McKnight, Pirates Down Prairie View A&M, 75-55

Sunday, December 22

Newark, N.J.

4:30 p.m.

Seton Hall University

8-4,0-0Big East

Prairie View A&M

3-9,0-0SWAC

Prairie View

Seton Hall

12/22/2019 6:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (PDF)

NEWARK, N.J. – Senior Quincy McKnight (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored a season-high 25 points as the Seton Hall men's basketball team overcame a slow start to soundly defeat Prairie View A&M, 75-55, to close out its non-conference schedule Sunday at Prudential Center. The Pirates went a strong 8-4 with a pair of "Quad One" victories.

McKnight tallied 25 points on 8-for-16 shooting and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line in his second start at the shooting guard position, filling in for the injured All-America candidate Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.).

Three other Pirates reached double-figures in scoring. Freshman Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) netted career highs of 12 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Anthony Nelson (New York, N.Y.) matched his career-high with 12 points and dished out a season-best seven assists. Sophomore Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points and a team-best nine rebounds.

Turning Point
Trailing 35-28, the Pirates went on a 10-2 to run, and a three-point play by McKnight with 13:08 left to play put The Hall back on top, 38-37. Down 43-42, The Hall then launched a game-changing 21-2 run with Nelson as the catalyst. He put the Pirates on top with a layup at 11:13 and then extended the lead to six with another layup at 9:17 plus the foul for a three-point play. On the next possession, McKnight generated a steal and then found Samuel for an open three-pointer to push the lead to nine.

McKnight and Nelson accounted for 13 of Seton Hall's 21 points during the run that built the lead up to as much as 23.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 26-for-56 (46.4%) from the floor for the game, while Prairie View A&M was 22-for-56 (39.3%). Both teams only connected on a pair of three-pointers. The Hall was 2-for-19 (10.5%) from three-point range, while the Panthers were 2-for-13 (15.4%).
The Hall out-rebounded Prairie View A&M, 38-to-34. Offensive rebounds were the same at 12-to-12, but the Pirates had a 14-to-11 advantage in second-chance points.
Seton Hall was 21-for-29 (72.4%) from the free-throw line, while the Panthers were 9-for-15 (60.0%).
The Hall forced 22 Prairie View turnovers, while the Panthers forced 16 Pirate turnovers.
McKnight had a season-high 25 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the floor and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. He also had four steals and two assists. He matched his Seton Hall career high in scoring, which he originally set vs. DePaul in January.
Nelson matched his career-high with 12 points to go with a game-best seven assists as well as three teals.
Samuel had career-highs of 12 points and eight rebounds.
Rhoden finished with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

News & Notes:

The victory enables Seton Hall to close out the non-conference portion of its schedule with an overall record of 8-4. Prairie View A&M falls to 3-9.
Seton Hall's non-conference schedule included seven games against teams currently in the KenPom Top 100, six in the top 55, as well as six games against teams in the NET top 75 as of today.
Today's game was the first-ever between Seton Hall and Prairie View A&M.
Seton Hall is now 131-60 all-time at the Prudential Center, including a 72-11 mark in non-conference games.
Seton Hall improves to 90-13 when its lead gets to seven or more points during a game.
McKnight reached double-figures in scoring for a third straight game. It's the eighth time this year he's notched at least 10 points and the 69^th of his career.
Seton Hall improves to a perfect 6-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
With 12 points today, Rhoden surpassed the 200-point mark for his career.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Monday, Dec. 30 when it opens up the BIG EAST Conference portion of its schedule at DePaul in Chicago. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m., Eastern, and the game will be televised on FS1. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will call it on the radio on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network.