Seton Hall basketball rallies past St. John's in gut-check road win
NEW YORK – There were gut-checks galore for the Seton Hall basketball team at St. John’s Wednesday night.
A 13-point deficit in a hostile arena.
Major foul trouble from a tight road whistle as tempers flared.
An injured sixth man.
The Pirates overcame them all to stun St. John’s 84-72 in a wild, contentious contest that keeps them in hot pursuit of an NCAA Tournament berth.
"We’ve just got a will to win," said senior guard Al Dawes, who scored a game-high 21 points. "We just fight, no matter what."
The Hall is now 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the Big East after completing the season sweep of St. John’s (14-9, 4-8). This was a Quad 2 victory that improved the Pirates to 5-4 on the road -- a standout metric for the postseason resume. They're one of only four Big East teams with a road ledgers above .500. This is the program's first triumph at Carnesecca Arena since 2010.
Given the obstacles, this might have been Seton Hall's most impressive victory of the season. Head coach Shaheen Holloway, typically measured after wins, could not hide his satisfaction during the postgame press conference.
“I thought it was big for us," Holloway said. "To come here, this is a tough place to play — I didn’t know that we hadn’t won here in a lot of years, 13 years."
He even allowed himself the slightest smile while he said it.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
1. Poise amid tempers
Tensions on the court reached a boiling point in the second half. St. John's melted down, with point guard Andre Curbelo getting himself ejected after jawing with Hall forward KC Ndefo, bumping the Ndefo after the whistle and then throwing his goggles. A double-technical was called before Curbelo was ushered into the locker room as boos rained down on the court. It was a scene out of professional wrestling.
The Hall, by contrast, stayed collected. Even though Ndefo was stuck on the bench with four fouls following the double-tech, he stayed engaged with his teammates.
"I thought KC was great," Holloway said. "Even when he was in foul trouble, he was out there saying, ‘This is what we need to do, let’s not forget who we are, we’re a defensive team,’ those things."
Ndefo finished with 10 points and four rebounds and was part of a group effort that held standout St. John's postman Joel Soriano to nine points on 2-of-8 shooting.
"I just told everybody to relax, don’t play into their hands," Holloway said keeping the team level-headed. "We took good shots — Seton Hall shots, not ‘me’ shots."
Holloway, who grew up five minutes from St. John's campus in the South Jamaica section of Queens, did his part, too. Despite the barrage of whistles that had four of his players on the verge of disqualification with 12 minutes remaining, he never blew up at the officials. He rotated his personnel deftly, protecting the guys with four fouls until the outcome was decided. And he made a game-changing adjustment, switching to a matchup zone -- just as he did when the Pirates roared back from 10 down to wallop the Red Storm in Newark Dec. 31.
"My assistants were yelling at me to do it, but we just had lineups in there that we never did it with, so I was kind of hesitant," he said. "So we kind of went to it and it slowed the game down, got us where we needed to go.”
Seton Hall fans are learning what Saint Peter's faithful witnessed the past four years: Holloway is a high-level tactician.
2. High praise for Richmond
Kadary Richmond hails from Brooklyn and it showed. The point guard rose above the helter-skelter flow and posted a monster game: 15 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 39 minutes.
"He's the engine that makes that team go," St. John's coach Mike Anderson said.
Richmond declined to say he was motivated by geography, but he did credit Holloway for pushing the right buttons.
"He’s not allowed me to be mediocre or accepting of whatever comes," the junior said. "He's wanted more from me."
Holloway has been hard on Richmond. On the day he was hired they hit the gym in the evening, just the two of them. They've had several heart-to-heart talks, few of them warm and fuzzy.
“I'm on him every single day about being the player that he wants to be," Holloway said. "He has to bring it every single day, in practice and in games. I think he’s doing a better job of being more consistent with that. Tonight he was really good rebounding, he controlled the game, he picked and chose his spots. I’m proud of him, but he’s got a long way to go. All night, I thought he defended and he didn’t take breaks."
One of the things they've discussed -- the notion, floated by his former coach at Syracuse (the chronically complaining Jim Boeheim), that Richmond doesn't put in the work.
"You have to understand the stigma that was on you before this year," Holloway said. "That’s there, people listen to that, people read that, and you got to change that. And the way you change that is the way you play every single day, and it starts in practice. And to his credit, he’s carrying it out. I think he’s taken steps. He’s still not where he should be or where he wants to be, but it’s steps.”
3. 'Let's go Pirates'
As the final minute melted off the clock, a hearty "Let's Go Pirates" chant echoed through Carnesecca Arena from three rows of blue-clad fans behind the Pirates' bench.
"We loved it," Dawes said. "We feed off that. We love our fans. We love the energy."
This marked the Pirates’ first appearance at Carnesecca with fans present since 2015. They came in with just a 3-13 record there in recent years. Anderson said this crowd, which was close to capacity of 5,600, was one of the most energized in his four seasons at the helm.
It was awfully quiet down the stretch, with one disgruntled St. John's fan yelling at Anderson from courtside: "Pack your bags, Mike. It's over!"
4. Dre Davis out, subs step up
Junior wing Dre Davis (9.1 ppg), who has excelled in a sixth-man role, did not make the trip after suffering a sprained ankle in Saturday’s win at Butler. Forward Tray Jackson moved into the sixth-man role, with Holloway using all nine available scholarship players.
Everyone chipped in. Postgrad guard Jamir Harris turned in his best game of the season, recording 10 points, four assists and three rebounds off the bench. The North Brunswick native made a series of hustle plays that helped spark the rally. Freshman guard Jaquan Sanders, whose time had been limited as the 10th man in recent weeks, scored five points in two minutes during the comeback. Jackson and freshman Tae Davis held their own in the paint when Tyrese Samuel and Ndefo went to the bench with foul trouble.
"They carried a lot of energy and that’s what we preach," Dawes said of the subs.
Coaches love to talk about a "total team win." This was exactly that.
“I'm throwing Tae Davis out there at the four, he’s never played it before," Holloway said. "For him to go out there in this type of environment and play like that, also Jaquan Sanders came in and made a layup and a big three. He’s a guy that’s working and trying to get in stride and earn his spot, and he’s out there playing. And I thought Tray battled as well. Everybody that came in the game gave us something tonight.”
5. Push for the Dance
With a NET ranking likely to be around 50, the Pirates are one big win away from appearing in projected Big Dance brackets. First though, they must take care of business at home against DePaul (9-14, 3-9) Sunday after beating the Blue Demons by four in Chicago last month.
The 1988 NCAA Tournament team – the first in program history – is having a reunion and will be honored shortly before the noon tip-off. Former head coach P.J. Carlesimo and star center Mark Bryant, now an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns, headline the expected attendees.
It should be a festive atmosphere. Winners of seven of their past nine, these Pirates are hitting stride at the right time.
"We’re in a good head space," Dawes said. "Got a lot of momentum and got to keep carrying it."
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball rallies past St. John's in gut-check road win
