NEWARK, NJ -- In their final non-conference game on a rainy Saturday in Newark, the Seton Hall Pirates defended their home floor, and thanks to a first-half blitz, were able to cruise to a 74-62 win over the Manhattan Jaspers in front of an excellent crowd of 8,000 at Prudential Center. With the win, the Pirates sit at 11-2, and at the time of this writing are ranked 23rd in the country entering Big East play.
Here are the 5 Thoughts from a pretty eventful game:
1. (Nearly) Fight Club
The game was going swimmingly for the Pirates late in the first half before a physical altercation between Angel Delgado and Manhattan’s Zane Waterman turned ugly. With 40 seconds left, the two players were tied up going for a rebound and neither gave an inch. Some pushing and shoving later, Seton Hall’s Myles Powell (who to that point had been really good with 13 points and four assists) and the Jaspers’ Rich Williams got involved. What resulted were technical fouls called on Delgado and Waterman, while both Williams (a fifth-year senior and the Jaspers’ leading scorer) and Powell were assessed flagrant-2 fouls and were ejected.
Nothing more happened after that, however, and both coaches and the players brushed it off afterwards.
“I love my team because my team will always have each other’s back, plain and simple,” Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard said. “Sometimes when two teams play hard and aggressive, there’s a little dust-up. I thought the refs handled it great, the teams handled it great. They got back and played basketball.”
“How many New York City kids you have on that court?” Manhattan skipper Steve Masiello commented. “As long as it’s under control, and I think it was, it’s just kids competing, kids playing with great pride, playing for bragging rights. I know what that program’s about and that’s doing the right thing, playing the right way, and I hope they feel the same way about us.”
“Every single day (Myles) tells me he has my back,” Angel Delgado, who was a wrecking crew inside with his 59th career double-double of 15 points and 18 rebounds for the Pirates, said. “Myles is like my little brother. I protect him and he kind of protects me, too.”
Importantly, neither flagrant-2 was for fighting, so both players will not be suspended. It made an interesting week at the Hall even more interesting, but the game itself had already gotten out of hand for the visitors.
2. Seton Hall Shredding
The turning point of this game came when the Pirates started turning Manhattan over beginning at the under 12-minute media timeout. The Pirates embarked on a 13-0 run from there and held the Jaspers without a point for five whole minutes at one point with a whopping seven turnovers forced. They led by 22 at the break and were never seriously threatened from there, outscoring Manhattan 24-7 in the final 11:23 of the half.
What was also impressive is how they handled the Jaspers’ zone defense. After missing their first three three-pointers, the Pirates were able to get the ball inside, at the high post and down low, and moved the ball very well. Coming in, Kevin Willard thought it was a good opportunity to get some reps against a zone defense heading into conference play, and by all accounts, the Pirates passed the test.
3. Are You Ready For It?
Going into this game, one of the keys to the game in my opinion was for the Pirates to come out with energy. Manhattan plays a pressure-packed, active style of defense and they press a bunch as well. It was the type of situation where if Seton Hall didn’t start well it could snowball on them. It also seems like the Hall struggles with that, especially with early tip times like today’s noon start.
It was therefore quite encouraging to see them put up a bunch of points early. In fact, both teams started well offensively, but it was the Pirates’ defense that turned the tide in the first half as we mentioned, and Seton Hall never looked back.
4. Family Reunion
This game represented the first time Seton Hall had played Manhattan since 2005, and there were a bunch of interesting tidbits that were tweeted out pregame. The Jaspers and Pirates were the last NYC teams to win NCAA Tournament games, and they did it on the same day in the same city (Raleigh, 2004). The last time the teams played each other, then-Jaspers coach Bobby Gonzalez was one year away from taking over the Pirates’ program.
But the biggest connection was between the two coaches, as Kevin Willard and Steve Masiello were both assistants on Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville from 2005-07 before Willard left for Iona. Masiello, in particular commented on how Willard mentored him those two years after the game.
“Coach Pitino taught me so much about this game and this business, but Kevin Willard mentored me for two years on how to scout, how to prepare, how to study personnel,” Masiello said. “A lot of my basketball foundation has to do with Kevin Willard, so I’m very appreciative of him and the (impact) he’s had on me.”
“We’ve talked about this a couple years about trying to play each other,” Willard added. “I think we’re going to try and start a long-term series where maybe we go there, because I respect the job he does. I love the way his teams play. They play hard, they play aggressively, defensively they’re always phenomenal.”
5. The Week In Review
Well, what a week it was for those who cover Seton Hall. Early in the week, Jordan Walker was reportedly leaving the program which was retracted the next day after a meeting Walker had with his parents and Coach Willard. Then the Wagner game happened, which featured a decent amount of chippiness.
Then Ish Sanogo was suspended by the team for a violation of team and university rules and was out for this game (and likely longer). And then the ugliness happened in the late stages of the first half today. It was certainly the most-interesting week from a media standpoint in a while, and Willard addressed the Sanogo situation after the game.
“I don’t know when he’ll be back,” Willard said. “I’m going to evaluate the situation after Christmas. Right now, I’m in no rush. You have to act a certain way at this university, act a certain way to respect the program and a certain way to respect your teammates. When you don’t do all three, that’s a huge issue with me.”
But for the Pirates, now’s the time to refocus and prepare for Big East play on Thursday against Creighton.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Delgado said. “I don’t think we’ve hit the button to be a great team yet. There’s a lot going on right now, but we’re just focusing on getting better every single day.”
“Sometimes, everyone in life makes mistakes,” Delgado added. “I understand what Ish is going through right now and everyone understands, too. He’s my brother. We came here together, we’ve been through a lot of stuff together, good and bad things. I think he’s going to be good, and he just has to work himself to get back to the team.”
Seton Hall hosts the Creighton Bluejays at the Rock Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., as they begin Big East play with a pair of home contests. See you guys then.
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