The Seton Hall Pirates came out of this game with an ugly 66-60 win over the St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s began the game with an 8-0 run, but Seton Hall was able to respond, as the team’s ping ponged runs throughout the first half. St. John’s was set to go into halftime with a 28-25 lead before a buzzer-beater three by Tray Jackson. The tale of the first half was how poorly these two teams shot from the field. Seton Hall had FG%/3PT% splits of 32.4/30, while St. John’s went 33.3/25.Β
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After halftime, Seton Hall went on an 11-4 run, taking the lead and never looking back. The second half had more scoring by both teams but was just as ugly as the first half. The poor shooting continued, as the Johnnies shot 25.6 FG%/27.3 3PT%, and Seton Hall didn’t do much better, shooting 35.3/33.3. Both teams went through long stretches without buckets. St. John’s in particular had several multi-minute droughts throughout this game. Things didn’t improve in the final 4:15, where they made only one field goal. Seton Hall also went cold down the stretch; they had no field goals in the final 5:45 of the game – all their points came off of made free throws.Β
Julian Champagnie couldn’t get anything going in this one. He scored only nine points on 3 for 14 shooting, ending his 47-game double-digit scoring streak. Dylan Addae-Wusu, Montez Mathis, and Posh Alexander struggled mightily in this one, going a combined 7 for 35 from the field. Aaron Wheeler was the lone bright spot in this game on both sides of the ball for the Red Storm. Wheeler had 13 points on 6 of 13 shooting, with seven rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. Joel Soriano chipped in seven points and a season-high 14 rebounds.
Seton Hallβs 7-foot-2 center, Ike Obiagu, was a presence in the paint with seven blocks and nine rebounds. Leading scorer Jared Rhoden had a down game, going 2 of 11 from the field. Myles Cale had a season and game-high 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting (5 of 6 from the charity stripe). He scored 16 of his 21 in the second half. Alexis Yetna was dominant on the boards, grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds and contributing 16 points.Β
Seton Hall was able to win despite missing a key piece in point guard Bryce Aiken, as he was in concussion protocol and didn’t play. The Pirates also had 60 rebounds and 10 blocks as a team – both season highs. All in all, however, this was an ugly game – for both teams. They got the win, but Seton Hall committed 17 turnovers (almost double St. John’s) and shot 33.8% from the field.
For the 8th game in their last 11, St. John’s was handled on the boards. They had more missed layups (17) than shots made in the second half, as the Johnnies couldn’t get anything going. Both teams shot a season-low field goal percentage. Fans of St. John’s were understandably disgusted as the game went on. Too many missed layups, getting out-rebounded (60 to 43), and missed free throws doomed St. John’s. One has to wonder why Stef Smith and Tareq Coburn didn’t play more, given all the shooting woes the team had.Β
Seton Hall (12-5, 3-4 Conf.) and St. John’s (10-7, 2-4 Conf.) go head to head again on Monday the 24th.
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