PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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By JP Pelzman
No Brandon Weston. No Problem. No Jared Rhoden. No problem. At least on opening night.
Thanks in large part to the contributions of Bryce Aiken, who again showed that when he is on, he can be electrifying.
Certainly he gave Seton Hall a jolt off the bench in the first half of its season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night. Aiken scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half and helped the Pirates open a 20-point halftime lead en route to a 93-49 victory in the season opener for both teams.
Junior forward Tyrese Samuel had 19 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double and Myles Cale scored 15 points to become the 46th player in team history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He now has 1,001 points.
“I think that’s what’s nice about this roster,” 12th-year Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said, “the flexibility where we couldn’t survive an injury last year, (to now) being able to survive an injury this year.”
Rhoden, the senior wing who is a first-team All-Big East preseason selection, still is nursing an ankle injury that also kept him out of the exhibition victory over Misericordia. Willard wouldn’t speculate on whether he would be available for the game against visiting Yale on Sunday. The Pirates visit Michigan two days after that contest.
“That’s what it’s about,” said Cale, a so-called “super senior” taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA because of last year’s COVID-ravaged season. “Coming together, coming as one, even if a man is down, we’ve got to get the job done.”
Still, the game was close at the 7-minute mark of the first half, with the Pirates ahead 20-15 and starting point guard Kadary Richmond on the bench with two fouls. But Aiken helped spur a 20-2 run with seven points, including a tremendous hustle play after Cale drained a three from the right wing for a 32-17 lead.
Aiken stole the ball from FDU’s Devon Dunn and sacrificed his body in a mad scramble. The oft-injured Aiken was fouled while on the ground and made both shots for a 34-17 advantage. He later left the game with the outcome decided after grimacing on a second-half drive and briefly being attended to on the bench, but was in great spirits afterward.
"(I'm) just trying to have fun with it," Aiken said. "I've been through a lot with a lot of injuries, so now that I'm healthy, being able to be back out here and competing, I'm just trying to enjoy it, every day, every game. That’s my main focus. It's a blessing to be out here and competing. That's a given. We'll do that every night. But it’s another thing to have fun with it. I'm just trying to enjoy it."
Cale said, "Ever since BA set foot on Seton Hall, we always knew he was a special player. We called him Kyrie Irving. He did moves like Kyrie. He dribbled like Kyrie. We always knew he had that in him. It was good to see it today. Last year he had a couple games here and there that he showed in but this year I definitely feel he’ll show it a whole lot more."
American transfer Jamir Harris and Cale finished the first half with treys, and the second half was a formality, the highlight of which was Samuel’s emphatic one-hand dunk which he turned into a three-point play for a 76-35 lead.
Willard said, “That’s the ability he has in him when he plays physical and plays athletic and doesn’t settle for being an outside guy. He's very dangerous.”
The Pirates appear to be the same way, especially if Rhoden can get healthy and Aiken can stay healthy. Time will tell.
'Walking the Plank' to follow from JP later in the day.
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