5 Thoughts: Seton Hall reclaims Jersey crown, beats Rutgers

Bryce Aiken exults after Seton Hall defeated Rutgers to reclaim Garden State bragging rights. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — Seton Hall's win over No. 7 Texas on Thursday should have led the sports reports on the news. Wins over Top 10 programs don't happen every day, of course.

But it didn't, because its rival down the Turnpike beat No. 1 Purdue and stole all the headlines, setting up an epic showdown that had enough emotional charge to it as any other in the long rivalry. 

And thanks to a 14-0 run in the first half, the Pirates took control of the previously tight contest and never lost the lead, warding off several Rutgers advances to improve to 9-1 with a 77-63 win at Prudential Center.

Here are the 5 Thoughts:

- Hardwood Haymakers

With a sold-out crowd that was mostly wearing blue in the house on Sunday, you figured if Seton Hall had a big run or two in them, they would be able to use those big punches to really grab the reins of the game. The Pirates came, and Rutgers forgot to duck. 

A 14-0 run in the first half broke a 23-all tie, and in the second half, an 11-1 Seton Hall run gave the Pirates some distance to be able to put the Scarlet Knights away.  

"It's a game of momentum," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said afterwards. "I thought we played through it, then we had a swing in the second half, and then they came back when it was a six-point game, and they got the momentum back. It was a game like that."

Pikiell's right. Momentum swings both ways, and there is no doubt that the location of this game had an effect. Just two years ago, Seton Hall was on the wrong side of a raucous crowd, and ended up losing at the RAC. That game started with, in a twist of irony, a 14-0 run for Rutgers. 

Seton Hall, meanwhile, has not lost to Rutgers on their home court since 2012, a streak that was extended tonight. Hold that thought, we'll come back to it later.

- Get The Point, Part 1

The 14-0 run in the first half was spearheaded by the Pirates' two point guards. Kadary Richmond and Bryce Aiken each had five points in the decisive spurt, and Richmond in particular did a nice job in the first half by scoring 12 points and being one of the only players who was able to get inside against the Rutgers defense when the outside shots would not go down at all.

It was the latest sign of what could be in what has been a process for the Syracuse transfer.

"Kadary Richmond's a pro," Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard said. "He's going to make a lot of money in this game. Once he gets in really good shape, there's another gear that people haven't seen with him that I see. He just has to be able to sustain it for 25-26 minutes. He's not there yet. For the first half, I think everyone saw what it is. He just has to sustain it a little bit more, and he's working hard at it."

But there were two point guards who excelled on Sunday...

- Get The Point, Part 2

Aiken was the player who orchestrated things in the second half, though as we mentioned, he also had five key points in the first-half run. The Randolph, New Jersey native ended up with one of the best games of his Seton Hall career, scoring 22 points on just 7-for-12 shooting off the bench, and hitting three of Seton Hall's five made threes on the night, the last of which was a deep shot that increased the lead to 13 points with 3:51 to play and essentially locked up the result for the Pirates.

He hit the biggest shots tonight overall, and brings a flare for the dramatic and a confidence in the biggest moments that was also on display when he snapped an 0-for-7 night from three with the critical basket against Texas.

"We’ve been with him two years now, and this is what we see in practice," Willard said. "He’s going to take a 38-footer on the break, he’s got that ability, he’s got that confidence, and I’ve just come to realize you have to let Bryce be Bryce.”

With capable lead guards that have each had their moments, I asked Willard after the game how the dynamic has played out with them this season, and the skipper made an excellent point that I had not noticed before.

“They play at two different tempos," Willard said. "Our offense is two different ways. (Kadary)'ll probe you, he’ll probe you, he’ll look, he’ll attack you. I could post Kadary. Bryce is a little bit more of a scoring guard, takes a little bit of pressure off of Jared (Rhoden) and Myles (Cale), or whoever’s in there with him, so we have two completely different offenses when those guys are in there. I’d like to get to the point where we can play them together, because I think it would help the other guys on the floor.”

- Unsung Heroes

In rivalry games like this, there are always players whose critical work doesn't get the accolades, and for me tonight, Alexis Yetna fits that bill. The big man finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots, and despite shooting just 2-for-8 from the field, he made six of seven free throw attempts. In a game where the Pirates were without their most-physically imposing presence in Ike Obiagu due to an ankle injury, Yetna gave the Pirates a good dose of muscle, including a bone-crushing screen at midcourt in the second half.

Also a tip of the hat to Tyrese Samuel. While he had a quieter night with seven points and nine rebounds, he and Yetna combined for seven of the Pirates' 13 offensive rebounds, a key component in their 10-point halftime lead despite shooting only 35 percent in the first 20 minutes.

- Blast From the Letdown Game Past

Remember when I said that Seton Hall hasn't lost to Rutgers at the Prudential Center since 2012? 

As much as it pains me to go back to that season, my senior year at the Hall, it's relevant. Back in the 2011-12 campaign, Kevin Willard's Pirates, led by Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope, had just pulled off a big win over Georgetown at home that most folks said all but locked up a coveted NCAA Tournament spot (the Pirates hadn't made the Dance since 2006 at the time).

All they had to do was not falter in their final two regular season contests against two of the bottom feeders in the Big East. The game immediately following that win over the Hoyas? You guessed it, Rutgers, at home, on Senior Night. Heck, it was the last time I can remember a Seton Hall-Rutgers game in Newark with as much juice to it as this one tonight coming in.

It went to overtime, and thanks to a three by Jerome Seagears and a bad illegal screen call against Pope in overtime, the Pirates lost a heartbreaker to the Scarlet Knights, then went to DePaul and got run off the floor by the last-place Blue Demons, missing the Tournament in the process.

Tonight, while both teams were coming off big wins, Rutgers had the bigger emotional high after beating a Purdue team that every pundit and prognosticator had said was the best team in the nation. It was their first-ever win over a top-ranked program, complete with a court storming.

They say history repeats itself, and while Rutgers by no means got blown out tonight, it still signifies a letdown loss to the Pirates. Funny how things happen sometimes.