NEWARK, NJ -- After suffering a setback at Rutgers on Saturday, the now 23rd-ranked Seton Hall Pirates responded by taking down Wagner Seahawks by a final score of 89-68 at Prudential Center. The Thoughts:
1. Back To Business
After a late loss to a rival like Rutgers on Saturday, Wednesday's game represented a surefire chance for the Pirates to get back on the winning side, and things went about as planned for the Hall overall. They physically overwhelmed Wagner, particularly thanks to Angel Delgado, who earned his 58th career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while also adding five assists. They got back to moving the ball as a team, as 20 of their 32 baskets featured assists and no player finished with more than five (Delgado and Desi Rodriguez). They also shot the ball well from the outside, nailing nine of 18 three-pointers, including six of nine in the first half.
Basically, the Pirates wanted to get back to work and put the loss behind them, and they did. Defensively, head coach Kevin Willard wanted to take away Wagner’s three-point shooting (36 percent as a team coming in), and leading scorer Blake Francis (20.2 points per game, 44 percent from deep) in particular. Due to foul trouble and ineffectiveness, Francis was held in firm check, not scoring a single point until the 6:47 mark in the second half. Wagner as a team shot just 6-for-29 from three. Mission accomplished there.
2. Just “Walk” Away, Renee… Or Maybe Not
The story of the week in South Orange was freshman point guard Jordan Walker. The energetic guard did not play in the loss to Rutgers Saturday and has missed a lot of time this year with a thumb injury. It was reported on Twitter by Andrew Slater of 247Sports that Walker was leaving the program Tuesday, but earlier Wednesday morning, that was deemed to not be the case as several reporters were able to confirm that he in fact is staying with the Pirates, namely NJ Advance Media's Jeremy Schneider, who was among the first to report the former Patrick School standout had a change of heart. Willard was asked about it after the game.
“Jordan is a freshman who’s going through it who has had a tough, tough time because he’s been hurt,” Willard said. “Him, his parents and I had a great conversation on Tuesday and it was good for him to hear my thoughts and I thought it was very good for me to hear his thoughts. We’re glad to have him back- I think he’s going to have a bright future. It’s just I think everyone has to understand that he’s had a really tough go of it with his injury -- he hasn’t been able to play and it’s been very frustrating for him as a freshman to not do what he’s able to do.”
Willard added that he and Walker are “on the same page” now, so hopefully, this is the end of that. I talked to Walker at Seton Hall media day in October and for such a young player, he seems like a very likeable kid, and was well-spoken. The other players have commented that he brings a lot of energy and always has a smile on his face as well. Not only that, but he is also a young player on a veteran team.
“Just staying focused,” Khadeen Carrington said when asked what he has said to mentor the young floor general. “Right now, he’s not getting a lot of minutes -- he’s just coming off of injury. He’s got a bunch of guys ahead of him -- it’s a veteran team so (I told him) he just has to stay focused, trust in coach, trust in us, and listen to what we say.”
3. Khad33n Returns
After struggling mightily again at the RAC, Carrington was the player who turned the page the most. He was a perfect 6-of-6 from three-point range (and 8-of-12 overall) for a game-high 26 points, and was his usual collected self with the ball in his hands. He’s also struggled to shoot the ball overall this year, and so more than anyone, he needed a game like this one.
“It was very important to me,” Carrington said afterwards on bouncing back from his down game in Piscataway Saturday. “I was down on myself for a little bit because of how I was shooting. But I just stayed in the gym- I worked a lot this week with coach. Even before the game, we got up a lot of shots. So (I just had to) stay focused.”
4. Chippiness
This game featured a bunch of chippiness stemming from a bunch of trash talking going on between the two teams. I’m not sure who started it, but it was definitely flying back and forth, evident in the fact that there were a pair of technical fouls called, one on each team. Plus, on a couple of occasions in the second half, Desi Rodriguez looked like he wanted to dunk on all of Staten Island. Both teams played hard, and sometimes in such a game, that happens. In retrospect, it may have given Seton Hall a primer for their final non-conference game of the season on Saturday, as Kevin Willard welcomes an old friend to the Rock for the first time…
5. Family Business
The Pirates’ next game is against Manhattan, coached by Steve Masiello, who was on Rick Pitino’s Louisville staff with Willard before the latter left for Iona. The Jaspers are very much a Pitino-like team -- they press, they play defense, they’re tremendously active and athletic, and they play super-hard, which sometimes works against them.
The point is that if you thought tonight was chippy, you may not have seen much yet. The Hall should be ready for another potentially physical contest against Manhattan in their non-conference finale. In an interesting tidbit for Pirates fans, it will be the first time the two schools have played each other since 2005, the year before then-Jaspers coach Bobby Gonzalez was hired by Seton Hall, with the rest, as they say, being history.
Tipoff at Prudential Center is set for noon.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.