Ohio State Narrowly Gets By No. 21 Seton Hall, 79-76

Monday, November 22

Fort Myers, Fla.

6 p.m.

Seton Hall University

3-1,0-0Big East

Ohio State

4-1,0-0Big Ten

Seton Hall

Ohio St.

Ohio State Narrowly Gets By No. 21 Seton Hall, 79-76

11/22/2021 8:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

Rhoden pours in a career-high 29 points in the loss to the Buckeyes

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Despite a career-high 29 points from senior guard Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) and a strong defensive effort in the final six minutes that helped tie the game late, the 21st-ranked Seton Hall men's basketball team suffered its first blemish of the season in a 79-76 loss to Ohio State in the Pirates' first game at the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off in front of a raucous sell-out crowd of 3,500.

The Pirates (3-1) were aided by 16 points off the bench by graduate student Bryce Aiken (Randolph, N.J.) on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line. Seton Hall shot at a 89.5 percent clip from the charity stripe in the second half that helped keep it in the ballgame. However, the Buckeyes' hot shooting proved to be key as they shot 50 percent from three for the game and 47.9 percent from the field.

How It Happened
With the Pirates' ahead by three in the first half, 22-19, following two free throws made by graduate student Jamir Harris (North Brunswick, N.J.), bad fortune struck. Graduate student Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) picked off an Ohio State pass and converted the layup on the other end but fell awkwardly and caused an injury to his lower body. The injury kept him out for the remainder of the game and it forced The Hall to play down a starter.

Things took a strange turn after Cale's departure as the lights went out in the arena, causing a brief delay in the game. The delay and Cale's exit sparked a 9-0 run for Ohio State, giving them a 28-24 advantage. The Buckeyes' lead stretched to as large as 10 late in the first half before the Pirates rallied and cut the deficit to five, 40-35, after Aiken hit a jumper and a layup on back-to-back possessions.

In the second half, Ohio State increased its lead by as much as 12, 61-49, but the Pirates didn't back down. Seton Hall went on a 12-2 spurt that got them within two, 63-61, with under eight minutes to go. The Buckeyes hit a jumper with 5:34 left in regulation that gave themselves a 68-63 lead and it would be their last field goal until the end of the game. The Pirates buckled down on defense and made some key shots and free throws that gave themselves a chance to win at the end and after a costly turnover with 47 seconds left, the Pirates stole the ball right back as Harris converted on a fastbreak layup that tied up the game at 76-76 with 14 seconds to go. On the ensuing possession, Ohio State's Meechie Johnson hit a go-ahead three pointer that gave the Buckeyes a 79-76 lead with two seconds left and it proved to be the game-winner.

Inside The Box Score

Seton Hall had two fewer turnovers than Ohio State (10-8) and out-rebounded the Buckeyes, 36-31.
Both teams did well at the free throw line as The Hall went 23-for-27 (85.2 percent) and Ohio State went 22-for-25 (88 percent).
The Pirates had 10 points off of 10 Ohio State turnovers.
The Seton Hall's bench provided 37 points and Ohio State's chipped in 32.
Aiken had the highest +/- of any Seton Hall player, finishing +8.
Rhoden had five rebounds, a block and a steal to go along with his career-best 29 points.
After having given up only eight threes in its first three games, the Pirates allowed 11 threes against the Buckeyes.
Sophomore Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with three assists.

News & Notes

The Pirates fall to 170-63 when ranked in the AP Top 25.
Head coach Kevin Willard is now 10-6 all-time against Big Ten teams will Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann improves to 6-1 in his career against the Pirates.
Seton Hall drops to 2-4 all-time against the Buckeyes.
Cale moves into a tie with Daryl Walker for 42nd place on the Pirates' all-time scoring list with 1,022 career points.
Graduate student Ike Obiagu (Abuja, Nigeria) tallied three blocks, giving him 128 for his career and putting him one behind former teammate Romaro Gill for seventh place at Seton Hall.
Rhoden now has six career 20-point performances and 41 double-figure scoring games.
The Pirates fall to 97-17 since 2016-17 when attempting more free throws than their opponent.