Late Rally Not Enough For Seton Hall At No. 20 UConn - Seton Hall University Athletics
Storrs, Conn. - Despite losing starting point guard Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to injury just seven minutes into the contest, the Seton Hall men's basketball
shupirates.com
55
Seton Hall 16-12,9-8 Big East
64
UConn 20-7,9-7 Big East
Score By Periods
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seton Hall | 27 | 28 | 55 |
| UConn | 33 | 31 | 64 |
Storrs, Conn. - Despite losing starting point guard Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to injury just seven minutes into the contest, the Seton Hall men's basketball team trailed by only six at halftime and battled late to make it a six-point game with 1:19 to play before ultimately falling to No. 20 UConn, 64-55, on Saturday afternoon inside Gampel Pavilion.
The Pirates (16-12, 9-8 BIG EAST) were led in scoring by seniors Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) and Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.), who both finished with 16 points. Graduate student KC Ndefo (Elmont, N.Y.) had 13 points and pulled down five rebounds. Following an off week, the Pirates will look to remain in the NCAA Tournament pictures with two of its final three games taking place at Prudential Center where they are 9-4 this season.
How It Happened
After UConn scored the first points of the game, Seton Hall responded with a Dawes layup and a Ndefo three-point basket that gave the Pirates its first lead of the contest. The Huskies took the lead back to make it 8-5 before back-to-back layups by Ndefo sparked a 7-0 run that put the Pirates ahead by four, 12-8, with under 13 minutes to go in the first half. A dunk by Ndefo knotted the game up at 16-16 but the Huskies went on a 14-3 run that pushed their lead to double digits, 30-19, with 5:43 left before halftime.
As it has all season, the Pirates got back into the game thanks to their defense. Seton Hall clamped down on the Huskies and held UConn scoreless for the final 4:39 of the first half. On the other end, the Pirates strung together a couple of productive offensive possessions that cut its deficit to six, 33-27, at halftime.
With UConn leads by nine early in the second half, 36-27, Samuel connected on two free throws and Dawes scored five straight points that made it a 36-34 ballgame. The two teams went back and forth from 15:40 to the 12:28 mark when junior Femi Odukale (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored a layup off of a pass from Samuel that kept it a two point game. However, the Huskies used a 14-0 run to take a commanding 16-point lead, 56-40, with 6:02 left to play. The Pirates called a full timeout with 5:50 left and they scored out of the timeout when Ndefo found a cutting Samuel under the basket. Even down by 14, the Pirates continued to chip away at their deficit as they held UConn without a field goal the final 3:37. An 8-0 run for The Hall made it a six-point game, 59-53, and Dawes came up with a steal on the other end following a UConn timeout. Dawes then drove the length of the floor and could've made it a four-point game with 40 seconds left but his shot was blocked, stymying Seton Hall's momentum.
Inside The Numbers
- Seton Hall shot 39.6 percent from the field and only made 2-of-11 from deep but shot 73 percent (11-of-15) from the free throw line.
- Seton Hall held UConn to shoot just 18 percent from deep (4-of-22) and only 17 shot attempts in the second half but the Huskies put in work on the glass.
- The Huskies were plus-14 on the glass (39-25) and were plus-seven, 14-7, on the offensive boards.
- Their 14 offensive rebounds led to 15 second chance points.
- The Pirates forced 18 UConn turnovers and scored 23 points off of those miscues.
- The Pirates are now 14-3 this season when they hold opponents under 70 points.
- Seton Hall has now held five opponents under 20 percent from three-point range but it's just 3-2 in those games.
- UConn's 18 percent clip from deep was the lowest in a victory by a Seton Hall opponent this season.
- Dawes has scored in double figures in the last seven games for the Pirates.
- Samuel has registered five consecutive double figure scoring performances.
Seton Hall will enjoy a deserved bye week before welcoming No. 16 Xavier to Prudential Center for a Friday night contest at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on FS1 and fans can listen to Dave Popkin and Kim Adams 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.
- The first 4,000 fans in attendance (students included) will receive a Seton Hall branded bucket hat.
- It's Greek Night, and Seton Hall's student Greek organizations will be in attendance to celebrate.
- This game is our Black Fives Celebration night. For the second straight year, the BIG EAST Conference has partnered with the Black Fives Foundation during Black History Month to celebrate and raise awareness about Black athletes, coaches, and communities who played a critical part in America's basketball history. Student-athletes from both teams will wear shooting shirts honoring their Black Fives team, and fans will learn more about the organization throughout the night.
- This game qualifies for our Family Four Pack offer! Get four tickets and a $25 concession stand voucher for $125! Purchase now online or call our ticket office (973) 275-4255 during business hours.
