Whitehead’s free throws seal Seton Hall’s ninth BIG EAST win of the season, 62-61 over St. John’s

[Halldan1]

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NEW YORK - Sophomore Isaiah Whitehead’s (Brooklyn, N.Y.) two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining in the game lifted the Seton Hall men’s basketball team to a 62-61 victory over St. John’s Sunday at Madison Square Garden as the Pirates overcame a three-point deficit in the final minute and did not allow the Red Storm to get off a final shot in the waning seconds.

The win gave Seton Hall (19-7, 9-5 BIG EAST) its fifth BIG EAST road win of the season, matching a program record originally set by the 1988-89 team and then matched by the 1991-92, 1992-93 and 1999-00 teams. It also helped the Pirates complete a regular season sweep of St. John’s (8-20, 1-14 BIG EAST) for the first time since 2004-05.

Whitehead’s free throws helped him overcome a tough shooting day, as he was held to 1-for-12. But his 8-of-10 shooting from the free throw line, three assists, two blocks and career-high six steals still made him a valuable force on the court.

Fellow sophomore Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) scored a career-high 24 points, accumulating 19 of the 24 in the first half.

Turning Point
Although the Pirates built a 19-point lead in the first half, the Red Storm fought back on their home court to go up by three, 60-57, on Kassoum Yakwe’s layup with 58 seconds remaining.

The Pirates did not panic as Rodriguez came up with a big offensive rebound, and sophomore Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) then came up with a huge 15-foot jumper to pull within one. The Hall then turned the Red Storm over, and Whitehead made one of two free throws to tie the game.

On the ensuing possession, Seton Hall pressured the ball and tried to trap Durand Johnson mid court, but a foul was called, sending Johnson to the line. Johnson made the first and then missed the second. The ball was tipped up in the air, and Yakwe came down with it in a scrum, but Whitehead stole the ball and was then fouled with 5.6 seconds to go. He sank both free throws to put the Pirates up 62-61.

The Pirates defense forced the ball out of bounds with 2.6 seconds remaining, and, when play resumed, did not allow the Red Storm to get a winning shot off.

Inside the Numbers

• The Hall’s first half was outstanding on offense, shooting 50 percent from the field and making 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) three-point attempts. A tough second half left the percentages at 36.5 percent overall and 40 percent from three-point range.
• The Pirates forced 21 Red Storm turnovers and turned them into 21 points. The 21 turnovers is the most The Hall has forced on a BIG EAST opponent this season and ties the Wichita State game for most this season overall.
• With his 24 points, Rodriguez set a new career high, eclipsing the 21 he generated at Xavier on Jan. 23. Rodriguez was 8-for-10 from the floor, 4-for-4 from three-point range and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe. The four triples set a new career high as well. Rodriguez, the only BIG EAST player currently shooting over 50 percent from the field (.518) and 35 percent (.409) from three-point range, is averaging 19.7 points over his last three games.
• Three other Pirates scored in double figures, including Carrington (12), Whitehead (10) and Gordon (10). Whitehead has reached double figures in 14 consecutive games and 23 of 26 games on the year, and Carrington has reached the mark in 22 of 26 games on the season.
• Seton Hall was credited with 11 steals, six alone from Whitehead, setting a new career high for him. It’s the most steals for any individual Pirate this season.
• Yakwe led St. John’s with 16 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

News & Notes

• Seton Hall won its fifth BIG EAST road game of the season, matching the 1991-92, 1992-93 and 1999-00 teams for most in program history. All four of those teams went to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Pirates earned their ninth overall BIG EAST victory of the season, the first time the Pirates have reached nine since 2009-10.
• Seton Hall led by 14 at the half and is now 15-0 when leading at half time; the team is also now 19-0 when holding at least a seven-point lead at any point of the game.
• Seton Hall swept St. John’s in the regular season for the first time since 2004-05. It is also the first time the Pirates have beaten St. John’s on the road since a Feb. 17, 2010 victory at Carnesecca Arena. This is The Hall’s first win over the Red Storm at Madison Square Garden since Jan. 29, 2005.
• Seton Hall is 5-5 in its last 10 games at Madison Square Garden, dating back to the 2011-12 season.
• This was the first time in the BIG EAST era that Seton Hall has swept a round-robin regular season from rivals St. John’s and Georgetown in the same year.
• At 9-5, the Pirates hold a one-game lead over Creighton for third place in the BIG EAST standings. They are also one victory or one loss by both Marquette and Georgetown away from clinching a BIG EAST Tournament first-round bye.

Up Next

Seton Hall will close out the home portion of its regular season schedule this week with a pair of games against two teams in the top five in the BIG EAST standings. The action begins Thursday against Providence at Prudential Center at 7 pm.; it concludes with a Sunday afternoon affair against Xavier at 12:30 p.m.

Both games will air nationally on FS1, simulcast on the FOX Sports GO app, and Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin have the radio call on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on Sirius/XM channel 84 and the Pirate Sports Network on the web and using the Seton Hall Pirates Gameday App.

Tickets to the game are available through Ticketmaster and the Seton Hall Athletics Ticket Office by calling (973) 275-HALL.

 

[TheBluePirate]

For EVER and ever, we lost the games because we could not toss the rock into the hoop from the stripe.

Last game, Khadeen was Khiller at the line and saved us.

Poor game by many on the team, but the free throws were enough to save us. When Zeke knocked the last two down, I just knew we could do it.

Rebounds and free throws - give me them all day and all night long and I am a happy fan.

And - just because - GO YOU PIRATES GO!

(had to shout that out - at least while typing. ).

 

[Halldan1]

Red Storm Edged by Seton Hall in Final Seconds

Freshman Kassoum Yakwe posts career-highs with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Web release: http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/022116aaa.html

· Box Score

· Quotes

· Notes

· Photo Gallery

· Press Conference Video

NEW YORK (Feb. 21, 2016) – St. John’s battled all the way back from a 19-point deficit and led by as many as three late in the second half before Seton Hall (19-7, 9-5) escaped with a 62-61 victory Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Sophomore guard Isaiah Whitehead drained a pair of free-throws for the Pirates with five seconds remaining which proved to be the difference.

Kassoum Yakwe (Bamako, Mali) delivered a career performance before the 13,204 fans in attendance. The freshman forward scored 16 points and pulled down 15 rebounds leading St. John’s (8-20, 1-14) with his second-straight double-double. Durand Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) and Felix Balamou (Conakry, Guinea) added nine points apiece for the Red Storm.

“In the second half we played really well. We started making some shots,” said St. John’s Head Coach Chris Mullin. “I was really proud of our team. In my mind, we played well enough to win.

“The most impressive thing to me was [the way they] came back, played together and kept that enthusiasm. That’s what a team is all about.”

Pirates sophomore Desi Rodriguez had 19 of his game-high 24 points before halftime to help Seton Hall open a 28-9 advantage 13 minutes into the contest. St. John’s trimmed its deficit to 14-points at the break with Yakwe scoring four of the team’s last six first half points.

“[Kassoum] had a great game today, but that’s what he’s been doing,” said Mullin. “He works hard. We see improvement each and every day with his game. He’s going to be a special player.”

The Red Storm unleashed an 8-0 run to open the second half with Johnson burying a pair of 3s that energized the crowd. After Seton Hall scored seven-straight points to push the margin to 13 at the 14:57 mark, St. John’s outscored the Pirates 22-9 over the next nine minutes to lock the game at 52-52.

Ron Mvouika (Paris, France) scored all six points in the second half, but got the Red Storm rolling with a block on Derrick Gordon which led to Balamou’s posterizing two-handed slam that made it a seven-point game at the 9:59 mark. Minutes later, Federico Mussini (Reggio Emilia, Italy) nailed a corner 3-pointer and Mvouika drained another triple that cut the deficit to one, 50-49, to force a Seton Hall timeout.

Yakwe’s 3-point play tied the game, 52-52, with 5:43 on the clock. Then Yankuba Sima (Girona, Spain) pushed the Red Storm out front for its first lead, 55-54, with a layup at the 3:45 mark.

Seton Hall tied the game for the fifth time at 60-60 after Whitehead made 1-of-2 free throws, but Johnson made 1-of-2 at the other end to put St. John’s up one with ten seconds left. A loose ball foul sent Whitehead back to line for a pair of free throws that gave the Pirates a 62-61 lead with five seconds.

St. John’s had a sideline in-bounds play with three seconds left, but could not get a shot off as time expired. The Red Storm shot 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the floor, but made just 5-of-19 3-pointers (26.3 percent) and 10-of-24 free throws (41.7 percent).

The Pirates had four players finish in double-figures with Khadeen Carrington adding 12 points, while Whitehead and Gordon had 10 apiece. St. John’s contained Whitehead holding the Pirates leading scorer without a bucket until the 13:30 mark in the second half. He finished 1-for-12 from the field and 0-for-5 from 3-point range, but sank 8-of-10 free-throws.

The Red Storm outrebounded Seton Hall, 41-36, with Mvouika contributing eight boards. Yakwe (4) and Sima (3), the top-shot blocking duo in the nation, combined for seven of the team’s 10 blocks.

St. John’s opens up a two-game road swing on Wednesday at DePaul (9 p.m., FS1).

 

[Vegas pj]

FWIW, IW missed a three FTs in crunch time a got a do over with a line violation after missing 2. Formtunately, he made the do over. Came up big at the end and that's what counts. Headline should have read, FT shooting costs SJU the game. Good thing they're worse from the line than SH is.

 

[Halldan1]

Zach Braziller ‏@NYPost_Brazille 2h2 hours ago Bronx, NY


Just saw replay of final play again. Kassoum Yakwe looked to be fouled before he was stripped. #sjubb #hallin


[URL='https://twitter.com/NYPost_Brazille'] Zach Braziller ‏@NYPost_Brazille 5h5 hours ago Manhattan, NY


Everybody wants to foul! Whitehead given two gift free throws in a scrum, hits both. 62-61 Seton Hall. #sjubb ball, 2.6 left.


Zach Braziller ‏@NYPost_Brazille 5h5 hours ago Manhattan, NY


Chris Mullin said it was a game "we deserved to win." He's right, were better team today. #sjubb #hallin


[/URL]

 

[Flnj86]

No big surprise that Zags and Zach are big St John's fans and Mullin groupies.

 

[Halldan1]

POST GAME QUOTES

St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...

On today's effort:

"The first half we were sleep walking, so I thought we fortunate enough to be only down 14 [points at half]. In the second half we played really well. We started making some shots. I thought it was a good game overall. I was really proud of our team. In my mind, we played well enough to win."

On Kassoum Yakwe:

"He's a hard worker and a great kid. He had a great game today, but that's what he's been doing. He works hard. We see improvement each and every day with his game. He's going to be a special player."

On the final possession:

"Always the main concern is getting the ball inbounds. So we felt like the best option for that was to go to [Yankuba] Sima so he could get a catch. He was open right away. We were a little hesitant, but [the plan was] to drop it to him, let Sima go or kick back out."

On positive takeaways from today's game:

"There have been positives every day. When we look at film, we're very factual. When there are good sections of games we want to repeat that and when there are errors and things we don't like, we emphasize that as well. That's the only way I know how to not only develop a player, but develop a team."

On the feeling after a loss:

"You have to feel like this. The thing is how you come back. I don't know a player, team or business that wasn't built that way. It's not supposed to be easy or a smooth ride, but when you're forthright and you're determined, you'll get paid off. The most impressive thing to me was [the way they] came back, played together and kept that enthusiasm. That's what a team is all about."

Senior Guard Felix Balamou...

On his feelings after the game:

"We feel kind of disappointed, but at the same time proud. We played hard, we played good, [but] we just didn't come up with the win."

On coach Mullin's halftime speech:

"He just told us to wake up. We were playing slow and that wasn't the pace he wanted. [In the second half] we came out, stepped up and played better. It showed that on the court."

Freshman Forward Kassoum Yakwe...

On today's game:

"The beginning was bad, but we kept together and got back in the game. It was a good game, but we had a lot of turnovers and missed free throws. At the end, they got a win."

On his thoughts on the team:

"I'm really proud. Even though we were down we didn't get in to each other. We stayed focused and tried to follow what our coaches said. We kept playing hard and when you play hard, you see the results."

Seton Hall Head Coach Kevin Willard...

On today's game:

"This was the game that I looked at over the last week-and-a-half. I thought it was going to be our toughest game. My New York kids coming back to the Garden and I, watching all the film, watching all the games, thought St. John's was playing harder than anybody else in the [BIG EAST] conference at the time. That was just an old-school, grind-it-out [game]. Both teams played extremely hard. We got lucky enough to make free throws at the end."

On Kassoum Yakwe and Yankuba Sima:

"[Kassoum] Yakwe and [Yankuba] Sima are just terrific. Yakwe times it great, uses his length and is great on pick rolls. From when he got eligible to now where he's playing, his progression has been tremendous. I thought he was the difference in the game, especially in the second half."

 

[Flnj86]

Seton Hall players were getting fouled the entire 2nd half but 3 HALL players fouled out. They were allowing SJU defenders to body and bump our guards off the dribble.