Colin Rajala
Thirty-five years and two days after routing UNLV in a 23-point victory in the Elite 8 on their way to within one point of the NCAA Championship, Seton Hall did its best to recreate that history, this time in
the National Invitational Tournament quarterfinals.
Seton Hall (23-12) ran the Runnin’ Rebels (21-13) off the court on way to a 23-point victory, 91-68, in front of a sold-out crowd at Walsh Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
“I’m just in the moment right now. I’m happy for these guys, happy they were able to play in front of a good home crowd,” Head Coach Shaheen Holloway said in the post-game press conference.
The Hall advanced to the NIT semifinals with the win, which marks the program’s first trip to the tournament’s final four teams since winning the championship in 1953 when it defeated Manhattan 76-58 in the semis before downing St. John’s 58-46 in the title game.
This year’s NIT quarterfinals was all Seton Hall all the way as the Pirates led for the entirety of the game, led in all but one major statistical category and had all five starters score in double figures, while getting bench contributions despite the sixth and seventh players in the rotation missing the game.
“It was tough the last couple days ... we couldn’t do some things, it was a tricky weekend. But I thought for the most part, these guys came in and understood the game plan. That’s what happens when you
have good senior leadership,” Holloway said.
The Pirates jumped out to an 11-2 lead less than four minutes into the game with four of the five senior starters scoring. UNLV would cut the score to within six points, 24-18, with less than eight minutes
remaining in the half, but Seton Hall went on a 20-9 run to end the half, including a 7-0 tear over the final two minutes jumpstarted by a three-pointer from senior guard Kadary Richmond and slammed shut by senior guard Dylan Addae-Wusu’s steal and emphatic runaway dunk with just one tick remaining on the clock for the 44-26 advantage.
Graduate guard Al-Amir Dawes connected on three shots from long range in the first two minutes of the second half with the last shot being a deep heat check to blow the roof off of Walsh Gymnasium and
force a UNLV timeout as Seton Hall took a 53-26 lead, its largest of the game as the Pirates cruised to victory.
Seton Hall was led by Richmond’s efficient double-double of 16 points on 7/9 shooting from the field and 2/2 from long distance and 10 assists to go along with four rebounds, five steals and one block.
Richmond’s final numbers did not look a whole lot different than they did at the half – 13 points, six assists, four boards and three steals – and they didn’t have to as he single handedly pushed the Pirates
ahead by scoring or assisting on 21 straight points from 19-14 with less than 10 minutes remaining to 40-26 with just over a minute and a half remaining in the half.
Dawes was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points on 4/7 shooting from three alongside six rebounds and three assists, while senior forward Dre Davis recorded 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two
steals and one block.
Addae-Wusu put up 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals with graduate center Jaden Bediako finishing with 11 points, four rebounds and four blocks.
Seton Hall shot 35/62 (56.5%) from the field and 11/25 (44%) from three, while dishing out 22 assists. The Pirates recorded nine steals, six blocks and 13 turnovers, which they converted into 17 points.
Seton Hall returns to action against Georgia in the NIT semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday, April 2.
