PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By Zack Cziryak
The Seton Hall Pirates are “bankful” for at least one thing this Thanksgiving.
Senior forward/center Tyrese Samuel calmly, emphasis on calmly, dropped a game winning three-point shot off the glass as time expired to propel the Hall to a 70-69 victory over the Memphis Tigers on the opening day of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando. Samuel notched a double-double with 11 rebounds to go along with 14 points, the last three of which marked the biggest of his career.
An Al-Amir Dawes turnover in transition with roughly nine seconds remaining and the Pirates down two points was compounded by a questionable foul call on KC Ndefo on the ensuing loose ball. Memphis’ Elijah McCadden would proceed to miss both free throws, however, it would take a Seton Hall steal off a Tigers offensive rebound to set up the game winning shot.
Samuel helped set up his own heroic moment by coolly knocking down four free throws late in the game to keep the Pirates within striking distance and allowing for the final shot after being inbounded from the sideline with less than three seconds remaining.
Dre Davis joined Samuel in double-digit scoring with 13 while Tray Jackson added 10 points and Kadary Richmond and Femi Odukale each chipped in five assists.
Kendric Davis, the reigning American Athletic Conference player of the year with SMU last year, looked as advertised as the best player on the floor in finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Malcolm Dandridge was the only other Tiger to finish with double figures, tallying 14 point that included an 8-10 mark from the charity stripe.
The victory can ease the minds of Pirate fans for at least one night after another high-turnover game for the Hall with 17, many of which were of the sloppy variety, including a crosscourt outlet pass in the backcourt that was picked off by Kendric Davis for a layup that would regain the lead for the Tigers until the final shot of the game.
Kendric Davis’ “pick six” came at a particularly crucial time as Seton Hall had just taken its first lead of the second half on a Dawes transition three pointer to push the Pirates to 53-52 with roughly seven minutes remaining.
Despite assisting on 14 of 21 made baskets, the offense also struggled throughout the game to generate clean looks and was impeded by Richmond picking up his second foul in the first half and his third foul one minute into the second half.
The game winner itself represents a case in point as Samuel was at best the 2nd option on the inbound pass after Dawes failed to create separation to receive the ball. Credit to him though for stepping up and nailing the final shot.
Seton Hall led for a majority of the early frame before ceding a 12-5 Memphis run to end the first half that would spot a 31-30 deficit.
A Shaheen Holloway coached team, defense and hustle of course showed up to keep the Pirates in the game until the end.
The Hall snagged 12 steals compared to nine from the Tigers and limited Memphis to 45.1% shooting from the field, including 28.6% from beyond the arc. Despite being outrebounded 35-32, the Pirates turned an equal number of offensive rebounds, nine apiece, to 16 second chance points compared to seven for the Tigers.
The Pirates return to action tonight in the semifinal round with an 8 p.m. ET tip-off against the Oklahoma Sooners on ESPN2. The Sooners knocked off Nebraska in its opening round game while the other semifinal matchup pits Siena against Ole Miss after respective wins against Florida State and Stanford.
