To the Semis! Gritty Performance Leads The Hall Past St. John's

Thursday, March 11

New York, N.Y. (MSG)

3 p.m.

Seton Hall University

14-12,10-9Big East

St. John's

16-11,10-9Big East

OT 1

Seton Hall

St. John's (NY)

Sandro Mamukelashvili vs. St. John's at MSG

To the Semis! Gritty Performance Leads The Hall Past St. John's

3/11/2021 6:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

NEW YORK - In an old fashioned BIG EAST Tournament rock fight, the Seton Hall men's basketball team and St. John's needed 45 minutes to decide who was moving on, and in the end the Pirates outlasted the Red Storm in overtime, 77-69, Thursday in the quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden. The Pirates received herculean efforts from senior Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia), who had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and junior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.), who added 19 points and a career-high 16 boards.

The fifth-seeded Pirates advance to Friday night's semifinals to face eighth-seeded Georgetown at 6 p.m., live on FS1. It is Seton Hall's fifth semifinals appearance in the last seven years under head coach Kevin Willard.

In addition to Mamukelashvili and Rhoden's performances, senior Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) added 16 points and eight rebounds, and junior Ike Obiagu (Abuja, Nigeria) was a force in the paint with seven blocks, which ties Seton Hall's BIG EAST Tournament record. Rhoden's 16 rebounds also tied Seton Hall's tournament record.

After committing 10 turnovers in the first half, the Pirates did not commit a single turnover in the final 12:44 of the game, which includes overtime.

Turning Point
It was a back-and-forth affair with nine ties and nine lead changes and no team extending its lead into double figures. In fact, in the final eight minutes of regulation, no team led by more than four points. Seton Hall overcame a sloppy first half to lead by one point, 33-32, after leading by as much as nine, 31-22.

With under a minute left in regulation, Cale nailed a huge driving layup going to his right to tie the game at 62-62, and then the Pirates got a stop on defense to set up one final look for a win. Mamukelashvili got two attempts at a winner, but neither went in and the game went to overtime.

In overtime, the Seton Hall defense stepped up in huge fashion, getting stops on three of the first four possessions, with the fourth resulting in only one free throw made. Senior Shavar Reynolds Jr. (Manchester, N.J.) delivered a huge layup with under four to play to put the Pirates up three, 65-62.

Then the Pirates had a critical sequence late as Mamukelashvili blocked a Marcellus Earlington three-point attempt, and on the other side, Cale made a hookshot jumper to put The Hall up six, 70-64, with 1:47 to go.

Rasheem Dunn got the Johnnies within four, and they got a stop on defense, but could not convert on two opportunities. Rhoden grabbed a big rebound with 40 seconds to go, was fouled and made two free throws to make it 72-66.

The Pirates made three of their last four free throws from there and St. John's missed one more opportunity to get close. Cale finished the game with a dunk.

Inside the Numbers

Seton Hall shot 42 percent for the game (25-for-60), 31 percent from three-point range (5-for-16) and 71 percent at the free throw line (22-for-31). St. John's shot 33 percent overall (24-for-73), 24 percent from three (6-for-25) and 75 percent at the charity stripe (15-for-20)
The Pirates out-rebounded the Red Storm, 49-40, and used 12 offensive rebounds to generate 18 second chance points.
Seton Hall outscored the Red Storm in the paint, 38-26.
Although the Pirates had 15 turnovers (which turned into 20 St. John's points), they did not have a single turnover in the final 7:44 of regulation and all five minutes of overtime.
Mamukelashvili played almost the entire game and delivered 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in a performance befitting the BIG EAST Player of the Year. It was his seventh double-double of the season.
Rhoden delivered his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
Obiagu had seven blocks, his third-highest total of the season, to go with seven points and five rebounds.
Cale had 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go with eight rebounds.
Julian Champagnie led St. John's with 16 points.

News & Notes

Seton Hall advances to the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals for the fifth time in the last seven tournaments (2020 was canceled).
This was the first BIG EAST Tournament battle between Seton Hall and St. John's since 2002 and only the fourth all-time. The tournament series is now even at 2-2.
The Pirates have now won 11 of the last 15 meetings with the Red Storm.
This was the fifth time that the Pirates ended the regular season and started the BIG EAST Tournament against the same opponent. The Pirates are now 4-1 in the tournament games in that scenario.
Seton Hall is now 3-2 all-time as a tournament No. 5 seed and 2-2 all-time against the No. 4 seed.
This was Seton Hall's eighth BIG EAST Tournament game to go to overtime and first since 2013. The Pirates are now 3-5 in tournament overtime contests.
The Pirates are now 15-7 at Madison Square Garden since the 2013-14 season, 7-3 since 2017-18.
Mamukelashvili moved into 38th place all-time in Seton Hall scoring history. He now has 1,092 points.
Cale is now 47th all-time with 983 career points, and Rhoden is 76th at 766 career points.
Obiagu's seven blocks tied him with Samuel Dalembert for most single-game blocks in Seton Hall's BIG EAST Tournament history. Dalembert also did it vs. St. John's back in 2001.
Obiagu is now 12th all-time in Seton Hall blocks history with 112 in his Pirates career. His 76 blocks this year alone rank him in a tie for sixth in Seton Hall single season history.
This was the first time Seton Hall had two players record double-doubles in the same game since Angel Delgado and Michael Nzei also did it against St. John's back in 2017.
The Pirates are now 17-6 all-time when Rhoden grabs at least eight rebounds in a game.

Up Next
No. 5 seed Seton Hall will wear the whites Friday night in the BIG EAST semifinals against No. 8 seed Georgetown as two charter conference members battle for a spot in Saturday night's final. The game will tip off at 6 p.m., on FS1 with Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson on the call. The dynamic duo of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will handle the radio call on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network and TuneIn.