Media release
- Seton Hall finally returns home after its multi-state excursion of three games in five days in three different states.
- The Pirates wrapped up its road trip with a come-from-behind 98-92 overtime victory at Penn State.
- The Hall improved to 2-1 when following a loss after going 5-3 last season.
- With the win, head coach Kevin Willard moved into sole possession of third all-time at Seton Hall with 192 coaching victories, moving past Frank Hill (1911-30).
- Seton Hall is 73-11 in non-conference games at Prudential Center.
- The Pirates have won nine in a row against NEC teams dating back to 2013.
- With conference play slated to begin this week, this will be the fewest non-conference games Seton Hall will have played before a BIG EAST game since 1997-98. The Pirates played only five games before facing Villanova on Dec. 2, 1997.
- The Pirates are 25-6 all-time the Seahawks.
- The two teams are squaring for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
- Wagner’s last win against the Pirates was a 95-90 double OT victory on Jan. 31, 1979. Since then, The Hall has won 11 straight in the series.
- The Hall is 19-1 all-time against Wagner at home. Its last home loss against the Seahawks came on Dec. 19, 1967 (99-91).
- Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Famer P.J. Carlesimo coached at both Wagner (1976-82) and Seton Hall (1982-94) in his storied career. Carlesimo went 65-93 on Staten Island and 212-166 in South Orange, which featured six trips to the NCAA Tournament and the 1989 National Championship game.
- Wagner assistant coach Donald Copeland was a four-year letterwinner at Seton Hall (2002-06) and helped lead the Pirates to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2004 and 2006.
- Copeland ranks 75th all-time in scoring at Seton Hall 754 points. Right behind him are current Pirates Sandro Mamukelashvili and Myles Cale.
- Playing its fourth game in seven days, Seton Hall trailed at Penn State by 19 points and instead of playing out the string, the Pirates played to win.
- Seton Hall scored 50 second-half points to force overtime, and then senior Shavar Reynolds, Jr. (Manchester, N.J.) sank the three-pointer that put the Pirates up for good in a 98-92 win over the Nittany Lions.
- It’s the largest deficit Seton Hall has overcome in a game since coming back from down 23 to beat Robert Morris on Nov. 18, 2007, and it’s the largest road comeback since at least 2007-08 when the Pirates pieced together a 15-point comeback at Providence on Jan. 24, 2008.
- The Hall had trailed 37-18 with just over six minutes to go in the first half, trailed at halftime by 11, 45-34, took a three-point lead, 56-53, with 14:31 to go second half and then trailed by eight, 84-76, with 1:58 remaining in regulation before coming back yet again.
- The Pirates had six players in double figure scoring for the first time since Dec. 22, 2013 vs. Eastern Washington.
- Through the first five games of his senior season, Sandro Mamukelashvili is living up to the preseason accolades and expectations bestowed upon him.
- “Mamu”, as he’s affectionately known, was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST first team and watch lists for the Naismith Trophy and the Karl Malone Award in the preseason.
- He’s currently tied for first in the BIG EAST in scoring with 21.1 points per game and ranks eighth with 7.6 rebounds per game.
- In the comeback win at Penn State, Mamukelashvili dropped a career-high 30 points – 22 of which came in the second half – to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
- He kicked things off the right way against Louisville where led the Pirates with 22 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth career double-double.
- His second double-double in three games came against Rhode Island where he put up 25 points and 10 rebounds.
- Even in games where he’s the sole focus of the opposing team’s defenses – as was the case against No. 21 Oregon – Mamukelashvili can impact the game in other ways. He managed to reach double -figures against the Ducks and he dished out four assists, had two steals and pulled down six rebounds.
- Mamukelashvili’s strong start follows a difficult 2019-20 season that saw him lose 10 games due to a wrist injury and go through the NBA Draft process over the summer before electing to return for his senior year.
- Mamukelashvili averaged 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from three over the final eight games of 2019-20.
- Junior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) is contributing in multiple areas for the Pirates this season and is picking up where he left off late last season.
- He currently ranks in the top 15 in the BIG EAST in scoring (14.4 points per game), rebounding (6.4 rpg), steals (1.6 spg) and minutes (34.4 mpg).
- Rhoden turned in a solid showing in the season opener at Louisville (11 points, six rebounds, three assists), but he really showed what kind of player that Kevin Willard and preseason prognosticators thought he could be against Iona.
- Rhoden erupted for a career-high 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds against the Gaels, marking his third career double-double.
- He was two boards shy of a double-double in the comeback win at Penn State where he grabbed eight rebounds, put up 15 points and chipped in three assists and two steals.
- Going back to last season, Rhoden has scored in double-figures in six consecutive games.
- Shavar Reynolds, Jr.’s Seton Hall career began as a scrappy role player. He’s since turned himself into the Pirates’ starting point guard through the season’s first five games.
- Reynolds, Jr. posted a career-high 17 points, shot 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and dished out eight assists against No. 21 Oregon.
- His propensity to hit big shots started with his game-winning three-pointer vs. St. John’s in 2018-19. It returned on Dec. 6 at Penn State when he hit a three with under 50 seconds left in overtime to put the Pirates ahead for good, 93-91.
- His second career start came in this season’s opener at Louisville where he put up 11 points, three rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes.
- In the win over Iona, Reynolds, Jr. dished out a career best eight assists to go along with five steals and five points.
- Reynolds, Jr.’s workmanlike nature can be credited to his upbringing – his mother, Teekemia, is a social worker and his father, Shavar, Sr., is a retired U.S. Navy Master at Arms who served for 21 years.
- Despite losing three very critical members of the 2019-20 team, Seton Hall still returns 44 percent of its scoring, 63 percent of its rebounding and 50 percent of its three-pointers made from last season’s BIG EAST Championship squad.
- Plus, the Pirates gain the services of two transfers who have combined for over 2,000 points at the Div. I level.
- One of those transfers is Bryce Aiken (Randolph, N.J.), a two-time All-Ivy League honoree who scored 1,090 points and issued 174 assists in 65 career games with Harvard.
- His success in Cambridge impressed enough BIG EAST coaches that Aiken was named Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention entering his first season in the conference.
- The second transfer is Takal Molson (Buffalo, N.Y.), the 2018 MAAC Rookie of the Year and a first-team All-MAAC selection at Canisius.
- Through two games, Molson is averaging 7.5 points and 4.0 rebounds while providing a stout defensive presence off the bench.
- In recent years, there have been two key scoring trends that have come about in Seton Hall victories; one is a seven-point lead, the other is scoring 80 points.
- The Hall is 102-13 (.887) since 2015-16 when its lead gets to seven points.
- The Pirates’ largest lead in the win over Iona on was 30 late in the second half.
- Under head coach Kevin Willard, the Hall is 80-8 (.909) when it scores 80 points or more.
- The Pirates hit that mark in its 98-92 overtime win at Penn State.
