The viral video of referee Michael Stephens’ blown call Saturday night will resonate throughout this college basketball season, and understandably so. But it should not totally obscure the fact that Seton Hall rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit against a tremendously talented St. John’s team, and that Pirates sophomore guard Shavar Reynolds put up the game-winning shot with complete confidence even though he made for a completely unlikely hero.
So here are the five takeaways, addressing all of those issues:
Shavar Reynolds deserved that moment. The Manchester Township resident was a member of the Big East All-Academic team in 2017-18 before being bumped up to a scholarship player in the off-season. As coach Kevin Willard said earlier in the year, Reynolds was not a “charity case.” Said Willard, “He earned that scholarship.” Reynolds’ father, Shavar Reynolds’ Sr., is a Naval officer stationed in Italy and he found out about his son’s big moment Sunday morning Eastern time and proudly tweeted about it.
Reynolds also had a nifty hustle play earlier in the second half, retrieving the rebound from an ill-advised three attempt by Jared Rhoden and drawing a shooting foul. He made both free throws that time, and also did the right thing after his game-winner with .4 seconds left by purposely missing the ensuing foul shot but hitting the rim, denying the Red Storm a chance to inbound the ball.
This team is united and unselfish. His teammates seemed even happier for Reynolds than he was for himself, seeking him out to congratulate him again when they walked into the post game media interview room. And don’t forget that Sandro Mamukelashvili (14 points, eight rebounds) turned down a contested drive to kick the ball out to the open Reynolds, much the way Quincy McKnight did to an open Mamukelashvili against Saint Louis last month. That three did not go down. This one was a much different story, but again, unselfishness was the key.
St. John’s was as good as advertised. The Red Storm’s athleticism and length will give many opponents problems this season, and that was on display as SJU raced to a 45-36 halftime lead. But as coach Chris Mullin noted afterward, the ball “got stuck” on offense in the second half as the Red Storm failed to make the extra pass, and instead settled for contested threes in the crucial moments of the game, before stars Mustapha Heron and Shamorie Ponds took turns missing key one-and-ones in the final minute. St. John’s had 11 assists in the first 20 minutes, only two thereafter. Mullin and his staff must correct that tendency to play hero ball, and although Mullin denied it after the game, the fact that SJU played a soft non-conference schedule probably didn’t help it withstand the crucible of a nailbiter in front of a sellout crowd on the road.
The Big East needs to step up. It’s clear that lead official Stephens made the call that L.J. Figueroa was out of bounds before it happened. His problem was it didn’t happen, at least not until Figueroa had legally saved the ball back inbounds. The statement about a “timing error” seemed like an obfuscation. The Big East was mum on the matter Sunday. Let’s see if they have another statement Monday. They did acknowledge publicly the mistake made in Jan. 2003 when Seton Hall had six men (Damion Fray likely was the extra guy) on the floor in a key situation late in regulation at Georgetown in an eventual overtime victory for The Hall.
Social media didn’t exist then, so nobody knew about the mistake until after the post-game. It was a much different situation Saturday night.
The NCAA tournament selection committee might place an asterisk next to this game for both teams. Of course, they never would acknowledge it, but it could happen just the same. Granted, The Hall already is building quite a resume with its impressive December non-conference wins over Kentucky and Maryland, and likely would be in good shape if it takes care of business in the body of the Big East schedule. But I forever will believe the Pirates didn’t get full credit for that Georgetown win in 2003 when they fell just short of an at-large bid. And that wasn’t a bad Hoya team--they eventually reached the NIT final. (For those who may not remember, Seton Hall scored on the “power play” to take a two-point lead in regulation, yet then surrendered the tying basket despite still being a man up. The Pirates then cruised to an 11-point OT victory.)
COMMENTS
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So here are the five takeaways, addressing all of those issues:
Shavar Reynolds deserved that moment. The Manchester Township resident was a member of the Big East All-Academic team in 2017-18 before being bumped up to a scholarship player in the off-season. As coach Kevin Willard said earlier in the year, Reynolds was not a “charity case.” Said Willard, “He earned that scholarship.” Reynolds’ father, Shavar Reynolds’ Sr., is a Naval officer stationed in Italy and he found out about his son’s big moment Sunday morning Eastern time and proudly tweeted about it.
Reynolds also had a nifty hustle play earlier in the second half, retrieving the rebound from an ill-advised three attempt by Jared Rhoden and drawing a shooting foul. He made both free throws that time, and also did the right thing after his game-winner with .4 seconds left by purposely missing the ensuing foul shot but hitting the rim, denying the Red Storm a chance to inbound the ball.
This team is united and unselfish. His teammates seemed even happier for Reynolds than he was for himself, seeking him out to congratulate him again when they walked into the post game media interview room. And don’t forget that Sandro Mamukelashvili (14 points, eight rebounds) turned down a contested drive to kick the ball out to the open Reynolds, much the way Quincy McKnight did to an open Mamukelashvili against Saint Louis last month. That three did not go down. This one was a much different story, but again, unselfishness was the key.
St. John’s was as good as advertised. The Red Storm’s athleticism and length will give many opponents problems this season, and that was on display as SJU raced to a 45-36 halftime lead. But as coach Chris Mullin noted afterward, the ball “got stuck” on offense in the second half as the Red Storm failed to make the extra pass, and instead settled for contested threes in the crucial moments of the game, before stars Mustapha Heron and Shamorie Ponds took turns missing key one-and-ones in the final minute. St. John’s had 11 assists in the first 20 minutes, only two thereafter. Mullin and his staff must correct that tendency to play hero ball, and although Mullin denied it after the game, the fact that SJU played a soft non-conference schedule probably didn’t help it withstand the crucible of a nailbiter in front of a sellout crowd on the road.
The Big East needs to step up. It’s clear that lead official Stephens made the call that L.J. Figueroa was out of bounds before it happened. His problem was it didn’t happen, at least not until Figueroa had legally saved the ball back inbounds. The statement about a “timing error” seemed like an obfuscation. The Big East was mum on the matter Sunday. Let’s see if they have another statement Monday. They did acknowledge publicly the mistake made in Jan. 2003 when Seton Hall had six men (Damion Fray likely was the extra guy) on the floor in a key situation late in regulation at Georgetown in an eventual overtime victory for The Hall.
Social media didn’t exist then, so nobody knew about the mistake until after the post-game. It was a much different situation Saturday night.
The NCAA tournament selection committee might place an asterisk next to this game for both teams. Of course, they never would acknowledge it, but it could happen just the same. Granted, The Hall already is building quite a resume with its impressive December non-conference wins over Kentucky and Maryland, and likely would be in good shape if it takes care of business in the body of the Big East schedule. But I forever will believe the Pirates didn’t get full credit for that Georgetown win in 2003 when they fell just short of an at-large bid. And that wasn’t a bad Hoya team--they eventually reached the NIT final. (For those who may not remember, Seton Hall scored on the “power play” to take a two-point lead in regulation, yet then surrendered the tying basket despite still being a man up. The Pirates then cruised to an 11-point OT victory.)
COMMENTS
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
