Rhoden's 25 Points Leads Seton Hall Past No. 25 Xavier, 73-71

Wednesday, February 9

Newark, N.J.

7 p.m.

Seton Hall University

15-7,6-6Big East

Xavier

16-7,6-6Big East

Xavier

Seton Hall

Rhoden's 25 Points Leads Seton Hall Past No. 25 Xavier, 73-71

2/9/2022 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

Newark, N.J. - In a physical contest that featured 42 fouls, the Seton Hall men's basketball team led for all but 2:44 of its game against No. 25 Xavier, built as much as a 14-point lead in the first half, and held on for a 73-71 victory over the Musketeers Wednesday night at Prudential Center.

Senior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) poured in 25 points to lead the Pirates. Sophomore Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) stuffed the box score with seven points, eight rebounds and five assists. The win was the third in a row and fourth in the last six games for The Hall, which improved to 15-7 overall and 6-6 in the BIG EAST.

How It Happened
For the second straight game, the Pirates got out to hot start. With the score tied at 11-11 early in the first half, Seton Hall used an 8-0 run that made it 19-11 with 9:12 to play before the break. A three-point basket by Richmond gave the Pirates their largest lead of the contest, 32-18, that forced Xavier to call a timeout.

After a three-point field goal by Paul Scruggs made it a seven-point game with 1:24 to go before the half, Rhoden responded with a three-pointer of his own that extended The Hall's lead to 10, 37-27.

Xavier surged early in the second half as a layup by Scruggs made it a one-point game, 41-40, with 14:25 to play but graduate student Jamir Harris (North Brunswick, N.J.) responded with a driving layup, pushing the Pirates' advantage back to three, 43-40. Despite back-to-back buckets by Richmond and graduate student Alexis Yetna (Paris, France) gave Seton Hall a double-digit lead again, 55-45, the Musketeers would keep it close the rest of the way.

With five seconds left, Rhoden went to the line and made one of two free throws that made it a three-point game, 72-69, with five seconds left. Scruggs drew a foul on the other end and made both attempts that cut Xavier's deficit to one, 72-71. On the next play, Harris was fouled on the inbounds and made the front end of two free throws that put the game on ice.

Inside The Box Score

Seton Hall dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Musketeers, 41-28, and 17-4 on the offensive glass.
Despite pulling out the victory, the Pirates shot 41.3 percent from the field while Xavier shot 51.1 percent.
Xavier won the battle at the free throw line, shooting 76 percent (19-of-25) compared to the Pirates' 60.9 percent (14-of-23).
The Pirates' held Xavier to 28.6 percent shooting from three-point range (4-of-14).
Seton Hall's bench pitched in 27 points and the Musketeers' reserves scored 15.
The Hall had 17 second chance points while Xavier had nine.
The Pirates were called for 22 fouls and Xavier was called for 20.

News & Notes

Head coach Kevin Willard now has 100 BIG EAST victories.
The win for the Pirates snaps a three-game losing streak at Prudential Center against Xavier.
The Pirates are 9-2 at Prudential Center this season and 153-69 all-time.
Against BIG EAST competition, the Pirates improve to 73-58 all-time at the Prudential Center and 2-2 this season.
The Pirates are now 30-17 since 2015-16 in the calendar's second month.
The Hall is now 3-3 this season against ranked opponents with wins over No. 4 Michigan, No. 7 Texas and No. 25 Xavier.
After starting BIG EAST play 3-6, Seton Hall has won its last three games to bring its record even to 6-6.
Richmond has tallied five or more assists in each of the last three games, including five in tonight's win over the Musketeers.
The Hall is 127-18 since 2015-16 when its lead gets to seven points.
Seton Hall is 12-0 this season when its either leading or tied at halftime.
Rhoden, Richmond and graduate student Ike Obiagu (Abuja, Nigeria) each posted eight rebounds.

Up Next
Seton Hall will head to Philadelphia Saturday for a 1 p.m., tilt against No. 15 Villanova at Wells Fargo Center. The game will be nationally televised on FOX and will air on the radio on AM970 The Answer.

The next Seton Hall home game takes place on Saturday, Feb. 19, when the Pirates host DePaul at Prudential Center at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at SetonHallTix.com/SHUvsDPU, and special four-packs, discounted by 25 percent, are available at SetonHallTix.com/FourPack.