For all the success Dan Hurley’s had coaching UConn since the 2021-22 season (a 132-33 record, the 2024-25 BIG EAST championship and two national championships), one thing has eluded the Seton Hall men’s basketball alum during that span: a win, ironically, at the venue of his alma mater. After former Pirate Scotty Middleton’s game-winning second-chance effort last Feb., Hurley and the Huskies have lost at the Prudential Center in four-straight seasons.
But that streak was snapped on Tuesday night, when the No. 3 Huskies (17-1, 7-0 BIG EAST), despite a late rally from the newly ranked No. 25 Pirates (14-3, 4-3 BIG EAST), won, 69-64, in Newark for the first time in almost five years. The matchup, which became a dogfight down the stretch, was not only between two top-10 scoring defenses in the nation, but also between the only two BIG EAST teams to be ranked in the AP Top 25 this season.
As has been a recurring issue this season, especially as of late, The Hall were outplayed in the first half. Through the first 20 minutes of play, SHU trailed 35-22 after having shot just 39% (9-for-23) from the field and 44% (4-for-9) from the line, and after having been beaten in every hustle category (the Huskies led in points in the paint, points off turnovers, assists, and so forth).
“We got treated like little boys in the first half,” Pirates head coach Shaheen Holloway said about his squad after the game. “They just did whatever they wanted to do to throw us around. It was super physical, and we just didn’t match their intensity in the first half.”
“Second half, we came out, and we were just a different team,” he added. “But we have to stop spotting teams points [in the first half]. I don’t know why we keep doing that.”
The Pirates were actually keeping pace with the Huskies in the first half, even gaining as much as a three-point lead on them early on, before UConn rattled off a nearly six-minute 16-2 run, which included a 14-0 run from 5:50 to 1:38, to take a 13-point lead at the break. The first half was summarized best by a sequence in the final minute and a half, when UConn’s Solo Ball leaked out for a one-handed fastbreak tomahawk dunk on one end, before SHU sophomore guard Trey Parker drove and kicked to the corner on the other just a few possessions later—only to find the Huskies’ bench and no Pirate there to receive the pass for SHU’s ninth first-half turnover.
“It’s disappointing,” Holloway later said. “Because opportunities like this don’t come around too often at home, and you got a really good team in your house and you got some momentum going, and to just play like that in the first half is really, really disappointing.”
Junior guard Adam "Budd" Clark fending off UConn's Silas Demary Jr. | Photo by Michael Minardo | The Setonian
The Hall found themselves in an even deeper hole just five or so minutes into the second half, as a pair of made free throws from UConn’s Alex Karaban at the 14:48 mark gave the Huskies an 18-point lead—their largest of the game.
But, for better or worse, this is familiar territory for the Pirates, who have emerged victorious in their last three games after having rallied from double-digit deficits late in the second half in each of them. After the under-12-minute media timeout, SHU went on a series of runs to chip away at UConn’s 18-point lead, including a 9-1 run from 11:16 to 9:10, then a 10-2 run from 6:33 to 2:18 that brought the game within just two points, UConn leading 62-60.
The second run was capped by a steal by senior guard Elijah Fisher after having trapped UConn’s ballhandler in the infamous coffin corner, before junior guard Adam “Budd” Clark hitting a signature elbow jump shot.
“It’s exhausting, to tell you the truth,” Holloway said about his team’s ability to erase large deficits with scoring runs late in games. “[And that’s] for me as a coach, so I know it's got to be for them too as players to try to fight back all the time.”
The Pirates were then able to bring the game within just one point, at 65-64, when Clark found fellow junior guard Mike Williams for a clutch corner three-pointer with just 47.3 seconds left. It was the first made three-pointer of the game for the Pirates, who were 0-15 beforehand.
But UConn’s Demary Jr. iced the game for the Huskies, going a perfect 4-4 from the line afterwards to help them hold on for the 69-64 win. The Pirates had a chance to tie the game with their final possession down by three, when they ran a play to get Williams open from beyond the arc. Curling off a screen, Williams received the ball and rose up from deep, only for his shot-attempt to be blocked, with the offensive rebound then falling to Parker, but nothing materialized from it.
“I go to watch film on that last shot,” Holloway said. “I thought Mike was going to be open a little more open than that, and I told him he was open to drive it to extend the game—but I hate that the game has to come down to that [in the first place].”
“[We] got to put two halves together every game,” said Williams, who led the Pirates with 16 points, after the game. “You can’t just come out slow in the first half, and give teams points and think in the second half that every time you’re gonna come back and win. You got to put two halves together every night.”
SHU actually outscored UConn 42-34 in the second half, but it was the Huskies’ 13-point first-half cushion, as well as the Pirates’ poor overall shooting, that helped UConn hold on for the win. The Hall shot just 41.4% (24-for-58) from the field, a season-low 6.3% (1-for-16) from deep and a near-season-low 60% (15-for-25) from the line.
“Here’s the craziest thing,” Holloway said with a smirk. “In our gym—our new, great, beautiful practice facility—we don’t miss free throws, we don’t miss three-pointers. But in games, we just can’t seem to make them…. I thought we had some good looks today, too.”
It wasn’t a good shooting night for either team, though, with UConn shooting just 17.6% (3-for-17) from deep and 61.5% (16-for-26) from the line themselves. Hurley had high praise for Holloway and the Pirates, who he believes are “the hardest playing team in the country.”
“I just got so much respect for how hard [Holloway’s] teams play,” Hurley said. “That’s a team that’s going to be right there for the BIG EAST regular season, BIG EAST tournament, and that’s going to be a tough team to beat in the NCAA tournament.”
“I wouldn’t want Seton Hall’s name drawn next to mine in the NCAA tournament, I’ll tell you that,” Hurley later added.
With the loss, it’s hard to say whether the Pirates will retain their No. 25 ranking in next week’s AP poll. They certainly held their own down the stretch with the third-best team in the nation, proving that they belong in the Top 25, but it all depends on how other teams within the poll’s bottom half, as well as those on its fringes, fare the rest of this week. They did fall one spot in the NET, however, from 39 to 38, and if that’s any indicator, then it's likely SHU will be just outside the poll at effectively No. 26 or back at effectively No. 27.
The Hall will look to bounce back on Saturday, when they return to the Prudential Center to host the Butler Bulldogs (10-6, 1-4 BIG EAST).
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
