PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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By Tyler Calvaruso
UConn was on the receiving end of a resounding message via South Orange on Saturday afternoon: this is not the same Seton Hall program it used to have its way with in the old Big East.
Round one of the renewal of Seton Hall’s rivalry with UConn went in favor of the Pirates, as a hot start and strong finished netted the Hall its first win over the Huskies in nine years and its first in Storrs since 1997. Above all else, it netted Seton Hall a crucial Quadrant I road victory for its NCAA Tournament resume one week after its chances of making the big dance for a sixth consecutive year entered a perilous state.
“We definitely saw that we needed those wins,” Myles Cale said. “We knew we had to do whatever it took. It didn’t matter. Everybody was going to go out there and play as hard as they could, it didn’t matter what you needed to do or how many points you had. We were all on the same page and we all had one goal. That was to win.”
Seton Hall picked up where it left off against Providence, quickly jumping out to an 18-point lead over UConn. The Huskies trimmed their deficit down to single digits before halftime and remained within striking distance of the Pirates for the duration of the second half, but Seton Hall had an answer for every UConn spurt.
“Experience,” Sandro Mamukelashvili said when asked how Seton Hall was able to keep UConn at bay. “We had a really tough two, three losses and I feel like we learned a lot from it – especially the seniors. We understood, when they go on their runs, how to defend ourselves.”
Cale and Mamukelashvili starred for Seton Hall throughout the afternoon, with Mamukelashvili pouring in 22 points to go along with seven rebounds and two assists. Cale added 20 points of his own while also maintaining his intense defensive presence and providing the Pirates with some much-needed energy as UConn worked its way back into the game.
“He plays so hard,” Mamukelashvili said of Cale. “He had rough games, but right now, he’s found his rhythm and he’s playing amazing. I just love what I see from him and I want him to keep doing that great thing because everybody feeds off him. Not only on the offensive end, but defensively. He’s so active... we all feed off him. Myles Cale as a whole plays really, really hard, so we just feed off him. He’s an amazing teammate to have.”
The Pirates now heads into a bye week with its NCAA Tournament resume bolstered from two key wins over Providence and UConn. Seton Hall’s focus during that time will lie on preparing to host Marquette on Feb. 14, but it can take solace in knowing its postseason chances are in a much better place now than they were seven days ago.
“These two wins were big wins,” Mamukelashvili said. “Hopefully, everything takes care of itself.”
Quick Thoughts
-The renewal of the rivalry lived up to its billing. UConn showed its rust early, but both teams brought the juice for 40 minutes. Things will look a little bit different when the two meet again in March with James Bouknight back, but there is no doubt everything will be left on the Prudential Center floor next month.
“It’s phenomenal,” Kevin Willard said of having UConn back in the Big East. “It’s a high-intensity game. Danny [Hurley]’s teams are...not only are they disciplined on defense, but they are physical on offense. It’s an old-school Big East game. It’s great to have them back in the league. We like having them back in the league.”
-Willard pushed all the right buttons in getting his team ready to play this week. It was evident against Providence and Seton Hall’s performance against UConn reinforced it. The Pirates might have never been in “panic mode” as Willard put it, but they played with an increased sense of urgency at a time that required such an approach.
“I really did challenge them after the Nova loss,” Willard said. “I wanted them to play a little bit more with an edge, a little bit more angry. “Myles Cale and Sandro have been phenomenal and Shavar has just been Shavar. He’s been as steady as he can be offensively and defensively. I challenged them, I got after them and they’ve really answered.”
-The swoon is officially over. Fortunately for Seton Hall, it wasn’t a long one as we have seen in the past. At this point, the Pirates just have to take care of business against the teams they are supposed to beat down the stretch and continue to build on the way they played this week.
“We had to win these two and we have to win a lot more,” Mamukelashvili said. “We just have to stay locked in and play the best basketball we can.”
