Despondent and dejected after the NCAA tournament selection committee snubbed them from an opportunity in the big Dance, Seton Hall, led by its five seniors, gathered and decided their season was not finished – opting to compete in the National Invitational Tournament as the top seed.
“When these guys decided to, said they wanted to play, I was a little hesitant because when you have a big letdown like they had the other night not getting in [to the NCAA Tournament] we all thought we were, we thought we did enough to. As a parent, it’s like I’ve got 16 little brothers and 16 kids there, and they’re all looking to me for an answer, and I don’t know what to say,” Head Coach Shaheen Holloway
said after the game.
While Holloway may not have come up with the right words to console his players through their March sadness, he was able to get the message through to his team that Seton Hall plays for keeps and their
opening round matchup with Saint Joseph’s was going to be a real challenge as the Hawks entered hungry after coming up just short in forcing their way into the NCAA Tournament as the nine-seed in the
Atlantic 10 conference tournament.
“I was trying to warn them how good St. Joe’s is. I saw that draw and I was like, oh, goodness. We’re playing a really good team that could shoot the basketball, and we’ve gotta, the next two days, we gotta
do something. We’ve gotta get our thing back, whatever that thing is, because you can’t play like this and expect to win. Teams are too good. But I thought we did enough to win,” Holloway said.
The Pirates dug deep and used a seldom-used lineup to gain the advantage on their way to knocking off Saint Joseph’s 75-72 for a thrilling overtime win in front of a sold-out crowd in the opening round NIT
game at historic Walsh Gymnasium.
“We wanted to play. Despite what happened on that day [selection Sunday], we just wanted to play. We made that decision collectively. One game down, another one to play,” said graduate guard Al-Amir Dawes, who led Seton Hall in scoring by matching career-bests with 26 points on six made three-pointers and 10 rebounds. He also recorded three assists, two steals and a block in the winning effort.
Dawes rose to the occasion when Seton Hall needed most, especially late, hitting a game-tying three pointer with 31 seconds left in regulation to stop a 10-0 St. Joe’s run before later connecting on the go-
ahead three pointer in overtime, which proved to be the game-winner.
“The first one’s always the hard one, especially after a mental and physical letdown like not getting in the tournament. Now hopefully, they’ll get back to being Seton Hall ... I’ve been trying everything to pick
them up, but now, hopefully this will make them feel a little better about themselves and then we’ll get a couple days to prepare for a good team,” Holloway said.
The Hall will return to action Saturday at Walsh Gymnasium when they host defending NIT Champions North Texas, who defeated LSU 84-77 Tuesday evening. “I didn’t watch them play yet. Tonight, I will. I’ll have the answer tomorrow or maybe Friday ... I don’t know anything about them, but I know basketball, right? And basketball, scouting’s important, but coming to play is even more important. So obviously, I’ll get a feel for them the next couple days and then see what happens,” Holloway said about his preparation for the Pirates’ second round opponent.
Coming to play will be an obvious message for Seton Hall in preparing for the Mean Green as the Pirates did not come out with the edge needed against St. Joseph’s, trailing for a large portion of the first half
before entering the halftime down 40-37.
Graduate center Jaden Bediako was hampered by foul trouble for much of the night, particularly after picking up his third foul just 16 seconds into the second half, and The Hall found itself reeling as they
trailed 52-46 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
The Pirates got the wind back in their sails by going small with senior wing Dre Davis manning the center position, while seniors Kadary Richmond and Dylan Addae-Wusu served as the forwards and Dawes and freshman Isaiah Coleman played in the backcourt.
The small-ball lineup forced four turnovers over the next five minutes of gametime and the Pirates regained the lead 57-54 on a three from Dawes with just over eight minutes to go in the game.
“[The small lineup] It was good. It was us, it was Seton Hall. We played with energy, we played with passion. I thought Dylan played great, he got some deflections, he got some steals and he got us back
going,” Holloway said.
Seton Hall extended its lead to 65-58 with three minutes to go after Dawes corralled a defensive rebound and passed it ahead to Addae-Wusu for a slam, but St. Joseph’s would not go away quietly.
The Hawks connected on three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to close the score to 65-64 with a little over two minutes remaining and took a 68-65 lead with 41 ticks left in the game to put Seton Hall’s season on the ropes, that is before Dawes responded like a veteran potentially playing his final collegiate game at home and forced at least one more game in his career as a Pirate.
Seton Hall was paced by Addae-Wusu’s 18 points, six rebounds, three steals and one block, while Davis recorded double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three blocks, two steals and an
assist.
Richmond had a quiet night to his standards with six points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block, while Bediako chipped in six points and three rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.
“The future is now. You’ve gotta be able to do both. It is what it is, right? These guys want to play, me and my coaches have to do our job as far as the portal stuff, but the future is now. The future is trying to
make this team and trying to win the NIT,” Holloway said, on balancing the current team’s NIT run with the offseason.
“When these guys decided to, said they wanted to play, I was a little hesitant because when you have a big letdown like they had the other night not getting in [to the NCAA Tournament] we all thought we were, we thought we did enough to. As a parent, it’s like I’ve got 16 little brothers and 16 kids there, and they’re all looking to me for an answer, and I don’t know what to say,” Head Coach Shaheen Holloway
said after the game.
While Holloway may not have come up with the right words to console his players through their March sadness, he was able to get the message through to his team that Seton Hall plays for keeps and their
opening round matchup with Saint Joseph’s was going to be a real challenge as the Hawks entered hungry after coming up just short in forcing their way into the NCAA Tournament as the nine-seed in the
Atlantic 10 conference tournament.
“I was trying to warn them how good St. Joe’s is. I saw that draw and I was like, oh, goodness. We’re playing a really good team that could shoot the basketball, and we’ve gotta, the next two days, we gotta
do something. We’ve gotta get our thing back, whatever that thing is, because you can’t play like this and expect to win. Teams are too good. But I thought we did enough to win,” Holloway said.
The Pirates dug deep and used a seldom-used lineup to gain the advantage on their way to knocking off Saint Joseph’s 75-72 for a thrilling overtime win in front of a sold-out crowd in the opening round NIT
game at historic Walsh Gymnasium.
“We wanted to play. Despite what happened on that day [selection Sunday], we just wanted to play. We made that decision collectively. One game down, another one to play,” said graduate guard Al-Amir Dawes, who led Seton Hall in scoring by matching career-bests with 26 points on six made three-pointers and 10 rebounds. He also recorded three assists, two steals and a block in the winning effort.
Dawes rose to the occasion when Seton Hall needed most, especially late, hitting a game-tying three pointer with 31 seconds left in regulation to stop a 10-0 St. Joe’s run before later connecting on the go-
ahead three pointer in overtime, which proved to be the game-winner.
“The first one’s always the hard one, especially after a mental and physical letdown like not getting in the tournament. Now hopefully, they’ll get back to being Seton Hall ... I’ve been trying everything to pick
them up, but now, hopefully this will make them feel a little better about themselves and then we’ll get a couple days to prepare for a good team,” Holloway said.
The Hall will return to action Saturday at Walsh Gymnasium when they host defending NIT Champions North Texas, who defeated LSU 84-77 Tuesday evening. “I didn’t watch them play yet. Tonight, I will. I’ll have the answer tomorrow or maybe Friday ... I don’t know anything about them, but I know basketball, right? And basketball, scouting’s important, but coming to play is even more important. So obviously, I’ll get a feel for them the next couple days and then see what happens,” Holloway said about his preparation for the Pirates’ second round opponent.
Coming to play will be an obvious message for Seton Hall in preparing for the Mean Green as the Pirates did not come out with the edge needed against St. Joseph’s, trailing for a large portion of the first half
before entering the halftime down 40-37.
Graduate center Jaden Bediako was hampered by foul trouble for much of the night, particularly after picking up his third foul just 16 seconds into the second half, and The Hall found itself reeling as they
trailed 52-46 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
The Pirates got the wind back in their sails by going small with senior wing Dre Davis manning the center position, while seniors Kadary Richmond and Dylan Addae-Wusu served as the forwards and Dawes and freshman Isaiah Coleman played in the backcourt.
The small-ball lineup forced four turnovers over the next five minutes of gametime and the Pirates regained the lead 57-54 on a three from Dawes with just over eight minutes to go in the game.
“[The small lineup] It was good. It was us, it was Seton Hall. We played with energy, we played with passion. I thought Dylan played great, he got some deflections, he got some steals and he got us back
going,” Holloway said.
Seton Hall extended its lead to 65-58 with three minutes to go after Dawes corralled a defensive rebound and passed it ahead to Addae-Wusu for a slam, but St. Joseph’s would not go away quietly.
The Hawks connected on three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to close the score to 65-64 with a little over two minutes remaining and took a 68-65 lead with 41 ticks left in the game to put Seton Hall’s season on the ropes, that is before Dawes responded like a veteran potentially playing his final collegiate game at home and forced at least one more game in his career as a Pirate.
Seton Hall was paced by Addae-Wusu’s 18 points, six rebounds, three steals and one block, while Davis recorded double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three blocks, two steals and an
assist.
Richmond had a quiet night to his standards with six points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block, while Bediako chipped in six points and three rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.
“The future is now. You’ve gotta be able to do both. It is what it is, right? These guys want to play, me and my coaches have to do our job as far as the portal stuff, but the future is now. The future is trying to
make this team and trying to win the NIT,” Holloway said, on balancing the current team’s NIT run with the offseason.
