Game 10: Pirates 77 Scarlet Knights 63
A Seton Hall Men's Basketball recap of the Pirates victory over their hated rival Rutgers
With both teams coming off of huge wins earlier in the week a collision course in Prudential Center for Rutgers and #23 Seton Hall in primetime delivered a great game for the boys in blue and white.
First Half
The arena atmosphere was perfect from the first tip of the game with Seton Hall fans drowning out the whistle on several occasions but much like many other Pirate games this season this one took a little bit to get going on the scoreboard. There was some basket trading early but those were in between long droughts and neither team could really get much separation. The defense was definitely there for SHU early despite the absence of Ike Obiagu and Myles Cale really showed out on the perimeter and disrupting Rutgers’ passing lanes. Alexis Yetna, Kadary Richmond, and a couple of thunderous slams from Tyrese Samuel provided a lot of the offense in the onset of this game for Seton Hall. Despite a Bryce Aiken three that gave SHU a 5 point cushion with 7:35 to go in a quick swing it was tied once again and the teams went back and forth with a score of 23-23 at the 4:18 mark of the game before an explosive 14-0 Seton Hall run, which included Jared Rhoden’s first points of the game, gave the Pirates momentum they wouldn’t relinquish despite a few Rutgers free throws to make it a 37-27 score at halftime.
Second Half
The second half started much like the first ended with Seton Hall responding to every Rutgers bucket with their own ensuring the lead never dissipated. This was highlighted by a 13-3 run sparked by Myles Cale and Jared Rhoden that really put the game in Seton Hall’s control with a 53-37 lead with 13:48 remaining in the game. Rutgers still had fight in them however especially in their two stars Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr as a 10-0 Scarlet Knights run cut it to a 6 point deficit with 10:51 to go but the depth of Seton Hall was just too much to fully overcome and as those two could not find much help elsewhere Bryce Aiken entered takeover mode and absolutely dominating down the stretch. From the 10:51 mark onwards Aiken scored 14 points and had 2 beautiful assists to Samuel and Rhoden and along with some stiff defense the Pirates were fully able to put away Rutgers for good and capture the Garden State Hardwood Classic trophy for the first time since 2018.
Aftermath
A win over Rutgers is always great but the way in which the Pirates earned this victory was really something to watch. Five different players scored in double figures with Alexis Yetna and Kadary Richmond having some of their best performances in a SHU uniform with the former USF Bull having 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks while the young Richmond had 12 points and was huge for Seton Hall in establishing first half momentum. Myles Cale had 10 points and 1 rebound to go along with 5 steals which is a new career high for him. Jared Rhoden and Tyrese Samuel both flirted with double doubles as Rhoden had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block and Samuel had 7 points and 9 rebounds. The MVP of the game was, however, Bryce Aiken who had 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal off the bench. Seton Hall’s defense once again shined as Rutgers went 4-18 from 3 point range and forcing the duo of Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr to shoot 7-23 from the field in general. One area of improvement for SHU is definitely shooting from beyond the arc themselves as they only made 5 3s on 21 attempts. The win was the 213th of Kevin Willard’s at Seton Hall moving him into 2nd place all time in program history.
What’s Next
The next game for #23 Seton Hall (soon to be higher after the week they’ve had) is Saturday, December 18th against Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels at Madison Square Garden who famously upset Alabama earlier in the year and are for sure a dangerous threat to any team they face. The game will start at 3PM and be on FS2 and will be Seton Hall’s final non conference game before the Big East gauntlet begins.