After surviving a near upset against the Wagner College Seahawks last week, Seton Hall men’s basketball responded with a 82-59 win over Fairfield University in their second straight game at Walsh Gymnasium on Monday.
In the programs’ first meeting since 1980, the Pirates were dominant—especially on defense. Although the Stags outshot SHU from 3-point range (9-for-23 and 5-for-17, respectively), the Pirates held them to just 32% from the field (16-for-50) and under 60 points. SHU also recorded 13 blocks—the most of any Division I team so far this season—12 steals and forced 17 turnovers, making it their third straight game in which they forced 15 or more.
Four of the team’s 12 total steals came from AJ Staton-McCray, a graduate guard who the team recruited from the University of Miami in the offseason with defense in mind.
Last season with the Hurricanes, Staton-McCray started in 17 of the team’s 31 games and was second on the team in total steals with 33. Before Miami, he spent four seasons at Samford University, where he finished among the top five in steals per game in three of those years and was selected to the Southern Conference All-Defensive Team in his last season with them.
After the game, Staton-McCray explained the key to the team’s dominant defensive performance and the difference between this game and last.
“Just our urgency,” Staton-McCray said. “Staying in the gaps, communication, and just being connected at all times.”
In addition to his four steals, Staton-McCray also led the Pirates with a season-high 13 points while shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. After struggling to make shots in the team’s first two games (1-for-7 against St. Peters University and 3-for-11 against Wagner), Staton-McCray said he “feels good” and he is confident that the work he puts in will continue to make all the difference for him.
“The first game I didn’t really hit anything, the second game I made a couple of shots,” he said. “But staying in the gym, staying consistent, and just doing what I do—it’s all going to fall [in place] no matter what happens.”
In just his third game as a Pirate, Staton-McCray has already emerged as one of the team’s leaders. Ahead of Monday’s game, he mentioned that he sent a group text to his teammates reminding them of the importance of a team-first mentality.
“I texted in our group chat the other day that no matter who scores the most amount of points, on any given day, any one of us can have double digit points—it's just [about] playing with each other and just having that good feeling that your brother’s doing a good job on the court tonight, they’re having a good game,” he said. “So that’s just what it is—that’s just how we’re going into each game.”
The outcome reflected that message, as four Pirates—Staton-McCray, Mike Williams, Elijah Fisher, and Najai Hines—scored in double-figures and eight players finished between 8 and 13 points.
Hearing about the text that Staton-McCray sent for the first time, head coach Shaheen Holloway praised the graduate guard for his leadership after the game.
“That’s why he’s a captain,” Holloway said. “That’s what captains are supposed to do.”
“We need him—he’s an older guy, an established guy,” Holloway added. “Before Miami he was at Sanford, and he had a great career there, did really well, took them to the tournament—so I expect a lot from him.”
He also echoed Staton-McCray’s comments about the team’s response following last week’s game against Wagner.
“The urgency, togetherness,” Holloway said was better about the team’s performance. “I still don’t like the fact that we hold on to the basketball a little too much…[but] I thought we had a good mental day the last couple days.”
“I did a bad job last game of not seeing how the game was being played, [but ] I learned from watching that today,” Holloway added. “We didn’t trap as much, we just pressured them full court and in the halfcourt, and just kind of wore them down—so I thought, for the most part, the game plan was solid.”
Holloway took two moments after the game to “be honest” with the media: first by sharing how he felt ahead of Monday’s game.
“I was really nervous about this game—I watched these guys play against Penn State, I watched them play against NJIT,” he said. “We didn’t want them to get any threes off, because they’re a really good shooting team.”
“So the game plan was if we cut off the threes and not let them get offensive rebounds, we had a good chance of winning,” he added.
And second, by expressing his concern for sophomore guard Jahseem Felton, who appeared to have suffered a knee injury late in the second half and did not return to the game.
“My head is all messed up because of [Jahseem] right now—I feel awful,” Holloway said. “The whole team went into the locker room, the training room, just gave him a hug and said that they love him,” he added.
The Pirates will likely be without Felton on Nov. 13, when they return to the Prudential Center to host the Monmouth University Hawks for their fourth game of the season.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
