Up by 15 just four minutes into the second half of Tuesday’s game against St. John’s (STJ) at Madison Square Garden (MSG), it seemed as if Seton Hall men’s basketball's recent slump was over—until they got a taste of their own medicine.
“Seton Hall’s a tough-ass team to play against,” said STJ head coach Rick Pitino after the game. “We had to pull a ‘Seton Hall’ to win this game.”
The losers of two-straight, and now three, The Pirates (14-5, 4-4 BIG EAST) brought their losing ways with them across state lines, as they fell 65-60 to the Red Storm (14-5, 7-1 BIG EAST) after being outscored 33-13 in the final 15 minutes of play.
Things looked promising for SHU through the game’s first 25 minutes, though, during which the Pirates played some of their best basketball to date. Another strong start from graduate guard AJ Staton-McCray, who scored seven of his 11 total first-half points through the game's opening four minutes, helped SHU gain an initial 12-8 lead, despite them committing four team fouls during that same span, with early foul trouble being a recurring issue for this team.
That lead grew to six points minutes later after a three-pointer by sophomore guard Trey Parker made it 16-10, with SHU shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc through eight minutes of play.
Several Pirates who were due for a good game, like senior forward Stephon Payne and junior guard Tajuan Simpkins, played well later in the first half. After a 9-2 run gave STJ a 23-22 lead with 7:22 left, Payne scored six of his nine total first-half points, while also grabbing five of his eight total first-half rebounds, over the next three and a half minutes of play to give SHU back the lead at 30-27. His six points during that span were more than he’s scored in his last four games combined.
Likewise, Simpkins entered the contest having scored just three total points in his last two games. In what must have felt like homecoming for Simpkins, the Brooklyn native surpassed that very point total in the last two minutes of the first-half alone, hitting a three-pointer after a drive and kick from Parker left him open on the wing, then a stepback mid-range jump shot with a minute left to give the Pirates a 38-30 lead—their largest of the game at that point.
STJ scored one more time before halftime, as SHU led 38-32 for their first halftime lead of the calendar year. The Pirates shot 15-for-33 (45%) from the field, and 4-for-6 (67%) from both deep and the line in the first half. Both Staton-McCray and Simpkins had 11 points at the break, while Payne followed with nearly a first-half double-double (nine points, eight rebounds), all three Pirates shooting 60% or more from the field.
Having finally put together a good first-half showing, the Pirates picked up where they left off in the second half, and then some. They opened it with a 9-0 run that gave them a 15-point lead at 47-32 with 16 minutes left in the game. After Payne cleaned up a Staton-McCray miss in transition to score the fifth point of their run, the few SHU supporters in attendance among the sea of red broke into a “Let’s Go Pirates” chant.
But that’s where the fun ended for SHU. STJ responded with their own 9-1 run, cutting the deficit to 48-41 with 11:25 left. Just 25 seconds later, senior guard Elijah Fisher converted a layup that would stand as the Pirates’ only field goal for the next eight and a half minutes, all while the Red Storm scored at will. Struggling from the line and unable to generate any offense in the halfcourt, SHU were outscored 24-10 by STJ in the remaining 11 minutes, as they ultimately fell 65-60, having dropped their last three-straight games.
“This sucks,” an exhausted-looking Shaheen Holloway said after the game about the Pirates’ three-game losing streak, “I just got to get back to the drawing board. I thought we came in with a good gameplan…and I thought for pretty much 30 minutes…we controlled the game. Then they just imposed their will, and it [all] started on the offensive glass.”
In the first half, SHU outrebounded STJ, the best offensive rebounding team in the conference, 12-7 on the offensive glass, with the Red Storm giving up 12 total offensive rebounds in their last two games combined. They also outrebounded the Red Storm 22-14 in total rebounds through the first 20 minutes of play.
But the tables turned in the second, with STJ instead outrebounding SHU 13-7 in offensive rebounds and 27-19 in total rebounds, including a crucial 20-6 rebounding advantage in the final 12 minutes of play. Holloway said this made all the difference for the Red Storm, who gained extra possessions with their effort on the offensive glass.
“We weren’t boxing out in the second half, [and] I think that was the difference,” Holloway said. “First half, we boxed out, we controlled it from a rebound standpoint, we were up 10, 11 on them in rebounds.”
While Holloway was happy with his team’s defense, he was disappointed in their offense, citing 20 missed layups and nine missed free throws as more missed opportunities and “a lack of focus” from the Pirates.
“Holding a team like St. John’s to 65 points, they [typically] score 80-something,” Holloway said. “So the defense is there, we just got to start cashing in on offense.”
Staton-McCray finished the game as the Pirates’ leading scorer with 16 points, while Simpkins followed with 14, Payne with a 13-point, 15-rebound double-double. Adam “Budd” Clark, the team’s starting point guard, scored just three points in the game, shooting 0-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 (75%) from the line.
“He got hurt last game, he hurt his quad last game in the first half,” Holloway said about Clark. “He’s a tough kid; he tried to play through it. Last couple days, he couldn’t do anything. Tonight, he pretty much played on one leg. But if you out there, you got to be there. He was out there…and just didn’t have a Budd Clark game.”
In closing, Holloway expressed further disappointment with the final result before mustering some optimism.
“This was disappointing,” Holloway said. “I thought we played well enough to win this game for a period, and to lose like that down the stretch is disappointing.”
“But there’s a lot of basketball to be played,” Holloway added. “[So] we got to keep our heads up. We got a good DePaul team on Saturday, so we got to get back to work.”
With the loss, every game going forward feels like a must-win for the Pirates, who will stay on the road to face a surging DePaul Blue Demons (11-8, 3-5 BIG EAST) team in Chicago on Jan. 24.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
