Seton Hall basketball gets reality check from Iowa, red-hot Murray
NEWARK – Shaheen Holloway didn’t sugarcoat his first loss as Seton Hall basketball’s head coach.
He took blame, lots of it, after the Pirates got shredded at home by Iowa 83-67 Wednesday in the program’s first big test of the season.
“Our defense sucked, and I blame myself for that,” Holloway said.
He also took responsibility for player rotations that seemed to throw his team out of sync – and for leaving anchor forward Tyrese Samuel on the bench for too long due to fouls.
“Rese was playing good,” Holloway said. “I should have got him back in a little earlier, but the game was kind of moving so fast. You’ve got to learn from it.”
Seton Hall fell to 2-1 as Iowa (3-0) outscored the host 28-11 from the free-throw line, committed just eight turnovers and proved to be the more polished, cohesive unit – with the help of potential All-American Kris Murray, who racked up 29 points and 11 rebounds.
“I’ll take the blame anytime we lose,” Holloway said. “It’s on me.”
Adding to the frustration: The Pirates could not take advantage of raring-to-go crowd of 8,900, including a rabid student section of roughly 1,300 that filled up the entire circle behind the visiting-bench baseline.
“Really hot, great crowd,” Holloway said. “I thought the student section was unbelievable.”
This matchup was part of the Gavitt Games, which pits the Big East against the Big Ten each November. Seton Hall is now 3-3 in the event, which has created good buzz for the sport in mid-November, a time when football reigns. The series' contract expires after the fall of 2023, right before the Big Ten adds UCLA and USC.
The Big Ten, perhaps not as down as widely believed, leads this year's matchups 4-1 with three contests left.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
1. Kris Murray is legit
A dozen NBA scouts, including former Seton Hall standout and current Chicago Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas, were at the Rock for a reason. That reason was Murray. The 6-foot-8 junior guard, whose brother Keegan was an All-American last season and is now an NBA rookie with the Sacramento Kings, put the game on his shoulders like only a superstar can.
Holloway had to make the difficult choice of doubling Murray and leaving Iowa’s shooters, or entrusting his guys to man up against the versatile scorer. He went with the latter – Holloway didn’t employ a ton of doubling at Saint Peter’s, either – and Murray made the Pirates pay. Every time the Hall got within striking distance, bringing the crowd to the verge of a boil, Murray responded with a bucket.
He shot 10-of-20 from the field, made all six of his free throws, and committed nary a turnover in 37 minutes.
“The thing about him is, he never rattles,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “You can get physical with him and you can rotate guys on him; he’s going to do what he does. 29 and 11 – that’s a pretty good night on the road against a very physical and athletic team.”
As Seton Hall fans know, it’s nice to have an elite bucket-getter.
2. The Samuel conundrum
The two turning points of this game involved Tyrese Samuel. After the Pirates raced out to a 10-2 lead with the 6-foot-10 senior owning the paint, he picked up two fouls, went to the bench, and the Hall's interior collapsed on both ends. Iowa, which is not known for its inside play, posted a 16-6 edge in paint points in the first half to stake a 34-22 lead into the break.
In the second half, when the Hall rallied to cut the deficit within four, Samuel picked up his third foul on a questionable call and went to the bench. Iowa ripped the rug out from under the Pirates. As Holloway noted, the big fella rode the pine too long. He finished with nine points and eight boards in just 13 minutes and was the only Pirate to post a positive double figure in the plus-minus (plus-11).
“The game definitely changed,” said postgrad guard Jamir Harris, who scored 11 points. "Rese was in his way to a big game…being a force in the paint and giving us a lot of momentum.”
The situation reinforced the main concern from the preseason: With power forward Alexis Yetna sidelined for a couple of months by a knee injury, Seton Hall is dangerously shy on interior bulk. Iowa exploited that.
3. Changes coming?
Holloway expressed disappointment in the way his second unit performed. Look for him to rethink some of his player combinations going forward.
"We came out with great defense, great intensity," he said of his starters. "I made some subs, and normally when I make subs, our energy goes up. It kind of went down tonight."
The coach also lamented stagnant movement on offense and said he'd like to see more from junior point guard Kadary Richmond (11 points, 3 assists in 21 minutes).
"Kadary had a stretch in the second half where he drilled the ball (attacking the rim) three straight times; he’s got to do that a lot," Holloway said. "There’s no reason for him not doing that all the time, he’s supposed to be the guy on our team. Second team all-Big East, he’s got to learn to take the game over. And I think this is us learning each other."
4. Hazell in Hall of Fame
There was a nice surprise on the video board in the second half: The athletic department announced that Jeremy Hazell, the fourth-leading scorer in program history, will headline its 2023 Hall of Fame class. Hazell racked up 2,146 points from 2007-2011 and was a three-time All-Big East selection. In 2008-2009 he averaged 22.7 points per game. When he got hot, he was virtually unstoppable. One of the most electrifying Pirates in recent memory.
Also in the 2023 Hall of Fame class are Jim Duffy (baseball), Kathy O’Reilly (basketball), Peter Economou (swimming) and Julia Sandiford (track & field).
5. Big picture: Onus on Orlando
Wagner, coached by former Hall standout Donald Copeland, visits the Rock Sunday (the Seahawks own a win at Temple this season). Then comes an important proving ground at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando over Thanksgiving weekend. The Pirates’ resume could use a signature win and they’ll have a chance against Memphis on Thanksgiving night. The Tigers are 1-1 with a loss to Saint Louis and a win over Vanderbilt. They’re ranked 29th by the analytics website Kenpom.com.
Will this experience help them turn a corner?
“We’re still a new team, still learning each other, still trying to find everyone’s niche,” Samuel said. “This is a lesson at the end of the day.”
Harris said Holloway’s emphasis in the locker room was simple.
“He said there’s no Ls, only lessons,” the North Brunswick native said. “That was the last message he gave us.”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball gets reality check from Iowa, red-hot Murray
