Isaiah Coleman (21) paced Seton Hall with career-high 17 points Tuesday as Pirates bested Monmouth. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)
NEWARK, N.J. — After a difficult loss to Rutgers on Saturday, Seton Hall had a quick turnaround to play another New Jersey school in King Rice's Monmouth Hawks. And thanks to a 17-0 run that was spurred by unlikely sources in the first half, the Pirates got out to a big lead that ended up holding despite a spirited Hawks comeback in a 70-61 win.
Here are 5 Thoughts from the Prudential Center:
The most-quoted book of the Bible this time of year is the Book of Isaiah, and it was Isaiah Coleman who really saved the day for the Pirates. He was contributing on both ends, finishing with a career-high 17 points along with a couple steals and blocked shots. It's not the first time that his athleticism has come in and had an effect on the game, but this was his biggest performance of the season thus far.
“That's one thing he does, that's why he's been playing,” head coach Shaheen Holloway said. “I don't look at offense, I know everybody else looks at offense. I look at energy and passion, and he brings both. When you play like that, good things happen.”
But one thing that Coleman needed was time to adjust to the college game. Physically, he was there, but earlier this season, he was a bit raw when it came to being able to turn that energy and passion into production. Tonight, he took a season-high 12 shots, and seemed completely within himself. The future is bright for the young wing.
2. Bench Press
It wasn't just Coleman, as the entire Seton Hall bench was outstanding in the first half tonight. After the starters came in and “played tight” according to Holloway, Jaquan Sanders was a confident and effective shooter over the Monmouth zone, Malachi Brown stepped in and played some fantastic minutes (more on him in a second), and Elijah Hutchins-Everett also provided some muscle inside, all of which complimented Coleman's all-around excellence.
All told, the reserves scored 25 points in the opening 20 minutes, more than half of the Pirates' total, and finished with 34 points out of Seton Hall's 70. For a unit that came into the game providing only 22 percent of the Pirates' total on offense, it represents a welcome sight to see indeed.
“We had a talk last week and then we had another talk after the Rutgers game,” Holloway said. “I just told these guys, ‘you gotta start pushing the first group and show me that you guys want to be out there, and we can’t have dropoffs, you can either sustain it or take the lead.’ I thought the last two days in practice, they showed that, and that’s why they got their chance.”
The lack of production off the bench this season is plain to see on paper for Seton Hall, and Monmouth came in looking to exploit it. Needless to say, the Hawks weren't allowed to do so.
“No disrespect to those kids, but they just hadn't done it every night yet,” Monmouth head coach King Rice said of trying to get into Seton Hall's reserves. “I thought that would give us an advantage, and tonight, they were Big East players. They did an incredible job. So I'm happy for those young kids that made those shots tonight, even though it hurt my team. When you see young kids get an opportunity and take advantage of it, you have to take your hat off to them.”
3. Big (Physical) East
Monmouth came in with a solid scouting report on the Pirates, and in particular, their identity of toughness and grit that has been a part of the program for years now, but especially embraced by Holloway and his staff. Once the Hawks got into the game, though, they got to experience it firsthand, and it surprised the visitors from West Long Branch.
“The physicality is real,” Rice said. “You watch on TV, and it doesn't seem like they're that much bigger or stronger than you, and then you get in the game, and they're trying to make (Xander Rice) tired and Jakari (Spence) tired, and they're just banging us. And it's not a foul, it's just high-level, high-major basketball, Big East basketball, and it took us out of our stuff for a while.”
Add in the bench's energy, and the ingredients were there for the big run that put the Pirates ahead for good. Seton Hall also used that muscle to make things difficult for Xander Rice, Monmouth's best player, who still ended up with 20 points, but didn't make a single basket inside the three-point line until the final minute of the game.
The son of the head coach described what it was like after the game.
“You feel like you get by your guy,” the younger Rice said, “and then they bump you, and the big guy comes over and swats your shot out of bounds. The size and physicality was kind of the most-eye-opening thing. It just felt like they kept helping. They were always in the gaps, they were always there because of their length and athletic ability.”
It's important that Seton Hall, for all of the offensive struggles at times, keeps playing to that identity, because eventually, as we have seen, it can show up and save games for you. Tonight, it got to the Hawks, and played a big part in the win.
4. The Book of Malachi
Malachi is the final book in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and since seeing some time to start the season, Malachi Brown must have felt like the last man off the Seton Hall bench lately, with a combined one minute of action and two “DNP” designations in the Pirates' last five games.
But the freshman was called upon in the first half tonight when Kadary Richmond picked up two fouls in just seven minutes, and he contributed five points, a rebound, a steal, and two assists in nine minutes, notching a team-best plus-15 rating.
“I've been on Malachi because I want him to be a change-of-pace-type guard,” Holloway said. “But he's so reserved, so laid-back, that's who he is as a person. I've been on him to change the pace of the game. I need a lightning-quick guard to come in (off the bench), and he did a good job. I'm proud of him, it's something he can build upon.”
Holloway added that as long as Brown brings it in practice, which he had the last couple days, then he'll continue to earn time in games. The venerable Jerry Carino tweeted out that Brown has “a little Shavar Reynolds in him,” (fitting considering that the former walk-on and fan favorite played for both schools involved in the game tonight), and as a fan, you hope that he takes this game and runs with it.
5. Al-Adjustments
After a struggle on Saturday night against Rutgers, Holloway said he would sit down with Al-Amir Dawes and try to get him to see where he could be effective if his important outside shot isn't falling. Tonight, it looked like the message had gotten through, as the senior from Newark played especially well down the stretch of both halves, being patient on offense, and eventually hitting a big jumper and some free throws down the stretch to help ice the game. Dawes finished with 11 points, and earned some praise from the skipper.
“I thought he had good poise,” Holloway said. “I thought he didn't try to rush things, didn't try to force things. He made a good pull-up jumper at the end. Just (continue to) take what the defense is giving you.”
I thought it was an important step in the right direction for an important Pirate. Dawes can be a microwave, but sometimes, a slow cooker is best to get the dinner made. Next up in the buffet line for the Pirates is a road trip to Kansas City to take on the Missouri Tigers, followed by the reigning national champion UConn Huskies coming to Newark, as the college basketball stove continues to heat up.
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