:16 mark of the first half. Nick Dorn sank a triple to give Elon a 24-22 lead. The Phoenix would make just two more buckets in that final six-plus minutes, though, with both coming from TK Simpkins. The Cougars closed on a 13-5 run, with nine points coming consecutively to flip a one-point Elon lead into an eight-point Charleston advantage. Though Elon trailed by just six at the interval, the Phoenix would never again be within two possessions.

“We just did not play well tonight,” Taylor said. “We didn’t play particularly well against Monmouth. We talked about that and we knew that. I was hoping that we would come out and play with a sense of urgency and some excitement, but we just weren’t able to execute the gameplan the way that we needed to at a high enough level against a really good team.”

• Elon had an inexplicable second half. The Phoenix were 10-for-15 from two-point range in the period – and 40.7 percent overall – but just 1-for-12 from three in the stanza. Charleston did not fare much better, hitting just 1-of-8 from deep in the second 20. Charleston was 16-of-20 from inside the arc in the period, making it virtually impossible for Elon to catch up once they went through the icy stretch to end the first.

Taylor summed up the night and the mood as the Phoenix prepare for a visit from Hofstra Thursday night.

“This is really the first real stinker that we’ve had,” Taylor said. “We're a good basketball team. We've shown that over the course of the 20 games. We're not going to let one game define our season. We've got two more home games next weekend. It's our job to take care of our home floor and to come back and compete and be physically and mentally ready to go. Our guys will be ready.”

CHARLESTON 76, ELON 62

CHARLESTON (16-5, 6-2 CAA)

Brzovic 9-14 0-0 18, Djokovic 4-11 5-11 13, Smith 9-20 1-2 20, Boyd 4-11 0-1 10, Fulton 1-3 2-2 5, Stonkus 1-3 0-0 2, Curcic 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 4-4 0-0 8. Totals 32-67 8-16 76.

ELON (14-7, 4-3)

Sherry 7-14 0-0 15, Van Komen 2-3 0-0 4, Dorn 3-13 6-7 15, TK Simpkins 7-12 5-7 20, King 1-2 0-0 2, TJ Simpkins 0-7 0-0 0, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Crump 3-4 0-1 6, Harrell 0-0 0-0 0 . Totals 23-55 11-15 62.

Halftime:  Charleston 35-29. 3-Point goals:  Elon 5-18 (Sherry 1-4, Dorn 3-12, TK Simpkins 1-1, Crump 0-1), Charleston 4-21 (Brzovic 0-2, Djokovic 0-2, Smith 1-6, Boyd 2-6, Fulton 1-3, Stonkus 0-1, Curcic 0-1). Fouled out:  NA.  Rebounds:  Charleston 40 (Brzovic 12), Elon 33 (Sherry 7). Total fouls:  Charleston 13, Elon 12. Technicals:  NA.

Points off turnovers:  Charleston 22, Elon 8.  Points in the paint:  Charleston 48, Elon 34. Second-chance points:  Charleston 27, Elon 13.  Fast-break points:  Charleston 10, Elon 1.  Bench points:  Charleston 10, Elon 6.

 

Inside the Numbers: Winthrop at High Point

 

High Point guard Kezza Giffa led the Panthers with 14 points in Saturday's win over Winthrop.  (Photo:  High Point University Athletics)

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HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point continued its sizzling play on its home deck Saturday afternoon, turning away Winthrop, 84-62. There are plenty of numbers to break down – we’ll do that in due time – but the telling part came from Winthrop coach Mark Prosser’s postgame remarks.

“It’s not a tough talk,” Prosser said. “I think – we have a lot of pride in that locker room, so there’s not a lot that needs to be said in there. It was a – we had a couple looks early that didn’t go down. They made plays in the first half. They had guys coming off the bench burying threes. Their bench was 6-for-12 from three. I think that’s a huge boost.

“When you’re sort of easy to play against, in some ways – you give a comfort level, and they obviously got comfortable very early. We got frustrated and we didn’t run our offense the way we typically run it. When that happens, you become stagnant and easy to guard. The ball stuck too much.”

Now that you know all that, let’s go…Inside the Numbers.

• 13:53 is the number on which to focus. Winthrop forward Kelton Talford was assessed his second foul at this mark in the first half, and the Eagles looked rudderless without him. Winthrop started the game okay on its first possession, as Nick Johnson sank a corner triple. That early success vanished, though, as the Eagles hit just two of their next 10 tries. It got progressively worse from there, as Talford was limited to just 24 minutes of play. He was only – such as it is – minus-11 on the day, which was the second-best among Eagle starters behind KJ Doucet’s minus-7.
• Talford’s absence notwithstanding, the Panthers enjoyed a significant advantage on the glass. High Point pulled down 47 caroms – 12 offensive – and converted those bounces into 19 second-chance points. The Eagles were limited to just six such points, as they only boarded six of their 34 misses. High Point center Juslin Bodo Bodo gobbled up 12 of those misses, with six other Panthers getting three or more each.
• To Prosser’s earlier point about the ball sticking, consider this:  Winthrop ended up at just .911 points per possession for the game, which was a significant improvement over its first-half total. The Eagles logged just .735 points per trip in the first half, leading them to trail the Panthers by 22 at the interval. Winthrop assisted on 10 of its 19 made baskets (55.6 percent), which was actually an improvement from its first-half rate of 37.5 percent (3-of-8).
• To another of Prosser’s points, the bench players “burying threes” were also significant. Abdoulaye Thiam logged 11 points, including 3-of-4 from distance. Terry Anderson added another pair, while Simon Hildebrandt halved his two three-point attempts. The Panthers outscored Winthrop, 30-10, off the pine, which helped make the margin that much more lopsided.
• Apropos of whatever it may be, Winthrop tried 53 shots on the day. Five players took 42 of those shots. Between the ball sticking, the lack of bench production, and Talford’s foul troubles, it all made for a long afternoon for the visitors.

Selected comments from High Point coach Alan Huss:

Main remarks:  “I’m pleased with the win. They got off to a bad start with Talford getting into foul trouble. That changes the dynamic of their team dramatically. I thought we separated while he was off the floor. He’s the most dynamic low-post scorer in our league, in my opinion. He puts you in so many difficult situations with his ability to draw fouls and play with such a motor. We showed our guys a lot of film this week of him being in situations where he’s outnumbered by two and three guys, outsized by three or four inches at his position. I don’t even know if he’s the best athlete in the world, but somehow, due to determination and will, he ends up coming up with those balls. Without him on the floor, I thought they struggled a bit for a stretch and we capitalized.”

About the bench:  “I thought in the first half, Terry and Laye gave us a really good lift off the bench. We’re very fortunate to have guys like that that are capable off the bench. I was really pleased with those guys.”

On the defensive play in the post:  “I thought Bodo did a really great job of guarding without fouling – and (forward) Kimani (Hamilton) for that matter, too. It’s extremely difficult to guard these guys. They’re number one in the country at drawing fouls. To guard them and keep them off the foul line – still, we gave them 26 free throws, but I think they shot 53 in this building a year ago.”

On the rebounding and second-chance points advantages:  “I think our effort has been really good. We’ve played a couple of these one-day rest games and I thought we got out-competed (in those games). I think we’ve been the aggressor and the more competitive team (in other situations). Tonight – we always talk about rebounding being a great barometer of effort level. Part of that is the fact that one of the best rebounders in the country – and definitely in our league – was sitting next to his coach for part of the game, and that helps. We did a nice job. We rebounded as a group. I thought our guards really rebounded down. They missed some shots that they’ll probably make at their place. I thought our guys did a really good job on those 50-50 and 60-40 balls of being in the right place and going and making those ours.”

HIGH POINT 84, WINTHROP 62

WINTHROP (13-9, 3-4 BIG SOUTH)

Talford 4-5 5-8 13, Doucet 4-11 0-3 9, Jones 2-8 1-2 6, Johnson 3-8 2-3 10, Harrison 4-10 3-4 14, Baker 1-5 0-0 2, Wilson 0-1 4-4 4, Diallo 0-0 0-0 0, Hamilton 0-0 0-0 0, Duncomb 1-3 0-0 2, Kamarad 0-1 2-2 2, Jolly 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 17-26 62.

HIGH POINT (18-5, 6-2)

Hamilton 5-9 3-3 14, Bodo Bodo 2-4 6-8 10, Giffa 5-8 4-7 14, Johnston 1-3 0-0 3, Williams 5-10 2-2 13, Benham 0-3 0-0 0, Hildebrandt 3-6 0-2 7, Pettiford 2-3 0-1 4, Thiam 4-5 0-1 11, Anderson 3-3 0-1 8, Ibukunoluwa 0-0 0-0 0, Sargiunas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-55 15-25 84.

Halftime:  High Point 47-25. 3-Point goals:  High Point 9-21 (Hamilton 1-1 Johnston 1-3, Williams 1-5, Benham 0-3, Hildebrandt 1-2, Thiam 3-4, Anderson 2-2, Sargiunas 0-1), Winthrop 7-24 (Doucet 1-3, Jones 1-7, Johnson 2-4, Harrison 3-4, Baker 0-3, Wilson 0-1, Kamarad 0-1, Jolly 0-1). Fouled out:  Doucet (WU).  Rebounds:  High Point 47 (Bodo Bodo 12), Winthrop 27 (Talford 6)). Total fouls:  High Point 24, Winthrop 23. Technicals:  Anderson (HPU), Doucet (WU).

Points off turnovers:  High Point 12, Winthrop 8.  Points in the paint:  High Point 34, Winthrop 24. Second-chance points:  High Point 19, Winthrop 6.  Fast-break points:  Winthrop 8, High Point 6.  Bench points:  High Point 30, Winthrop 10.

 

Rutgers faithful packs MSG, fuels Scarlet Knights against Michigan State

Over 17,000 fans packed Madison Square Garden Saturday as Rutgers hosted Michigan State, proving Scarlet Knights remain a strong draw in New York area despite disappointing 10-10 record. (Photo by Jaden Daly/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

NEW YORK — It’s no secret that the RAC, or as it is now formally known, Jersey Mike’s Arena, holds one of the best home crowd environments in the country.

Rutgers has picked up numerous Top 25 upset wins in Piscataway over the past handful of years, including a win over No. 1 Purdue a couple years back. The fans show out for the Scarlet Knights, even if the product on the court has been subpar at times.

Having two of the top three recruits in the Class of 2024 in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, there’s a strong argument to be made that there’s never been as much buzz around the program than in 2024-25 for Steve Pikiell and Rutgers. Nationally ranked in the preseason polls, it has certainly been a roller coaster of a year for the Scarlet Knights, who came into the weekend 10-9 on the season.

“Everyone wants to predict everything before it starts,” Pikiell said. “You have to earn wins in one of the best leagues in the country. There’s still plenty of time left to go on a run here. I think we’re really close.”

If the Scarlet Knights are as close as Pikiell indicates, Saturday marked the biggest home test to date for the struggling Rutgers squad to prove it would turn a corner, hosting eighth-ranked Michigan State. There’s one catch, though.

This game wasn’t in Piscataway, but rather Manhattan, at Madison Square Garden. The Scarlet Knights are no strangers to playing games at The Garden, this marking their seventh appearance in The Mecca of college basketball since Pikiell took over in 2016, and fourth in the regular season.

If you had any doubts that Rutgers Nation wouldn’t make the 40-mile journey to The World’s Most Famous Arena, there was no reason to worry. A sea of nearly 17,500 fans, many of whom clad in scarlet, made the trip to cheer on a Scarlet Knights squad desperate for a signature Big Ten win after starting the new year 2-4.

“It was my first time playing in The Garden,” Bailey said. “I’m thankful for the 17,000 Rutgers fans. It was dope. It was fun.”

“That was a hell of a crowd out there for a college basketball game,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “Everybody deserves a little credit for that and the people that put it on. Sometimes, we play here instead of the RAC, and the RAC is harder to play in, but when I looked out, I thought I would see a little more green. That thing was red from a lot of areas.”

The time the Rutgers played at The Garden, the Scarlet Knights defeated the Spartans in 2023, emerging victorious even as Mawot Mag suffered a torn ACL. Luck wasn’t on their side this time around, as they lost to Michigan State, 81-74, on an afternoon where Bailey shot just 4-for-17 from the field and Harper was limited to just 13 minutes due to a sprained ankle he suffered on Monday against Penn State.

“Dylan Harper did everything possible to get back and try and play in this game,” Pikiell said. “He wanted to go. Proud of him for giving it a try. He’s been tough for us.”

Even in defeat, a loss that sent Rutgers to 10-10 on the year in a season with very high expectations, the fans still showed out and were loud from the opening tip. Right off the bat, you’d think it was an NCAA Tournament game from the energy at The Mecca. Bailey drilled a transition trey less than three minutes into the contest to give the Scarlet Knights an early five-point cushion. Based on the crowd reaction, you’d think he hit a game-winning shot in the Final Four if you were unaware of anything else. That wasn’t even the loudest it got in the first half.

Jordan Derkack, who had a game-high 26 points off the bench, knocked down a trailing three from the top of the key to push it back to a one-possession game after the Spartans led by 10. Directly after, Harper picked up a steal on an errant pass and took it down for a tough finish inside to make it a one-point game at 66-65, ensuing a timeout from Izzo, and eruption from the Rutgers faithful.

“I’m a Jersey kid, so playing at MSG today was really cool for me,” Derkack said. “Our fans traveled today and it was loud. They gave us some energy today, especially at the end of the game.”

Once the Spartans ballooned their lead up to as high as 13 in the second half, the fans started to lose energy, with some even trickling out early. A late push, however, anchored by some clutch makes from distance from Derkack and Bailey, never allowed Michigan State to go into true victory formation, trimming it to as close as six after forcing a couple of turnovers. During that run, the crowd got back into it.

“They were giving us energy towards the end,” Bailey said. “When we were trapping and everything, (we were) just feeding off the energy they were giving us. That was a blessing.”

The crowd who remained to the end got back into it, but once it became clear the game was out of reach for good in the closing seconds, the Spartan fans who made the trip became loud and clear.

Not every program has the ability to fill Madison Square Garden the way Rutgers did Saturday. Obviously, not many have the opportunity to host a true home game there, with St. John’s being the only other school who fits that bill, but the crowd showed this is something that has the potential to happen on a more regular basis in the coming years.

“Scheduling is as hard as anything, and getting this venue, this is a busy place,” Pikiell said. “We love to play here and it’s great for us, just the crowd from the last time we played here to this time. Our fans love it and our players love it.”

With having to navigate around the Knicks, Rangers, St. John’s, and whatever number of concerts or shows that go on at The Garden during the winter months, Pikiell’s not wrong that it won’t be easy to get inside the building. But seeing the turnout on Saturday, it should be a priority for the program going forward.

“Hopefully we can continue playing here, maybe for a couple more games if that’s possible,” Pikiell said.

One thing’s for sure. That near-17,500 crowd wasn’t a fluke. Rutgers may be roughly 40 miles away, but even if it’s just one game every couple of years, Madison Square Garden is like a second home.