Swarming Pirates Defense Silences Monmouth, 79-52 - Seton Hall University Athletics
Six Pirates scored at least eight points as the Seton Hall men's basketball team used strong defense and a balanced offensive attack to smother Monmouth, 79-...
52 Monmouth 0-1,0-0 CAA 
79 Seton Hall 1-0,0-0 Big East Score By Periods
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Tray Jackson led the way with 12 points, while freshman Tae Davis had 11 points and eight rebounds in his debut.
NEWARK, N.J. – Six Pirates scored at least eight points as the Seton Hall men's basketball team used strong defense and a balanced offensive attack to smother Monmouth, 79-52, in Wednesday's season-opener at the Prudential Center.
Seton Hall used a 15-0 run midway through the first half to pull away from Monmouth and their defense did the rest of the work. The Hall held Saint Peter's to just 29.8% shooting for the game and forced 23 turnovers.
Senior Tray Jackson (Detroit, Mich.) had a team-high 12 points to go with five rebounds. Freshman Tae Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Senior Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) notched 11 points and five rebounds, while senior Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.) tallied 10 points.
What Happened:
The swarming Pirate defense kept Monmouth to just 3-for-17 (.176) shooting from the field to start the contest. Leading 11-9, The Hall went on an 8-2 run and a pair of made free-throws by Dawes gave it a 19-11 advantage with 9:34 left in the first half. After a Monmouth bucket, the Pirates took off again, scoring 15 unanswered points, highlighted by a breakaway dunk by KC Ndefo (Elmont, N.Y.) to grab a commanding 35-15 lead with 2:57 left before halftime. The Pirates took a 36-17 lead into the locker room.
The Hall held Monmouth without a made field goal over the final 7:49 of the first half and limited them to just 17.2% shooting from the floor overall. Seton Hall's extended defense held the hawks to 0-for-11 shooting from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.
Both teams shot significantly better from the field to open the second half, but the Pirates came out scorching. The Hall connected on eight of its first 12 shots, including 4-for-6 shooting from three-point range to build a 58-30 advantage with 12:22 remaining in the game. From there, Monmouth's deficit was never reduced to fewer than 24 points.
Inside the Numbers:
- Seton Hall was 24-for-53 (45.3%) from the floor for the game, while Monmouth was 17-for-57 (29.8%). The Hall was 8-for-23 (34.8%) from three-point range, while the Hawks were just 2-for-20 (10.0%).
- Seton Hall edged Monmouth on the boards, 46-to-42. Offensive rebounds were even at 16, but The Hall had a 20-to-14 advantage in second-chance points.
- Seton Hall was 23-for-39 (59.0%) from the free-throw line, while the Hawks were 16-for-24 (66.7%).
- Seton Hall forced 23 turnovers, while Monmouth forced 20. The Pirates had a 26-to-15 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
- Jackson finished with a team-best 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting to go with five rebounds.
- Tae Davis had 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting and eight rebounds in only 16 minutes.
- Samuel tallied 11 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
- Dawes had 10 points.
- Ndefo finished with only two points, but had eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
- Graduate Jamir Harris (North Brunswich, N.J.) tallied eight points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
- Junior Dre Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) had eight points and six rebounds.
- Seton Hall wins its home opener for the 13th straight season.
- Pirates head coach Shaheen Holloway improves to 2-2 all-time in season-openers.
- The Hall is now a perfect 14-0 all-time against Monmouth, while Shaheen Holloway improves to 7-3 all-time against the Hawks.
- The Hall improves to 81-11 (.880) all-time at the Prudential center against non-conference opponents.
- Dawes reached double-figures in scoring for the 42nd time in his career, Samuel reached it for the 15th time, Jackson reached it for the 13th time and this was Tae Davis' first double-figures game.
- With eight points tonight, Harris surpassed the 900-points mark for his career.
- With 12 points tonight, Jackson surpassed the 300-points mark for his career.
Seton Hall will return to action on Saturday, November 12 when it hosts Saint Peter's at the Prudential Center. Tipoff is scheduled for Noon ET. The game will be televised on FS2, and of course can be heard on the SHU Pirates Mobile App and SiriusXM 390 with Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin on the call.
