Balanced Effort Lifts Pirates Over Wagner, 85-63

Wednesday, December 1

Newark, N.J.

7 p.m.

Seton Hall University

6-1,0-0Big East

Wagner

2-1,0-0NEC

Wagner

Seton Hall

12/1/2021 9:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

Six Pirates scored in double-figures, led by 15 points from Jared Rhoden and Tyrese Samuel.

NEWARK, N.J. – Six players scored in double-figures and Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) collected a double-double as the Seton Hall men's basketball team upended Wagner, 85-63, at the Prudential Center on Wednesday.

After a close first half, the Pirate defense locked down Wagner in the second half, holding the Seahawks to just 34.3% shooting and 2-for-10 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes.

Rhoden finished with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) also had 15 points on an efficient 7-for-11 from the field. Sophomore Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had a brilliant all-around performance, finishing with 10 points, a game-high nine assists, six rebounds and four steals.

Jamir Harris (North Brunswick, N.J.), Alexis Yetna (Paris, France) and Tray Jackson (Detroit, Mich.) all also scored in double-figures.

What Happened:
Seton Hall started fast, scoring nine of the game's first 11 points over the first 3:37. A layup by Richmond with 15:22 left in the first half extended The Hall's lead to 13-4. The Pirates maintained a solid lead throughout the opening half, and a layup by Bryce Aiken (Randolph, N.J.) again boosted their advantage to eight points, 33-25, with 3:22 left to go before the break.

Wagner rallied late in the first half, however, and closed with an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to 35-33 at the half. The Pirates never trailed, but allowed Wagner to shoot 46.8% from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

The second half was a completely different affair. Wagner's Raekwon Rogers scored to cut their deficit to 40-37 with 17:58 left, but Seton Hall responded with an 11-0 run, fueled by six points from Samuel, to extend its lead to 51-37.

The Seahawks again pulled to with in eight points, but the Pirates turned up their defensive effort again, holding Wagner without a field goal for 5:24. During the run, The Hall outscored Wagner, 15-1, to take a commanding 68-46 advantage with 7:35 to go. From there, the Pirate lead never got lower than 16 points.

Inside the Box Score

The Pirates shot a season-best 52.3 percent (34-for-65) from the field for the game.
The Pirates shot 60.6 percent from the floor in the second half and held Wagner to 34.4 percent shooting.
The Hall finished +13 (43-30) on the glass and blocked seven shots.
Nine Pirates scored and five players scored in double figures.
50 of Seton Hall's 85 points were scored in the paint and 32 points were scored off the bench.
The Seahawks edged out the Pirates in turnovers, 17-16, and scored 17 points off of those miscues.

News & Notes

Seton Hall improves to 119-18 (.869) since 2015-16 when its lead gets to seven points and 86-9 (.905) when it scores 80 points or more.
The Hall improves to 27-6 against Wagner and have now won have 13 consecutive games against the Seahawks.
The Pirates improve to 78-11(.875) all-time against non-conference opponents at the Prudential Center and 4-0 this season.
The Pirates finished with six double-digit scorers for the first time since their 85-68 win vs. Xavier on Dec. 30, 2020.
Head coach Kevin Willard is up to 210 career victories, two shy of P.J. Carlesimo for second place in program history.
Richmond's nine assists was one shy of his career high set against North Carolina on March 1, 2021.
Richmond now has nine career 5-plus assist performances.
Rhoden registered his sixth-career double-double with his 15-point, 11-rebound performance.