5 Thoughts: Richmond rolls, Seton Hall holds serve in OT battle over UConn

Kadary Richmond scored 17 straight Seton Hall points on career day as Pirates knocked off UConn. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEWARK, N.J. — Seton Hall salvaged its 0-2 start to Big East Conference play with a win at Butler Tuesday night, and was getting its full contingent of players back Saturday afternoon. Its opponent, returning from a 17-day COVID pause, was also close to full health and in just as dire need of a statement victory.

The result? Perhaps the best game to date of 2022, just eight days into the calendar year.

In a throwback battle that harkened back to past intense renewals of the Seton Hall-Connecticut rivalry, the Pirates took UConn’s best shots in a contest 40 minutes could not decide, and ultimately rode their point guard tandem to the finish line as Kadary Richmond led the way with a career-high 27 points and Bryce Aiken tallied 22 of his own to sink the Huskies in overtime by the final of 90-87.

For Seton Hall (11-3, 2-2 Big East), it was a reaffirmation of head coach Kevin Willard’s faith in his team after losses to Providence and Villanova to open the league slate, while for UConn (10-4, 1-2 Big East), the pilgrimage to the Garden State left a bitter taste in Dan Hurley’s mouth as his homecoming was spoiled despite a valiant effort in the Huskies’ first action since December 21.

If you missed any part of this instant classic, fear not, as today's postgame thoughts will help get you caught up:

1) Kooks in the Kitchen

Everyone, fan and nonfan alike, associated with the Seton Hall program waited for Kadary Richmond to have his breakout game. The Syracuse transfer picked the most opportune time to oblige.

During a 3-minute, 56-second stretch early in the second half, Richmond scored 17 straight Pirate points on the way to a magnum opus he achieved on an efficient 10-of-13 shooting, turning a 54-45 deficit into a 62-61 lead with an out-of-body experience he admitted he’d never had before.

“I haven’t been in a zone like that,” he candidly conceded. “Today was the first day I broke out and got loose, and it felt good.”

“When a guy’s going like that, you gotta give him the ball,” Rhoden added. “We’ve seen stretches in practice where Kadary’s taken over practice just with his ball skills and his playmaking ability, so for him to do it actually scoring the ball, it was a sight to see.”

And in the extra session, with the Huskies clinging to a one-point lead in the final minute, Richmond saved his best for last, backing down Isaiah Whaley and driving inside for a go-ahead layup while drawing a foul on the UConn forward.

“We just couldn’t guard him,” Hurley lamented. “I don’t think that we were prepared for him to take over the way he did, I don’t think he’d done that yet. We were waiting for him to come back down to earth, but he never really did. I think that last possession, we allowed Isaiah Whaley to play him one-on-one, and he just made a better move.”

2) Double D

The final seconds saw a pair of monumental defensive stands by Seton Hall after Richmond’s go-ahead basket. With UConn essentially having the entirety of the clock in overtime (26.9 seconds after Hurley called timeout) to hold for the win, Tyrese Martin held the ball on the left baseline before being stripped by Rhoden on his drive inside. Then, after Aiken hit a pair of free throws to extend the Pirate lead to three, the Huskies’ attempt at a tie bounced off the front rim when Adama Sanogo — who battled a hamstring injury and still managed an 18-point, 16-rebound double-double — came up just short of double overtime.

“I saw that they were trying to run a little play, the play got broken up and I saw Tyrese Martin was trying to iso,” Rhoden said as he recounted the final seconds. “I saw when he was dribbling, he bobbled it just a little bit, and that’s when I started to say I was gonna be a little bit more aggressive. Ike did a great job of hedging out really hard, and I just took my opportunity and stole the ball. If I don’t get it, the game’s over. I knew I had to get that one.”

“We were trying to get a little misdirection back to the block,” said Hurley of his intent on UConn’s last chance to forge a second overtime with Sanogo’s shot, contested by Ike Obiagu with Martin inbounding. “Ike did a good job fronting him, and then Tyrese just stayed with trying to get it in. With Ike fronting him, there was an opportunity to drive it with the shot blocker now out of position to contest at the rim. I think Tyrese kind of stayed with it a little bit longer and pass-faked, which created another lane for him to drive it. I think it was just a little bit of fatigue there with the decision making.”

3) Super Size Me

The return of Obiagu and Samuel gave Seton Hall not only a full roster after being stricken with COVID, it also allowed the Pirates to maximize what Willard has considered his team’s biggest strength this season.

“There’s not too many teams that could roll out a 7-foot-1 guy, a 6’11 guy, a 6’9 guy and a 6’9 guy,” he said of Seton Hall’s surplus of size. “Everyone looks at the guards and Jared, and rightfully so, but I can go 7’1, 6’11, I can go 6’8, 6’9 and space you out. So to have them back — Tyrese was phenomenal, I couldn’t believe he played 17 minutes, I mean, he’s been stuck in Canada in an apartment for 10 days — it just gives us a chance to play physical, and at the same time, we could go small at times.”

And with Alexis Yetna unavailable for precautionary reasons after being hit by an errant pass Friday in practice, Tray Jackson stepped up early, connecting on a pair of 3-pointers and contributing a solid 10 points on the day, further adding to the versatility of the big men.

4) Deep Pockets

Nearly every coach who faces Seton Hall ultimately leaves the contest saying the same thing about the Pirates and their potential, that Willard is skippering a team who could be a dangerous opponent in March. Hurley was no different.

“They’ve got a lot of answers,” the UConn coach observed. “Even without Yetna, they bring a ton of quality to the court. They have a lot of depth, physically imposing, they’ve got a lot of firepower on the perimeter, they’re well-coached. They’re a title contender, as are we.”

In the other locker room, the optimism was just as high for a group that rarely blows its own horn publicly.

“It just shows that we’re battle-tested,” Rhoden said of Seton Hall’s win. “It shows a lot of character about who we are individually, but collectively as well, and I think we showcased that tonight.”

“I think they all understand this is their last rodeo,” Willard echoed. “Lex has never played in the NCAA Tournament, Jamir (Harris) never played, Kooks (Kadary) had a good run last year, my guys want to get back to where we were. So I think that goal, and the understanding that on any given night, some guys are going to get it going, and when they have, we’re going to let them go and support them. So I think that’s kind of the common goal. It’s what we talk about as a team, and again, you've got a guy like Ike who’s extremely unselfish and plays defense really, really hard, and sacrifices some offense for the greater good. They all work really well together.”

5) Requiem for a Rivalry

As noted previously, Saturday’s matinee had all the makings of an old-school Big East showdown that, given the current levels both programs are on, could once again reprise its status as one of the league’s marquee matchups.

“The marriage here with UConn and the Big East is just a perfect marriage,” Hurley said. “I think there’s nothing but positives from it, especially when you’ve got two high-level teams. It felt like a Sweet 16 game, a Big East championship game. It’s great for basketball in the tri-state, Northeast.”

“It’s great that our games are battles,” Willard proclaimed. “I think they’re going to be battles because we’re very similar. Danny’s and my personality are very similar, we’re very intense, his teams and my teams play very similar, both physical, they rebounded the ball phenomenal tonight. They’re always going to be high-level, they always are. That’s just the way Danny is, he runs a phenomenal program.”

It was a change of pace from Willard, who came under fire for a comment made in jest during the virtual Big East media day in 2020, when he quipped that he was not happy with the Huskies returning to the conference. He took the time to clarify his rationale behind the remark, praising Hurley for the job he has done through four years in Storrs.

“Danny’s as good a coach as I go against all year long,” he reiterated. “I know I made a wise-ass comment about it. I don’t want to go against Danny twice a year. The way he runs his program, the players he gets and recruits, and the level he coaches at, it’s a high-level program and he’s a high-level coach. So when coaches say they don’t want you in the league, it’s probably the biggest compliment you can get, because they don’t want to go against you twice.”