PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By Colin Rajala
As much as things change, they stay the same.
Entering Saturday evening’s contest at the Wells Fargo Center, Seton Hall had lost five straight games versus Villanova since its 70-64 victory over the Wildcats in February 2020 - the Pirates first win on Nova’s home floor since 1994.
The Hall kept Villanova in check in the Saturday night showing but was unable to come away with their fifth straight road win in a game that was prime for the taking as the Wildcats won 58-54 to hand the Pirates their sixth straight loss against their Pennsylvanian rival.
The Pirates slowly built a 7-3 advantage in the first seven minutes of the matchup on a three from senior guard Al-Amir Dawes and four straight points on a steal and dunk and midrange jumper from junior guard Kadary Richmond as both teams failed to covert early, shooting a combined 4-19 with five turnovers – two for The Hall and three for Villanova.
Villanova brushed off the slow start and evened the game up 11-11 with just under eight minutes remaining in the opening half on a layup from junior forward Eric Dixon. The Wildcats peeled off a 13-3 run over the next three minutes and change to take a commanding 24-14 lead on a three pointer from senior guard Caleb Daniels assisted by sophomore guard Jordan Longino.
Villanova entered the half up just 27-20 thanks to an alley-oop dunk from senior forward Tyrese Samuel off the feed from Richmond and a buzzer beating corner jumper from Dawes. Leading Villanova in the first half was redshirt junior forward Eric Dixon’s 13 points and Daniels’ 11 points, while freshman guard Cam Whitmore was the lone Wildcat not named Dixon or Daniels to score to score in the half, connecting on one of two shots from long range.
In the second stanza Villanova extended its lead to 37-24 on a Dixon layup before Seton Hall went on a 13-1 run over the ensuing seven minutes to cut the score to 38-37 with nine minutes and 31 seconds remaining on an and-one layup from Dawes assisted by graduate forward KC Ndefo.
The Wildcats then proceeded to go on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes and twenty seconds that was capped by an and-one layup from Whitmore assisted by Daniels for a 47-37 advantage that Seton Hall aided by going 0-1 from the field with four turnovers.
The Villanova lead ballooned to 53-39 with just over three minutes remaining, but the Pirates would not go quietly as they closed the score to 53-47 with one minute and fifty seconds remaining on a Dawes three assisted by Richmond. Graduate guard Jamir Harris connected on a late three to bring the score to 58-54 with seven seconds remaining, but it was too little too late as the Pirates were unable to spark a miracle come back.
Dixon led Villanova, finishing with 19 points and six rebounds, Daniels tallied 18 points, connecting on four of seven shots from long distance, while Whitmore chipped in 12 points as the team’s only other player in double digits.
Leading Seton Hall was Samuel with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Dawes recorded 13 points on four of 11 shooting from the field and Richmond finished with 10 points, nine assists, five boards and four steals.
The Pirates will look to right the ship and get their tourney resume back on track as they return home to face off against Georgetown in what the fans hope is a Valentine’s Day massacre.
