Seton Hall 78, St. John's 67: Ray Floriani's Tempo-Free Analysis

Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard looks on during Pirates' matchup with St. John's. (Photo courtesy of Ray Floriani)

Newark, NJ - In the Big East opener for both teams, Seton Hall defeated fifteenth-ranked St. John’s 78-67. The contest at the Prudential Center saw both teams post higher than average efficiency in a relatively (pace wise) pedestrian game. The pace/efficiency numbers:

Possessions: St. John’s 63, Seton Hall 61

Offensive Efficiency: Seton Hall 128, St. John’s 106

The Four Factors:

eFG%: Seton Hall 56, St. John's 48

FT Rate: Seton Hall 62, St. John's 27

OREB Pct: Seton Hall 41, St. John's 35

TO Rate: Seton Hall 15, St. John's 13

What Seton Hall did well: Several things. Shoot the ball well, get to the line and not commit too many turnovers. An enviable and tough combination to beat.

What St. John’s did well: Take care of the ball. The Red Storm had an excellent turnover rate, and actually had a 14-10 edge in points off turnovers. Other than that part of the game, Seton Hall enjoyed an advantage in the other factors.

St. John’s shot twenty three-point attempts, one-third of all their field goal tries. The result saw the Red Storm shoot just 16 free throws. Seton Hall shot 23 threes out of 50 attempts overall. The Pirates were able to shoot 31 free throws mainly by getting fouled in penetration situations. Penetration by the Hall also opened up the three, as St. John’s was slow to close out the perimeter. Sterling Gibbs (5-of-7) and Jaren Sina (4-of-8) were the prime Seton Hall beneficiaries from those three-point looks.

The three point shooting:

St. John’s- 5-of-20 (25%)

Seton Hall- 10-of-23  (44%)

Seton Hall’s ability to draw fouls can also be associated with rebounding, getting in position, getting fouled while rebounding or on a putback. In raw numbers, the Hall had a 37-32 rebounding (+5) margin. They also secured 13 boards on the offensive end.

Scoring/efficiency leaders:

D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s - 25 points, 20 efficiency

Sterling Gibbs, Seton Hall  - 25 points, 27 efficiency

Gibbs shot 7-of-13 from the field while adding 8 assists against zero turnovers. Harrison had one assist and a turnover. 

Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado posted a solid 19 efficiency. The Pirate freshman had a game-high 12 rebounds while shooting 5-of-8 for 13 points. 

Seton Hall and St. John’s are now both 11-2.

“This was a report card for us. Now, we have Butler in two days and Villanova in another two. In this league, you better bring your ‘A’ game, and even then that won’t guarantee a victory.” – St. John’s coach Steve Lavin

“We did not turn it over. That was big because St. John’s has been forcing people to turn it over.” – Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard