So much for January blues from Kevin Willard and company. More on the lines of February fire from the Seton Hall Pirates (14-7, 5-6 Big East) as they take down the Creighton Blue Jays (13-8, 5-5 Big East) by a score of 74-55 inside the Prudential Center on Friday night.
The Pirates celebrated Black History Month with the grey uniforms that featured “The Hall” on its front. Seton Hall paid homage to the Owl Field Club, which was an All-Black athletic association club in the early 1900s in the city of Newark, according to NJ.com’s Jerry Carino.
One of the most excellent uniforms that we’ve seen in a LONG time.
On to the game, though.
Without graduate point guard Bryce Aiken (concussion protocol) and coming off a seven-point victory against the lowly Georgetown Hoyas, the Pirates had their subpar January stuffed in the rear-view mirror, as they have started the second month of the year on a 2-0 start, and have potentially gotten their foot back in the March Madness conversation.
The Pirates fell to DePaul, Marquette, and St. John’s inside Walsh Gymnasium during January. Following the No. 24 Marquette loss, Kevin Willard dropped to 24-24 in January since 2015-16.
Since the last home game in Newark? 2-0 against Georgetown and now Creighton, who stunned No. 17 UConn inside the XL Center just a few nights ago.
A roaring start for the Pirates came off the tip, as Myles Cale, Tray Jackson, and Jared Rhoden combined for eight straight points out of the starting gate before Creighton head coach Greg McDermott called a timeout to cool things down.
Syracuse transfer and point guard for the Pirates, Kadary Richmond, got things going after the small talk from McDermott, who extended the lead with yet another three and allowed the Prudential Center to burst out in extreme positive emotion.
🔥 @KadaryRichmond3 with the swish
11-0 run to start the game for @SetonHallMBB
On the playground they call that a skunk 😂 pic.twitter.com/gNABJEBt7h
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 5, 2022
In the first half, Creighton could not get anything going following the 11-0 run. Sophomore center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who made noise around the Big East in 2020-21, stopped his counterpart Ike Obiagu three times in four attempted shots along the baseline.
The Pirates had a 13-1 advantage forcing Creighton to miss from the field in its first six attempts.
Nearly five minutes in, freshman guard Trey Alexander sank home the first bucket on a floating jumper from inside the paint off the bench.
Seton Hall would respond with another 6-0 run, where Tyrese Samuel joined the party and added a bucket to extend its lead 21-3 nine minutes in. At that moment, the Blue Jays turned the ball over seven times, resulting in Seton Hall grabbing eight points off those unforced errors.
Block and a board for Reesey 👊#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/F87AxjEPbX
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) February 5, 2022
The Pirates held Creighton to just 16 points in the first half, which according to the FOX Sports broadcast, was the lowest point total in the first 20 minutes since 2015 for Greg McDermott and the Blue Jays.
Seton Hall got a much-needed spark off the bench at the end of 20 from the aforementioned Jamir Harris, who continued to lay on the gas pedal, with ten first-half points, and a pair of triples, with four-of-nine from the floor in 15 minutes off the bench for Willard and company.
In a daunting defensive effort, the Hall led by 24 in the first half and held the Blue Jays to seven-of-28 from the floor. Traps, ball screens, and forced miscommunication from the Pirates bullied them through to a massive lead to getting the dreaded January days of basketball out of their minds.
Seton Hall continued its pressure towards senior forward Ryan Hawkins, as Jared Rhoden and company held the Atlantic, Iowa native to 0-for-3 from the floor in the first half. In the last game against No. 17 UConn, Hawkins put up 23 points total.
A significant difference one game makes for the senior, who posts 13.1 points per game.
It didn’t matter since Creighton and McDermott had an early game plan out of the locker room, as they went on an 8-0 run following the under-16 media timeout. Seton Hall couldn’t gain any ground or build up its momentum from the first half.
The Pirates turned the ball over six times in the first nine minutes of the second half.
One timeout changed it all for Willard and company. The adjustments, as it’s known as.
Off the heels of former Duke guard Alex O’Connell, the senior from Roswell, Georgia put up 10 points on 4-of-5 from the floor in the second half and allowed the Blue Jays to get within as close as 15 points.
That didn’t sit well with Kevin Willard, where to no one’s surprise, would take a timeout with 13:46 remaining in regulation.
Dribble drive 🙌@Tyrese5G gets the @SetonHallMBB bench pumped up with this take pic.twitter.com/Ohpx0MAA3E
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 5, 2022
This would eventually result in another 6-0 run for the Pirates. But never count out McDermott and the Blue Jays, who continued to pry away at another 20+ point deficit to get its opponents lead down to as little as 15 for a second time.
With 4:17 remaining in regulation, Willard would use another timeout, which resulted in one final offensive outburst from the Pirates, who desperately needed the victory for its confidence down the stretch, but more importantly, its tournament hopes.
Alexis Yetna and the aforementioned Kadary Richmond both hit a pair of deep daggers to extend its lead to 21 for a second time.
Here come the 🅿️irates#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/kjfQLg6vHH
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) February 5, 2022
Overall, the Pirates finished the day shooting a whopping 28-of-57 from the floor and converted on ten deep balls in 21 attempts. They’re night from the charity stripe, may have been a small sample size, but converted eight-of-10.
Seton Hall capitalized off Creighton’s 13 unforced turnovers, obtaining 17 points off the turnover. The Pirates bench was the absolute focal point of the scoring tonight, as they got 11 points from Tyrese Samuel, 13 points from Jamir Harris, and another six from Alexis Yetna.
In addition, center Ike Obiagu recorded another four blocks on the night, holding his counterpart to just a measly 2-of-9 from the floor, all from the paint, except for one three-pointer on the near elbow, late in the first half. The sophomore Kalkbrenner grabbed seven boards too.
Another Pirate notable on the defensive side of the ball, Seton Hall, was able to hold off senior forward Ryan Hawkins to a total of two points, with those two coming from the free-throw line and forcing him to miss five total shots from the floor, and garnering zero.
Kevin Willard and company have a tall task for the next three games, as they will host Xavier in their upcoming contest next Wednesday, February 9, beginning at 7 p.m. from the Prudential Center. They will then travel to Villanova and UConn before hosting DePaul on February 19.
