Cale Scores 1,000th; Balanced Attack Thwarts FDU, 93-49

Wednesday, November 10

Newark, N.J.

7 p.m.

Seton Hall University

1-0,0-0Big East

Fairleigh Dickinson

0-1,0-0NEC

Fairleigh Dickinson

Seton Hall

Cale Scores 1,000th; Balanced Attack Thwarts FDU, 93-49

11/10/2021 8:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Seton Hall opens the 2021-22 season with a convincing victory as Tyrese Samuel leads the way with a double-double.

NEWARK, N.J. – Five players scored in double-figures and graduate student Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) recorded his 1,000^th career point as the Seton Hall men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season with a convincing 93-49 victory over FDU on Wednesday.

Cale finished with 15 points and became the 46^th player in program history to record 1,000 points in a Pirate uniform. He also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Pirates used a 20-2 run late in the first half to turn a two-possession game into a one-sided affair. The Hall's suffocating defense held the Knights to just 28.1% shooting from the floor and 1-for-15 from behind the three-point arc.

Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) recorded team-highs of 19 point and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Others scoring in double-figures included Bryce Aiken (Randolph, N.J.) with 15, Tray Jackson (Detroit, Mich.) with 14 and Jamir Harris (North Brunswick, N.J.) with 13 points.

What Happened:
Both teams started the game cold from the field, combining to connect on six of their first 23 shots. Trailing 8-7, The Hall went on a 9-0 run, and a layup by Samuel gave it an early 16-7 advantage with 10:42 left before halftime.

A jumper by FDU's Devon Dunn cut The Hall's lead to 20-15, but in response, the Pirate took off on an offensive burst again. Seton Hall held the Knights to just one field goal for 7:04 while going on a game-changing 20-2 run, and a three-pointer by Cale gave it a commanding 40-17 lead. FDU hit a three-pointer with only 12 seconds left so The Hall took a 40-20 lead into the halftime break.

The stifling Pirate defense held FDU to just 25.8% shooting from the floor and 1-for-9 shooting from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.

The Knights missed their first 10 shots of the second half, which kick-started a 16-3 run for Seton Hall to begin the second half. A three-pointer by Aiken capped the run with 13:43 remaining in the game and extended the Pirate lead to 56-23. From there, Fairleigh Dickinson was never able to get closer than a 29-point deficit the rest of the way.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 31-for-64 (48.4%) from the floor for the game, while Fairleigh Dickinson was 18-for-64 (28.1%). The Hall was 13-for-24 (54.2%) from three-point range, while the Knights were just 1-for-15 (6.7%).
Seton Hall out-rebounded FDU, 47-to-36. Offensive rebounds were even at 10 apiece.
Seton Hall was 15-for-19 (78.9%) from the free-throw line, while the Knights were 12-for-15 (80.0%).
Seton Hall forced 16 turnovers, while FDU forced 11. The Pirates had a 23-to-10 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
Samuel finished with team-highs of 19 points, on 7-for-12 shooting, and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. He also had four blocks.
Cale scored 15 points to go with six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Aiken tallied 15 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range.
Jackson notched 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting to go with six rebounds.
Harris had 13 points on the strength of four made three-pointers.
Graduate student Ike Obiagu (Abuja, Nigeria) had four rebounds and a game-high five blocks.

News & Notes:

With 15 points tonight, Cale became the 46^th player in Seton Hall history to record 1,000 career points.
Tonight's victory is the 250^th in head coach Kevin Willard's 15-year career. He's 205-150 in 12 years at Seton Hall.
Samuel recorded his first career double-double with career-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Seton Hall improves to 10-2 during the Kevin Willard era in season openers, and a perfect 12-0 in home openers.
The Hall is now 20-4 all-time against Fairleigh Dickinson and has now won the last three meetings.
The Pirates are now 115-18 (.865) since 2015-16 when its lead gets to seven points at any point in the game.
The Hall improves to 83-9 (.902) when it scores 80 points or more.
Sophomore Jahari Long (Houston, Texas) set a new career-high with six assists.
Obiagu registered five-plus blocks in a game for the ninth time in his career.
Freshman Tyler Powell (Los Angeles, Calif.) collected his first career points on a three-point bucket.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Sunday, November 14 when it begins play in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-off. The first game of the event is held at university site and the Pirates will host Yale at the Prudential Center. Tipoff is scheduled for Noon ET. The game will be televised on FS1 and heard on AM970, the Pirate Sports Network and TuneIn.