5 Thoughts: Seton Hall blows out FDU on opening night

 

Tyrese Samuel recorded first career double-double as Seton Hall routed FDU in season opener. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — After 616 days, Daly Dose Of Hoops was back at the Prudential Center for a Seton Hall game, as the Pirates, playing without star winger Jared Rhoden, rode the momentum from a strong last seven minutes of the first half to a blowout 93-49 victory over in-state rival Fairleigh Dickinson in Newark.

Here are the 5 thoughts:

- Terrific Tyrese

One game ball goes to Tyrese Samuel. The versatile big man finished with his first career double-double, putting up 19 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocked shots as well as an astounding plus-38 in 27 minutes, all of which led the team. Unlike in the past, he did it both inside and outside, posting up quite a bit against a smaller FDU front line.

Make no mistake, if Samuel can be that consistently effective, the Pirates will be one heck of a tough out this season.

"He's super talented," teammate Bryce Aiken said after the game. "This is only the beginning. We expect him to do that every night."

"He's a junior now," Myles Cale added. "This is the year that you finally come out of your shell, that you're more comfortable. That's what's happening with Tyrese right now. He knows the game better, can pick his spots, and he's a better player."

- Bryce Is Nice

The second game ball goes to Aiken. One of the reasons that the Pirates didn't have the season they planned during the pandemic last season was Aiken being largely unavailable due to injury, forcing Shavar Reynolds to play more than he probably should have.

It was a healthy Aiken that turned things around for the Pirates after a slow start to this one, netting 10 points to lead all scorers in the first half after starting point Kadary Richmond picked up a couple of fouls. Aiken ended up with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting (3-for-3 from 3-point range) before tweaking his ankle in the second half, though by all accounts, the tweak didn't seem major, as he was out on the bench cheering his teammates on later in the game.

"He had a very productive summer," head coach Kevin Willard said. "He was able to work out every day, practice every day. I just think he's in a much better spot mentally about his body than he was last year."

Given his considerable injury history (he's the sixth-oldest player in college basketball because of it), I would expect the coaching staff to be very conscious of his minutes in the early part of the season, but more performances like this one could force their hand. He would be an ideal weapon off the bench if he can stay on the court.

- Jumpin' Jackson

Another player who helped to kick-start the Pirates was Tray Jackson. The Missouri transfer drew rave reviews from the pundits who had watched him on the court prior to opening night, and he contributed four points and five rebounds to the cause in the first half, including a putback slam. He gave the team a shot of adrenaline, playing hard enough that, after a foul in transition denying a breakaway dunk, he lost a shoe in the process.

That continued in the second half when he brought the crowd to its feet with a pair of huge dunks, finishing with 14 points and six rebounds in his Seton Hall debut.

"I always knew that's the way Tray was going to play," Willard said. "The COVID summer really hurt Tray because a) he was sitting out, and b) we didn't think he was playing, so it just didn't work. Tray had a great summer, and that's kind of what we see every day in practice."

- Long And Strong

The Pirates' defense looked pretty darn good tonight. When you look at their starting lineup, Seton Hall went with four players who were 6'6" or taller, and the advantage in length shone through. The Pirates held FDU to just 28 percent shooting on the night, with no one outside of Brandon Rush (19 points) really doing much. 

They tried, but Ike Obiagu (five blocks) and Samuel (four) pretty much took care of anything the Knights tried to do inside, and they contested the perimeter well also, holding the visitors to just 1-of-15 on the night. That is something they struggled to do last year. If they can defend the perimeter well (with Obiagu holding down things inside at 7'2"), they could be very tough to score on.

- You Get A Three! And You Get a Three!

Seton Hall shot the ball very well from the outside tonight as well, with 13 makes in 24 attempts (54 percent) and six different players hitting at least one triple. Jamir Harris led the way with four 3-point makes, which is fitting because boy, is he an impressive shooter. More than once I was impressed with just how picturesque his outside shot is, and how big of a weapon he can be this season for Seton Hall.

But Cale also stuck his outside shots, sinking three of them. Ditto for Aiken, who also connected on the longest three of the night before exiting with a tweaked ankle. It was something Willard lacked last season.

"What I really needed to fix is that we really didn't shoot the ball consistently last year," Willard said. "It was a major issue. And we didn't defend the three point line, we didn't shoot it well, and we didn't defend it well, which gave us a lot of nights where we were in (close) games where maybe if we had shot it better, it wouldn't have turned out that way. Getting Bryce healthy, and getting guys like Jamir and Alexis (Yetna) who can spread the floor and make shots was the biggest thing."

The Pirates will look to build upon their opening night win when they welcome the preseason Ivy League favorites, the Yale Bulldogs, to Newark on Sunday afternoon.