The BIG EAST named Seton Hall men’s basketball’s AJ Staton-McCray to its weekly honor roll for the second time this season.
Bittersweet is the best way to describe this latest honor for Staton-McCray, as it followed a squandered opportunity at a season-defining win for the Pirates in their lone game this past week at No. 6 UConn on Feb. 28.
Before a late comeback from the Huskies, the Pirates were just 8:45 left from punching their ticket to March Madness inside Gampel Pavilion behind the strong play of Staton-McCray. The graduate guard scored a team-high 20 points, 15 of which came in the second half, on 6-for-13 (46%) shooting from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
Just two points shy of his season-high, Staton-McCray did, however, set a season-high by making 4-of-8 (50%) attempts from beyond the arc. Three of those makes came early in the second half, helping SHU push the Huskies to the brink of an upset for the second time this season.
After SHU took a 1-point, 33-32 halftime lead—just their fifth halftime advantage in conference play this season—Staton-McCray opened up the second half with a corner 3-pointer.
Minutes later, he and junior guard Mike Williams did their best Splash Bros impression, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers for a 6-0 run that gave the Pirates their first 8-point lead of the game, which they regained at the 8:45 mark before things went downhill.
Like Staton-McCray, Williams also set a season-high from deep, going a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, with two of those makes coming in the second half.
Staton-McCray’s four triples accounted for nearly half of SHU’s made 3-pointers in the game, with the Pirates shooting 9-for-18 for their second-most makes in a game this season. Entering the contest, SHU ranked last in the BIG EAST in 3-point shooting at just 29% on the season, and had gone 0-for-18 the game prior (and still winning).
After one of their best first halves and 3-point shooting performances of the season—two areas of struggle for this year’s SHU squad—The Hall were poised to win the game, up by eight with less than 10 minutes left.
But instead, clutch shot-making from the Huskies, early foul trouble catching up to SHU and questionable late-game officiating, among other things, sent the Pirates home from Storrs empty-handed and still in search of another signature win to strengthen their NCAA Tournament resume with few opportunities remaining.
Staton-McCray and the Pirates will return on March 3, when they play their final road game of the regular season at Xavier (14-15, 6-12 BIG EAST) before hosting No. 15 St. John’s (23-6, 16-2 BIG EAST) for their final game of the regular season on March 6.
Defeating either the Musketeers or the Red Storm would secure a top-five finish for The Hall in the conference’s standings, meaning a first-round bye in next week’s BIG EAST Tournament.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
