On Feb. 4, 1916, two small New Jersey universities separated by less than 30 miles met for the first time ever on the hardwood.
Held in Piscataway, NJ, Rutgers College defeated Seton Hall College, 40-20—kicking off what has since become the most heated and historic sports rivalry in the state, as well as one of the most intense in all of college basketball.
SHU men’s basketball will welcome in-state rival Rutgers University (RU) to the Prudential Center on Dec. 13 for the 76th all-time meeting between the two universities and the series' ninth straight sellout.
It is also the 11th installment of the Garden State Hardwood Classic (GSHC), which was created in 2014 to preserve the team’s rivalry after RU departed from the BIG EAST the year prior. The winner not only earns bragging rights until their next meeting, but is also presented with a trophy of the game’s namesake, constructed from recycled Asbury Park boardwalk planks salvaged after Hurricane Sandy. The Pirates lead 42-33 in the all-time series and 6-4 since the creation of the trophy.
Both teams entered last season's edition of the game amid historic seasons—albeit for very different reasons.
In that game, the Pirates arrived at Jersey Mike’s Arena with five of the seven total wins they would earn all season. Although no one knew it at the time, a rivalry win over RU would have been a silver lining for what would later become the worst season in program history.
Former Pirate Dylan Addae-Wusu in last year's game against Rutgers at Jersey Mike's Arena | Photo via Seton Hall Athletics | The Setonian
The Scarlet Knights, on the other hand, were in the early stages of their “most anticipated season” ever. Led by Jersey native Dylan Harper—the highest-ranked recruit in the program’s history—and five-star forward Ace Bailey, who were both lottery picks in the 2025 NBA Draft (the second and fifth pick, respectively), RU brought its strongest team in years to the annual rivalry game.
And yet, the game was still close to the very end. Tied 63-63 in the closing seconds, the Pirates ultimately fell to the Scarlet Knights, 66-63, thanks to a game-winning buzzer-beater by Harper—who received the Joe Calabrese MVP Award after the game for his late-game heroics and 24-point performance.
Entering this year’s edition of the game, however, things are much different. With their 77-61 win over Central Connecticut State (CCSU) on Dec. 4, SHU has already surpassed last season’s win total, doing so in 16 fewer games. Follow that with their road win over Kansas State University (KSU) on Saturday, and the Pirates now boast their best record (9-1) through ten games since the 2021-22 season.
Their win over KSU was also one of two wins the team has against Power 4 Conference opponents this season, with the other coming against then-No. 23 North Carolina State University on Nov. 25 in the Maui Invitational—their biggest win of the season so far.
The Pirates are also one of the top defensive teams in the country, ranking fourth nationally in blocks per game (6.6), 11th in scoring defense (61.9), and 12th in steals per game (10.7), among other categories. Against KSU, they held the nation’s leading scorer, PJ Haggerty, to just 11 points (14 under his average) on 3-of-12 (25%) shooting.
After receiving six votes last week, SHU received 31 votes in the latest Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll released on Dec. 8—putting them just outside the top 25 as effectively the 31st-best team in the nation. A win over RU on Saturday could earn the Pirates their first national ranking since the 2021-22 season.
Meanwhile, the Scarlet Knights’ season so far has been lackluster. After starting the season 4-0, they have since gone 1-5—a skid that began with a tough 67-54 home loss to the same CCSU team the Pirates defeated just a week later. To their credit, they also lost to three nationally ranked opponents during that stretch, including the then-No. 17, now-No. 13 University of Tennessee Volunteers, the No. 1 Purdue University Boilermakers, and the No. 3 University of Michigan Wolverines—with the latter two coming within the same week.
A win over SHU on Saturday would move RU to 6-5, prevent their second three-game losing streak of the season and spoil their rival’s strong start to the season.
Ahead of the matchup, Matthew Mangam, the head sports editor of RU’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Targum, offered some more insight on the Scarlet Knights—and how their season has gone worse than expected.
“Going into the season, we pretty much all knew it would be a tough year for us,” Mangam said. “The expectations were low, but it’s kind of like, ‘Wow, this is bad.’”
Former Pirate Kadary Richmond in the last Garden State Hardwood Classic held at Prudential Center in 2023 | Photo via Seton Hall Athletics | The Setonian
Mangam mentioned the team’s many struggles this season, including their inability to score, mediocre defense and poor shot selection.
“I think the signs of this team’s weakness are finally showing,” he said. “They can’t score…. the defense is not good, their 3-point defense is bad—I hate to say it, but it's like every side of the floor has a problem.”
As for how the rest of the season plays out, Mangam believes the team will win some games of conference play, but that the season will “definitely be similar to SHU’s last year."
Although he expected SHU to be better than last year, Mangam also expressed how impressed he is by the progress the team has already made this season.
“I thought they were gonna be better, but I’m like, ‘Wow, it’s gelling that fast?’” he said. “They have so many transfers that are doing well, they can rebound, they can block shots, they can get steals.”
He had the most praise for SHU’s defense, saying that a nationally-ranked defensive team is “what Rutgers aspires to be.”
“They defend with high energy, get in your face type of guys, and it shows that you can win games off of your defense,” Mangam said about SHU. “They’ve played some good teams, and have shown that they can hang with [them].”
Given SHU’s strong defense, Mangam believes RU will have to "take better shots, shoot more 3-pointers, and win the rebounding if they want to win this game.
"Which is gonna be hard for them," he added.
While he wishes they had more to cheer for this season, Mangam said that RU students always show out for the GSHC, and that this year at the Prudential Center will be no different.
“It’s always an intense game, it means a lot to the players, and the fans always show up,” Mangam said. “If it's a close game, they’ll be loud, they’ll be into it.”
And yet, regardless of where the programs stand record-wise, the game is almost always a close one. 23 of the last 30 meetings have been decided by six or fewer points, including last year's game which was decided by a single possession.
As mentioned, a win on Saturday would mean two very different things for each program—a potential national ranking for SHU, and a return to the win column for RU. But more importantly, a win would determine whether the GSHC trophy will belong to South Orange or New Brunswick—and whether Jersey will be painted Pirate Blue or Scarlet Red until the rivals meet again.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
