WSOU

Recap: Seton Hall Takes Down St. John's at MSG, 66-60

Date: January 23, 2022

By: Jonathan Heite

Seton Hall's players stand on the court.

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU Sports

The Seton Hall men’s basketball team (12-5, 3-4 conference) is officially back in the win column.

Yesterday afternoon, the Pirates took a short trip to Madison Square Garden and defeated the St. John’s Red Storm (10-7, 2-4 conference), 66-60. The victory was far from perfect, but Seton Hall was able improve their World’s Most Famous Arena record to 18-12 under head coach Kevin Willard, and 16-8 since the 2013-14 season.

The first 10 minutes was very tightly contested, mainly because the Pirates were struggling offensively. At one point, St. John’s was ahead 8-0, and Seton Hall was shooting 1/11 from the field, but by the end of the first half, the two teams were knotted at 28 apiece after a buzzer-beater three from Tray Jackson.

Tyrese Samuel was the Seton Hall scoring leader through 20 minutes of play with seven points, Alexis Yetna was closely behind him with six points and four rebounds, Myles Cale had five points and five rebounds, and Ike Obiagu had already blocked four shots.

Jared Rhoden and Kadary Richmond, who were trying to replace some of the offense Bryce Aiken typically provides (out with a concussion), had slower starts to the game. Rhoden had three points on 1/5 shooting from the floor, and Richmond scored two points (1/8), along with eight assists and six turnovers.

Seton Hall's Jared Rhoden and Kadary Richmond stand on the court during a road game at St. John's.

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU Sports

Five different members of the Red Storm scored a team-high four points in the first half, including Julian Champagnie, who found it difficult to score all day long because of Myles Cale’s stifling defense.

The second half belonged to the Pirates, as they would jump out to a 4-0 run in the first few minutes and would eventually lead throughout the remainder of the game. They had a nine-point advantage at one point after two free throws made by Yetna, and Cale hit a huge three with just over five minutes left in regulation, along with six made free throws as a team to close out a statement road win.

Cale, who Coach Willard said postgame that he thought “this was the best game he’s ever played” throughout his five seasons at Seton Hall, would finish with a team-best 21 points on 7/14 shooting from the floor and nine rebounds.

The best part of his game was shutting down the Big East’s leading scorer Champagnie for the full 40 minutes, as the St. John’s star only tallied nine points on 3/14 from the field and 1/5 from three. The junior’s impressive 47 straight double-digit scoring streak was also broken, and Seton Hall also held St. John’s to 26 percent from behind the arc.

The Pirates outrebounded the Red Storm by a large margin (60-43), and this was the greatest number they’ve collected since a 62-board performance against Iona back in 2001. Much credit is due to Yetna, who had a monster 16-point, 15-rebound day, and showed why he’s one of the best glass cleaners in the conference.

Coach Willard praised the graduate transfer during postgame: “Lex has found the groove of what Big East basketball is about, almost like junkyard dog work.”

Cale also answered a question during the press conference when asked about potential comparisons between his current teammate and former Pirates legend, Angel Delgado.

“Definitely, he’s crashing the offensive boards and stretching the floor,” said Cale. “But I wouldn’t compare them since they’re two different players, but I still see some of the [same] rebounding in him.”

Another player who had an outstanding day on the glass was Obiagu, who had an incredible seven blocked shots and nine rebounds in 19 minutes played. His nation-best streak of 26 straight blocks dates back to last year, and ever since he returned back from injury and COVID protocols, he’s gone right back to his dominant interior defense.

By the final buzzer, Richmond and Rhoden were not the leaders on offense, but still brought more outside of the point-column. The Syracuse transfer ended with 10 points (3/19 from the field), along with eight assists, four rebounds, two steals, and seven turnovers.

The point guard also had a thunderous putback slam in the second half that had the Garden rocking.

Rhoden had his lowest scoring total of the season with six points (2/11), but still collected four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal, and he was also a part of a Pirates defense that held the Johnnies to only 29.3% from the floor, as well as only two players in double figures.

Outside of Champagnie, Aaron Wheeler led the way with 13 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks, and Posh Alexander tallied 10 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals. Joel Soriano was also the main Pirates’ competitor on the boards, securing 14, and Dylan Addae-Wusu had four steals despite an off night on offense (four points on 1/12 shooting).

Next up for both teams arrives immediately on Monday: the highly anticipated rematch at the historic Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J. The two teams will look to secure a win inside of a building where the Pirates have not played a Big East opponent since the 1984-85 season.

Be sure to tune into 89.5 FM WSOU for all gameday coverage, as Michael Daly and Jorie Mickens will be on the call at 9 p.m. This will be a game you won’t want to miss!

Jonathan Heite is the Web Editor for WSOU Sports and can be reached at wsousportswebeditor@gmail.com.

Posted in: Men's Basketball, Sports, WSOU

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