Dominant Second Half Lifts Pirates Past St. John's, 88-66 - Seton Hall University Athletics
Senior Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.) had a team-high 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range
shupirates.com
66 St. John's (NY) 11-4,1-3 Big East 
88 Seton Hall 8-7,1-3 Big East Score By Periods
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Newark, N.J. - Senior Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.) had a team-high 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range and the Seton Hall men's basketball team used a dominant second half effort to notch its first BIG EAST win of the season as the Pirates dispatched St. John's, 88-66, on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 10,481 at Prudential Center.
The Pirates (8-7, 1-0 BIG EAST) held St. John's to 35 percent shooting from the field in the second half while shooting at a 62 percent clip on the offensive end of the floor.
Two Pirates nearly had double-doubles in junior Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who had 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and senior Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) who finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Junior Dre Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) chipped in with 14 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
How It Happened
Seton Hall fell into an early hole but was kept in the game by Dawes who scored nine of the Pirates' first 11 points, all on three-point baskets. A fast break layup plus the foul on gave the Johnnies their largest lead of the game, 18-8, and it forced Seton Hall to call a timeout with 11:52 left in the first half.
St. John's led by nine, 29-20, with 6:57 to go before halftime but Seton Hall used an 11-2 run, capped off by back-to-back threes by junior Femi Odukale (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Dawes that turned a nine-point deficit into a two-point lead, 33-31. Consecutive buckets with under a minute left in the half, including a buzzer-beating three by Richmond, gave the Pirates a 42-37 lead going into the locker room.
The defense turned up the pressure in the second half, allowing St. John's to shoot just 35 percent from the field and 10 percent (1-of-10) from deep. On the offensive end, opened the second stanza on a 12-2 run that broke open the game and gave The Hall a 15-point lead, 54-39, with 15:44 to go.
It was still a 15-point game with 10:27 to play before Davis was inserted into the game and scored six straight points that pushed the Seton Hall advantage back to 21, 67-46. A combination of stout defense and a 62 percent shooting performance from the floor in the second half sealed the Pirates' first BIG EAST win of the season.
Inside The Numbers
- Seton Hall shot 54 percent from the field (33-of-61), 37 percent from three-point range (7-of-19) and 75 percent from the charity stripe (15-of-20)
- St. John's was held to 41 percent shooting from the floor (28-of-68) and 22 percent shooting from deep (4-of-18).
- Seton Hall outscored St. John's by 17 in the second half, 46-29.
- The Pirates posted 17 assists and 12 turnovers.
- Seton Hall finished plus-10 on the glass (42-32) but the Red Storm came down with 13 offensive rebounds to Seton Hall's 11.
- The Johnnies produced 20 second chance points to Seton Hall's nine.
- The Pirates finished with nine steals that came from three different players (Samuel, three; Richmond, three; Odukale, three).
- Graduate student KC Ndefo (Elmont, N.Y.) had a game-high plus-minus of 30 and posted eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
- Seton Hall has now won six of the last eight meetings against the Red Storm and its last six against St. John's at Prudential Center.
- The Pirates move to 3-0 all-time at Prudential Center on New Year's Eve.
- Seton Hall's 10-point first half deficit marked its largest deficit overcome in a win this season, topping its seven-point deficit that happened in the win at Rutgers on Dec. 11.
- The Pirates are 8-1 this season when they hold their opponents to 69 points or less
- Seton Hall is now 140-22 since 2015-16 when its lead gets to seven points.
- The Pirates are now 5-2 at Prudential Center this season and their average margin of victory in Newark is 26 points.
- Richmond has registered five or more assists in all four of Seton Hall's BIG EAST games this season and he now has 271 career assists.
- Ndefo now has 1,296 career points and 346 career blocks, the most of any active player in the NCAA.
- Davis has scored in double figures in eight of the 11 games he has played in this season.
- Dawes' five three-point baskets ties his season high and was one shy from matching his career high.
Seton Hall will pack their bags once again for their third road trip in the last four games as the Pirates travel to Creighton for an 8:30 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Jan. 4 that will be broadcast on FS1.
Dave Popkin and Kim Adams will call the action on the Seton Hall Basketball Radio Network that can be heard on the SHU Pirates mobile app, the Varsity network and SiriusXM.
