PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By JP Pelzman
A lead that once had been 11 points, and nine just over a minute earlier, had melted to four. Thus, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard had little choice Sunday afternoon.
With 7:21 left against Marquette, he put senior point guard Shavar Reynolds back into the game despite the fact Reynolds was burdened with four fouls. The Pirates were shorth-handed at the position because Bryce Aiken was out with tendinitis in his left knee.
“Shavar knows I have total confidence in him,” Willard said afterward.
Reynolds lived up to that faith, contributing two clutch jumpers to help the Pirates maintain their lead, and knocking down both ends of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with The Hall clinging to a two-point lead with 47 seconds left. His clutch plays, plus 20 points and four assists from Jared Rhoden, helped the Pirates (12-8, 9-5 Big East) outlast fading Marquette, 57-51 at the Prudential Center.
It was The Hall's third straight victory.
“I’m glad he had the trust in me not to pick up my fifth,” Reynolds said. “That was all Coach. … I’m an aggressive defensive player. I like to take risks. But I knew I had to stay solid for the last seven (minutes).”
Aiken's absence meant that freshman Jahari Long had to play a season-high 18 minutes with Reynolds saddled with foul trouble, picking up his fourth with 11:38 left, after he had subbed back in merely 13 seconds before.
Long went 0-for-1 from the floor with no points, four turnovers and no assists.
“I didn’t really have much choice but to put (Reynolds) back in at that time,” Willard said, adding, “I was so proud of the way Jahari played. Playing 18 minutes as a freshman without playing very much, for him to come out and give us the minutes. Defensively, he was really solid. He did a great job for us defensively.
"Offensively, he hasn’t played with those guys (starters) very much,” Willard added, “so we weren’t very smooth with him out there. But I thought defensively he was great.”
Willard said Aiken’s knee began bothering him during the victory over Providence on Feb. 3. He played in that game and in the win over Connecticut three days later, but was shut down after that and didn’t practice during the week leading up to the game against Marquette.
“We just don’t know right now,” Willard said of Aiken’s situation going forward, “and it really hurts us, because when he’s out there, we’re such a better basketball team.”
Willard did not offer any timetable on Aiken’s potential return and said if he is unable to return, “we’re just going to have to keep building Jahari up.”
With Reynolds out for long stretches because of foul trouble, turnovers became a major problem for The Hall, which had 15 miscues for the game and only 11 assists. The Pirates’ ballhandling deficiencies in the absence of both Reynolds and Aiken enabled the cold-shooting Golden Eagles (9-12, 5-10) to hang around. As did Seton Hall’s own shooting woes.
Marquette only shot a mind-numbing 3-for-25 (12%) from three-point range, as The Hall won a Big East game while scoring fewer than 60 points for the first time since beating South Florida, 55-47 on Jan. 23, 2013. Some of that shooting was due to solid SHU defense, and some was, well, expert bricklaying.
The Pirates were only 4-for-15 (26.7%) from long distance themselves and shot 37% overall. But Reynolds’ midrange jumper gave them a 47-40 advantage with 4:05 left, and he hit another one to make it 49-44 with 2:48 to go. His two foul shots put the Pirates ahead 51-47 with 47 seconds left as The Hall was 8-for-8 from the line in the final minute to seal it.
“That's what Seton Hall is all about,” Rhoden said. “It wasn’t a high-scoring game. The offense wasn’t sharp and clicking, but we did what we had to do to strap down and get stops defensively and that’s ultimately what wins games.”
That, and having a point guard smart enough not to pick up that fateful fifth foul.
“He’s the focal point of this team,” Rhoden said of Reynolds, “and he does a great job of keeping everyone together.”
