Seton Hall University
12-8,5-4Big East
Connecticut
15-5,4-5Big East
Ndefo's Game Winner Seals Comeback Win Over No. 15 UConn, 67-66
1/18/2023 11:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Newark, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team trailed by 17 points in the first half but a putback layup by graduate student KC Ndefo (Elmont, N.Y.) with 1.6 seconds left on the clock sealed a come-from-behind victory over No. 15 UConn as the Pirates knocked off the Huskies, 67-66, at Prudential Center on Wednesday night.
Ndefo finished with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds for the Pirates (12-8, 5-4 BIG EAST), who have now won four straight games and five of their last six games.
Junior Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted his second career double-double with 18 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Seton Hall's 17-point comeback was its largest in BIG EAST play since storming back from 20 points down to defeat St. John's in overtime, 69-61, on Jan. 4, 2006.
How It Happened
The Huskies took it to Seton Hall in the first half where they led wire-to-wire. The Pirates trimmed their deficit to four after junior Femi Odukale (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made one of two free throws with under six minutes left before UConn went on an 14-1 run that pushed its lead to 17, 37-20.
UConn led by 14 at the half but the Pirates began to chip away at its lead. Senior Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.) sparked the comeback by scoring seven straight points, including a layup followed by a steal and an easy bucket in the back court, that trimmed UConn's advantage to single digits, 48-40, early in the second half. With momentum in the Pirates' favor down by just two points, 53-51, with 9:55 to play, UConn responded with a dunk plus the foul. Despite the missed free throw, the Huskies got the offensive rebound and cashed in with a three-point basket that pushed its lead back up to seven, 58-51, with 9:01 to go.
The Pirates would allow only one more field goal the rest of the way and they held UConn scoreless for the final 6:51 of the game. A pair of Dawes free throws with four minutes left was followed by an emphatic dunk by Odukale that made it a one-point game, 64-63, with two minutes left.
Richmond gave the Pirates' their first lead of the game with 1:12 on the clock on a runner in the lane but UConn drew a foul on the ensuing possession. Two made free throws put the Huskies back in front, 66-65, with 1:06 to go and despite an empty offensive possession for The Hall, it made a defensive stand on the other end of the floor and called a timeout with 15 seconds left. A play drawn up by head coach Shaheen Holloway led to an open three-point attempt by Odukale that was short but the miss fell into the hands of Ndefo who layed it in with contact and drew the foul. Ndefo missed the free throw on purpose and the bouncing ball drained the clock out, completing the comeback win.
Inside The Numbers
- Seton Hall shot 41 percent from the field and 68 percent from the free throw line (17-of-25).
- The Pirates shot 86 percent from the stripe in the second half (13-of-15).
- UConn shot 39 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc.
- The Huskies out-rebounded the Pirates, 40-32, and The Hall finished minus-one on the offensive glass, 12-11.
- Seton Hall owned the battle in the paint, scoring 34 points to UConn's 26, and finished with a 15-6 edge in points off turnovers.
- The Pirates forced 18 turnovers and committed only nine.
- Seton Hall finished with six team blocks and UConn tallied two.
News & Notes
- After dropping its first three BIG EAST games, Seton Hall has won five of its last six games and sit in sole possession of fifth place in the league standings..
- The Pirates improve to 7-2 at The Rock and 79-59 all-time at Prudential Center against BIG EAST competition.
- The Pirates have won consecutive meetings against Connecticut at Prudential Center going back to last season's 90-87 overtime victory on Jan. 8, 2022.
- Seton Hall's 17-point comeback was its largest since storming back from 20 points down to defeat St. John's in overtime, 69-61, on Jan. 4, 2006.
- Tonight marked the third comeback of 15 points of more against conference foes along with the 2006 victory; the other being a 15-points turnaround in overtime against Providence on Feb. 8, 2017.
- Ndefo registered two blocks, bringing his NCAA best block total among active players to 351.
- Dawes finished with 11 points and has now scored in double figures in 54 career games and 13 this season.
- Graduate student Jamir Harris (North Brunswick, N.J.) now has 980 career points.
Up Next
Seton Hall is back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Marquette at Prudential Center. The game will be broadcast on FS1. The 2023 Class of the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame will be honored, featuring men's basketball legend Jeremy Hazell. To honor Hazell, the first 2,000 fans will receive a No. 21 headband, an homage to Hazell's vintage look. Fans can listen to the action on the Seton Hall Basketball Radio Network with Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin that can be heard on the SHU Pirates mobile app, the Varsity network and SiriusXM.
