Seton Hall University
12-5,3-4Big East
St. John's
10-7,2-4Big East
Cale, Yetna Propel Pirates To 66-60 Victory At St. John's
1/22/2022 4:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
New York, N.Y. — Graduate student Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) scored a game-high 21 points, pulled down nine rebounds and played stellar defense on St. John's star Julian Champagnie, helping hold him to nine points on 3-of-14 shooting, in the Seton Hall men's basketball team's 66-60 win inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.
The Pirates (12-5, 3-4 BIG EAST) out rebounded the Red Storm, 60-43, and held the Johnnies to 29 percent shooting from the field for the game.
Graduate student Alexis Yetna (Paris, France) pulled down 15 rebounds and scored 16 points, giving him his sixth double-double of the season. Sophomore Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points and eight assists while graduate student Ike Obiagu (Abuja, Nigeria) blocked seven shots and grabbed nine rebounds.
How It Happened
It was a BIG EAST slugfest through the first 16 minutes of the game as the score was knotted up at 21-21 with 4:04 to play in the first half.
The Red Storm jumped out to a four-point lead, 26-22, with 2:02 to go before the break but junior Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) answered with a three-pointer from the wing that cut the Seton Hall deficit to one, 26-25.
The Pirates trailed by three, 28-25, with 1.6 seconds left when head coach Kevin Willard called a timeout and drew up a play. Seton Hall executed it perfectly as junior Tray Jackson (Detroit, Mich.) calmly stroked a three-point basket that tied the game up at 28-28 heading into halftime.
A 4-0 run set the tone for the second half as Richmond drove with purpose through the paint and converted a layup and Cale came up with a steal in the back court and scored on a lay-in of his own, giving the Pirates a 32-28 lead.
Two free throws by Yetna gave the Pirates a nine-point advantage, their largest lead of the contest, 46-37, with 13:27 left to play. The Red Storm wouldn't make it easy, though, as they cut their deficit to two on two occasions before The Hall countered with baskets of their own.
A 9-3 spurt, capped off by a dagger three by Cale, gave the Pirates a 57-49 lead with 5:45 left in the game. The closest St. John's would get after that three-point basket would be four as Seton Hall iced the game from the free-throw line, making six straight with a under a minute to go.
Inside The Box Score
- Seton Hall, which came into the game allowing a BIG EAST-best 30.4 percent from three-point land, held St. John's to 26 percent shooting from downtown.
- The Pirates shot 76.2 percent from the free-throw line (16-of-21) to 64.7 percent for the Red Storm.
- The Pirates pulled down a season-high 60 rebounds to St. John's 43 boards.
- Seton Hall also had the edge on the offensive glass, 20-16.
- The Pirates posted 10 blocks to the Red Storm's six.
- The Red Storm bench outscored the Pirates', 21-13.
News & Notes
- Seton Hall improves to 18-12 at Madison Square Garden under Kevin Willard and 16-8 since 2013-14.
- Willard is now 14-7 in his career against St. John's
- Seton Hall improves to 4-5 this season in Quadrant One and Quadrant Two opportunities.
- The Pirates have won 12 of the last 16 games in the series dating back to 2014-15.
- The Hall is 124-18 since 2015-16 when its lead gets to seven points.
- The Pirates are now 106-18 since 2016-17 when they attempt more free throws than their opponent.
- Ike Obiagu has registered a block in 26 consecutive games going back to last season, the longest streak in the country.
- Obiagu inches closer to Samuel Dalembert's program record of 167 career blocked shots as his seven swats on Saturday gives him 164 for his career as a Pirate.
- Cale now has seven 20-point games in his career.
- Richmond has tallied five or more assists in five games this season and now has 12 for his career.
- The Pirates' 60 rebounds are their most since pulling down 62 boards vs. Iona on Dec. 27, 2001.
- Seton Hall is 9-0 this season when either tied or leading at halftime.
- All four of Samuel's 10-plus rebound performances have come this season.
The Pirates will play their first BIG EAST game inside historic Walsh Gymnasium since the 1984-85 season on Monday as they welcome St. John's for 9 p.m. contest on FS1.
