(PHOTO COURTESY OF DALY DOSE OF HOOPS, BOB DEA)
No one ever said “February Fun” was always fun.
Especially in the second half when the opponent marches back and nearly erases a 14 point deficit.
Close for the Seton Hall Pirates (15-7, 6-6 Big East) as they narrowly took down the No. 25/RV Xavier Musketeers (16-7, 6-6 Big East) by a score of 73-71 inside the Prudential Center on Wednesday night.
The worst part about the close contest is that we are only nine days into February, and the Pirates have played three games. By winning all three against Georgetown, Creighton, and now Xavier.
Possible January blue vibes?
That is not the case.
Senior Jared Rhoden led the Pirates with 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and sunk five triples in eight tries. Rhoden had nine critical points in the ball game’s final four and a half minutes. Alexis Yetna was the only Pirate to dive into double-figures with 12 on a 6-0f-11 shooting day.
In the first half, the Pirates started strong with a stout defense, having dominated the Musketeers on the boards 23-15, and grabbed ten offensive rebounds, compared to Xaviers lone one.
Before the first half concluded, the Musketeers made a bit of a successful comeback that featured five straight points, all from junior forward Jack Nunge, who hit a triple, followed by a layup. A few moments following, the Pirates went on an 8-0 run with Kadary Richmond’s triple highlighting it.
Still missing in action is graduate guard Bryce Aiken, who continues to miss time with a concussion. He hasn’t played for Seton Hall since the Marquette contest six games ago.
The start of the second half was all Travis Steele and Xavier, as the Musketeers jumped out to a 9-2 run and narrowed the Pirates lead to just as little as three. Alexis Yetna tallied the first two points out of the timeout.
Following a shot, Ike Obiagu attempted to stand up from the floor, and Freemantle walked over him and didn’t sit well with Jackson, who took matters into his own hands. Things would get feisty between Zach Freemantle and Tray Jackson, as the two needed to be separated by Jamir Harris and Jared Rhoden, who were able to pull Jackson away in time to give Freemantle the double foul call, and subsequently gave him his fifth foul nearly seven minutes into the second half. The officiating crew gave Jackson a technical foul as well, but the second foul for Freemantle was the final one, as he ended the first half with three as it is.
One of the teams’ leaders in Rhoden was able to sink home a triple following the Freemantle ejection, which ignited the Prudential Center crowd. It continued going back and forth, with Nunge leading the way for Xavier and putting the team on his back for the next four minutes.
Both teams were getting hot at this pace and couldn’t miss anything from the floor. Richmond and Yetna would tally back-to-back buckets, and in between was a Colby Jones missed three-point attempt, which prompted Steele to call a timeout.
Since Freemantle and the Musketeers were struggling mightily, enter Cesare Edwards. Freshman with limited playing experience.
Entering the game at such a pivotal moment in keeping your No. 25 ranking alive in the Associated Press poll, Edwards had his work cut out for him but didn’t plague Seton Hall in its respective mission on getting the victory.
Following a pair of buckets for Edwards. Jared Rhoden put the Pirates team on his back and fought every way to obtain its first bucket in nearly two minutes. A miss from Rhoden leads to an offensive rebound and a second chance bucket for the senior forward.
The back and forth fouls were drawn in the final few minutes, with the Pirates ahead by three and eventually four. Some free throws were missed and put each respective team in nail-biter territory. Paul Scruggs netted two free throws in the last two seconds but wasn’t enough for Xavier as Seton Hall came away with its first victory against their opponent inside the Prudential Center for the first time since its 2017 home battle.
That’s 3️⃣ in a row!!!#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/cTzF2nJ6lW
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) February 10, 2022
Compared to Xavier’s four, the Pirates were swarming on defense as they grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. On those 17 offensive boards, they were able to net home 17 second-chance points. The Hall was able to earn 17 points-off-turnover in 13 Musketeer turnovers.
Seton Hall’s depth was on full display, as the bench scored 27 points in the victory. Jamir Harris netted eight, Tyrese Samuel finished with seven, and lastly, Alexis Yetna had a bounce-back game with 12 points and two steals.
The Pirates have No. 15/15 Villanova inside the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, February 12, for a 1 p.m. opening tip-off on FOX. After the Philadelphia trip, the Pirates will continue its road trip against No. 17 UConn inside Gampel Pavillion on Wednesday, February 16, for an 8:30 p.m. tip.
