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Recap: Tyrese Samuel’s Disney Magic Lifts Seton Hall Over Memphis at the ESPN Events Invitational

Date: November 26, 2022

By: Andrew Raccuglia

This article was originally written on Nov. 24, 2022

The Pirates go crazy after Samuel's buzzer-beating three to win it on Thursday.

Rich Storry/USA TODAY Sports

2.3 seconds left. The Pirates had been trailing for nearly the entire second half, but they held one last possession down 69-67. Kadary Richmond made a pass from the sideline to Tyrese Samuel, looking for some last-second magic from the Big Maple.

And he banked in a buzzer-beating three.

Just like that, the Seton Hall Pirates (4-1) took down the Memphis Tigers (2-2) in epic fashion on Thanksgiving night, with a shot neither Samuel nor any Pirates fan will ever forget.

The overall game was defined by an intense defensive energy that was off the charts, which was very much expected for the final game of the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Fla. The Pirates traveled to State Farm Field House at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex looking for their first resume-building win, and they certainly earned it through a tough grind to the finish.      

The game began to a slow start, primarily through back-and-forth misses and tussles for possession, especially from the defensive efforts of forward KC Ndefo and the Tigers’ DeAndre Williams. Tyrese Samuel committed a turnover to allow a made jumper from Alex Lomax for the first points of the game, but he responded with his own three-pointer to jump-start the Pirates’ offense. It was a sign.

It was throughout most of the first half that the Pirates were in control, consistently leading by at least two points, thanks to some makes from distance by Jamir Harris and Al-Amir Dawes, and some critical layups by Dre Davis. One Davis jumper put the Pirates up 17-11 with 9:30 left in the half, prompting a Memphis timeout, but causing the Tigers to slowly but surely claw their way back into it.

Due to a defensive slug at the end of the half, the Pirates went into halftime behind 31-30, trailing for the first time since before they scored a point. It was simply all because of the strength of the Tigers’ best player, Kendric Davis. Davis, who finished with a game-high 22 points, including seven rebounds and six assists, scored 10 of Memphis’ first 31, with his fingerprints all over the others players’ points through his assists.

Out of halftime, it did not get any easier for The Hall. Ndefo, Richmond, and Samuel tried their best to keep up with Davis, remaining within distance of the lead, but found themselves losing by as much as five with 10:39 remaining off a dunk by Malcolm Dandridge. They were struggling to capitalize on their free throws, only making roughly half of them leading into the final ten minutes.  

Luckily, Dawes was able to chip in on some momentum by giving them back the lead from long-range to make it 53-52 with 7:17 remaining, but Davis responded with a layup to keep them behind.

It was easy to see how the offense was seriously struggling with a lack of offensive rebounding, which is what Samuel does so easily. There never felt like a moment where both the defense and offense were working in tandem to the same level of efficiency, especially when it came to rebounds and free throws.

With four minutes remaining, Samuel reentered, and he already got himself a double-double –the third of his career- off two made free throws with 0:47 left to put them behind only 69-67.

There was a rough tussle on the court as Femi Odukale struggled for a loose possession and was seemingly slammed to the court floor by a Tiger, but no foul was called, and Ndefo was punished for the foul instead.

With the foul on Ndefo and 0:09 left to go, Elijah McCadden wass sent to the line, who missed both critical free throws, resulting in Jamir Harris earning possession for the Pirates. He called for a timeout from coach Shaheen Holloway with 2.3 seconds left, and the rest is history.

The intensity of this game easily made it the best game of the ESPN Events Invitational in only the first day. In a matchup between the two “heavy-weights” of the selected field, this was a game where a lot went wrong for both sides, and the team who messed up the least would end up the winner.

The Hall ended with 21-for-30 from the line, but at one point, they had only made 4-of-10, which had obviously improved as the game went on, especially from Samuel and Tray Jackson.

With incredible parity, the two teams were statistically even in a lot of categories. The Pirates remarkably did better in distance shooting (29.2% to 28.6%), free-throw shooting (21 of 30 to 19 of 29), assists, steals, and blocks, were even at 17 turnovers –a very impressive mark against a team that thrives off turnovers.

However, they trailed in field goal shooting (41.2% to 45.1%), and rebounding (32 to 35). The Tigers’ Malcolm Dandridge was a big part of those statistics, putting up 14 points, two steals and two blocks before fouling out towards the end of the game.

For the Pirates, Samuel finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Dre Davis finished with 13 points and three rebounds, and Tray Jackson got 10 points with three rebounds. The three of them showed up in major fashion and played their hearts out to get their first signature win of the season to build their 2023 NCAA Tournament resume.

Up next, Seton Hall will return to State Farm Field House on Friday at 8 p.m. EST to take on the Big 12’s Oklahoma Sooners in the semifinal round of the ESPN Events Invitational. Joe Matthews and Jonathan Heite will return to the call tomorrow on 89.5 FM WSOU when coverage begins at 7:45 p.m.

Andrew Raccuglia can be reached at andrew.raccuglia@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Men's Basketball

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