PISCATAWAY, NJ– Seton Hall first year coach Shaheen Holloway knows how to get the most out of lesser talent, as we saw last spring when he led St. Peter’s to a Cinderella trip to the NCAA Elite Eight, beating heavyweights Kentucky and Purdue along the way.
Holloway was faced with a similar situation last night when the Big East Pirates played instate rival Rutgers from the Big Ten before a sellout crowd of 8,000 at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
The Scarlet Knights were big favorites against a Big East team that was basically starting from scratch and coming off a 91-65 loss to Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.
Rutgers fans showed up in a cold, wet night, wearing “Deck the Hall” T-shirts and looking for blood in this latest edition of the New Jersey Hardwood Classic.
But their team wound up nursing self inflicted wounds.
The Pirates stunned the Big Ten Scarlet Knights, 45-43, as Holloway successfully mucked up the game and kept the score under 50, exposing Rutgers’ limitations as a half court offensive team lacks a true point guard and struggled to make shots.
Fifth year 6-6 senior forward KC Ndefo, who followed Holloway to the Hall from St. Peter’s, was selected the Joe Calabrese MVP with 9 points, 8 rebounds and a huge block at the rim at the rim of Rutgers’ 6-11 future NBA center Cliff Omoruyi with 1:10 and the Pirates clingiing to a two point lead.
It was a seminal moment in an ugly game that produced the lowest combined point total in the series since 1947.
This one can only be described as a rock fight.
“I knew they were trying to get something toward the basketball, Ndefo said. “It was pride and being locked into what we have to do on defense. That’s something I thrive on, being a defensive dude.”
Rutgers had a chance to tie the game and force overtime on its final possession, with guards Paul Mulcahy and Aundre Hyatt both getting good looks but neither could finish. The Knights made just seven of 16 layups, a recurring theme in
thoughouta 6-4 season. .
This one can only be described as a rock fight.
The Hall won this game with suffocating defense, forcing the Knights into 19 turnovers and limiting them to 32.6 percent shooting, holding Rutgers without a field goal for the final 4:01 of the game. Junior guard Kadary Richmond, a transfer fro
Syracuse, had a personal best six steals. The Knights were sluggish defensively, allowing the Hall to get to the line 18 times.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “Credit to Seton Hall, they played harder. You know we talked about keys to the game before the game and not turning the ball over. Obviously, we didn’t do that. We have to play with much more energy. And that’s on me. These rivalry games ever since I’ve been here, they’ve been a couple points here and there, you know, no matter what the records were of either team. In the rivalry you’ve got to bring it. They brought it and they deserved to win.”
The Pirates lead the series, which started back in 1916, 42-31. They are 7-2 since the game became an annual event since the breakup of the Big East.
It was the first road win for either side since 2015.
For Rutgers, losing a big game at home, in a building that is considered to be the best home court advantage in the Metropolitan area– had to sting. The Knights only has one more chance at a quality non-conference win — Saturday when they host ACC middle of the road team Wake Forest. the Hall (7-4) already has two– Memphis on a neutral site and Rutgers on the road.
But the Knights got what they deserved.
