Seton Hall men’s basketball defeated in-state rivals Rutgers University (RU), 81-59, at the Prudential Center on Saturday in the 11th installment of the Garden State Hardwood Classic (GSHC) and the teams’ 76th all-time matchup since 1916.
Although the rivalry typically produces a close game each year, regardless of where the teams stand record-wise, SHU dominated this one from start to finish with their aggressive defense. That tone was set within the game’s first five minutes, during which the Pirates forced the Scarlet Knights into six turnovers—including three straight steals by junior guard Adam “Budd” Clark in a span of just 31 seconds, just two minutes into the game. Each of Clark’s steals resulted in points on the other end for SHU, which started the game on a 6-0 run (later extended to a 11-0 run).
Junior guard Adam "Budd" Clark earned the Joe Calabrese MVP in his first-ever Garden State Hardwood Classic | Photo by Julianna Caliri | The Setonian
“We just wanted to get after them from the tip-off,” Clark said after the game. “We knew that’d be a momentum shift for us, so we just got after them, caused havoc, and scored off of it.”
Clark finished the game with four steals, 16 points on 7-for-10 (70%) shooting and a game-high seven assists—an all-around performance that earned him the Joe Calabrese MVP in his first-ever GSHC.
“I thought he did a really good job,” SHU head coach Shaheen Holloway said about Clark after the game. “I mean, that’s what I’m looking for him to do. I thought the first half he really controlled the game and got people involved, and the second half he took over.”
The Scarlet Knights’ struggles with ball security didn’t stop there, however, as they finished the first half with more turnovers (13) than field goals made (6-for-22). As such, they scored just 21 points, which is RU’s second-lowest first-half point total against SHU ever and the lowest since 2002, when they managed only 20.
Although they committed fewer than half as many turnovers in the second half (5), they nearly finished the game with as many turnovers as made field goals, ending with 18 and 19, respectively. This resulted in just 59 total points for RU compared to SHU’s 81, who earned their largest margin of victory (22) in the GSHC since their 29-point win over the Scarlet Knights in 2015.
“You can’t turn the ball over like that in your backcourt and have success against a team like that,” RU head coach Steve Pikiell said after the game. “That’s what they thrive off of.”
Graduate guard AJ Staton-McCray entering the ball into the post | Photo by Julianna Caliri | The Setonian
Indeed, a huge part of SHU’s success this season has been their ability to force turnovers and generate steals. Entering this game, SHU ranks fifth nationally in defensive turnover percentage—that is, the percentage of opponent possessions that end in a turnover—with 23.9% and 12th in steals per game with 10.7. With 13 steals in this game—which is the most steals ever by the Pirates against the Scarlet Knights—SHU set a program record with nine or more steals in 11 straight games.
With 11 newcomers to the program this season, this year’s SHU squad features a majority of players experiencing the rivalry for the first time. After the game, graduate guard AJ Staton-McCray said coach Holloway—who has played in the rivalry several times himself—told the team what to expect from the GSHC in the lead-up to the game.
“Coach the whole week was just telling how intense the game was going to be, how hard-nosed the game was going to be, how physical,” Staton-McCray said. “So we just knew we had to come out with a different mindset and just go at them.”
Go at them they did, as the Pirates continued their streak of having at least three double-digit scorers in every game this season, as they finished this one with four of such. Among them was Staton-McCray, who scored a game-high 18 points on 8-for-14 (57%) shooting—despite hurting his hand in practice earlier this week, as coach Holloway explained after the game.
“The last three days he had tape on his right hand, and he didn’t really shoot that much,” Holloway said. “So to come out and play the way he played [was great].”
“But like I said, I’m used to that—I want him to do that,” Holloway added. “He’s one of our leaders, he’s been around for a while, he’s got some experience, and we need him to make plays.”
As is always the case, the rivalry is made even more intense by the home team’s crowd. Fortunately for the Pirates, this game was the series’s ninth straight sellout and drew hundreds of students—something the program has struggled with in recent years.
“It was amazing,” freshman center Najai Hines said about playing in his first GSHC after the game. “That’s probably the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of.”
The official count was 1,150 students, making it SHU’s biggest student turnout since the 2021/22 season. After seeing how consistently empty the student section was last season, coach Holloway expressed what it meant for him and the team to see it and the Prudential Center as packed as it was.
SHU had its biggest student turnout (1,150 students) since the 2021/22 season | Photo by Julianna Caliri | The Setonian
“It means everything,” said coach Holloway on the game’s crowd. “When I recruited a lot of these guys, I told them, ‘When this place gets rocking, there’s nothing like it.’ So it was good to see.”
“But I’m selfish,” Holloway added. “I want to see it every time, not just for the Rutgers game…. Good teams have a good crowd, and that’s just what it is.”
With the win, the Pirates now lead the all-time series against RU 43-44, and are 8-4 since the creation of the GSHC—with the cherry on top being that they also hand the Scarlet Knights their second three-game losing streak of the season and a losing 5-6 record.
Since he was hired as head coach in 2022, Holloway is now 2-2 against Pikiell. When asked if he would be open to playing RU in a home-and-home series each season, Holloway sarcastically replied, “[If] they want to play twice, tell them to come back to the BIG EAST.”
SHU also finished their non-conference schedule 10-1 with the win, making it the program’s best start through 11 games since the 2011/12 season. Picked last in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll, coach Holloway was frank about whether the team is ready for their first game of conference play against the Providence College Friars (7-5) in Rhode Island on Friday.
“We’ll see Friday night,” Holloway said. “I watched some of [Providence’s] game today, they good, like really good. They athletic, they got scorers, and it’s tough to play up there.”
But judging by the team’s performance so far this season, it is more than fair to say that they are. After receiving 31 votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll released on Dec. 8—which put them just outside the top 25 as effectively the 31st-best team in the nation—it’s likely that the Pirates will earn their first national ranking since the 2021-22 season—a remarkable turnaround for a team who won just seven total games last season.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
