Seton Hall basketball stuns Rutgers in defensive clinic. Here are 5 takeaways

PISCATAWAY — Shaheen Holloway said it best earlier in the week: In the Rutgers-Seton Hall basketball rivalry, you throw the records out. This game is about pride.

Rutgers came in as a huge favorite in Sunday's Garden State Hardwood Classic. The Pirates brought the pride.

Thanks to a clinic in defense and hustle, the Hall gutted out a 45-43 victory, stunning the 8,500 Scarlet Knights fans who showed up looking for blood in the latest edition of the Garden State Hardwood Classic. Postgrad forward KC Ndefo earned Joe Calabrese MVP honors with 9 points, 8 rebounds and a block at the rim of standout Rutgers center Cliff Omoruyi with 1:10 left as the Pirates clung to a two-point lead.

The block of Omoruyi, who is five inches taller than Ndefo, symbolized this two-hour scrum that added up to the lowest combined point total in this series since 1947.

“I knew they were trying to get something toward the basket,” Ndefo said. “It was pride and being locked into what we have to do on defense. That’s something I thrive on, being a defensive dude.”

This marked the first road win by either side in this series since 2015, when the Hall romped a struggling Eddie Jordan team at the RAC. The home team had captured five straight.

"Credit to Seton Hall, they played harder," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. "These rivalry games, ever since I've been here, they've been (decided by) a couple of points here and there, you know, no matter what the records were of either team. In the rivalry you got to come and bring it. They brought it, and they deserved to win.”

When the final buzzer sounded, Rutgers fans rained boos on the court because replays showed Ndefo may have stepped on Seton Hall's baseline in the closing seconds while saving a ball from going out of bounds. Afterward, Pikiell and Rutgers' players said they hadn't seen any conclusive evidence of the sequence. The play is non-reviewable.

The verdict elevated Seton Hall to 6-4 and dropped Rutgers to 6-4.

Seton Hall now leads the series, which dates back to 1916, by a count of 42-31. The Pirates are 7-2 since the game became annual following the breakup of the old Big East. And Holloway is now 7-3 in his adult life at Rutgers -- 2-1 as a Seton Hall player, 4-2 as a Seton Hall assistant and 1-0 as the program's head coach.

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FIVE TAKEAWAYS

1. Good defense by both sides

Observers will say how ugly this game was, and it certainly wasn’t an oil painting.

But both teams were superb defensively, contesting shots, cutting off driving lanes helping and recovering with precision. Mucking up the flow was Seton Hall’s best chance at an upset, and that’s something Rutgers fans should appreciate; the Scarlet Knights have done it to many a better opponent over the years.

Seton Hall won this game by forcing 19 turnovers, including 12 steals. The Pirates pressured Rutgers' guards all over the court and clogged the lane when they looked inside, a dual feat that takes both athleticism and discipline. They cut off avenues to Omoruyi and held Rutgers to 32 percent shooting on the night -- and without a field goal over the final 4:01 of the second half.

“First off I want to give Coach Pikiell and their team credit, they played hard, they’re very well coached," Holloway said. "For my guys, I though the score would be something like this. We’re starting to understand who we are on the defensive end."

Junior guard Kadary Richmond had six steals alone in what was, by far, his best defensive performance as a Pirate. He also handled the ball well under pressure and probably took a lot out of Rutgers' defensive whiz Caleb McConnell, who defended him superbly but might have been sapped on the offensive end as a result.

"I’m super proud of Kadary," Holloway said. "He played way too many minutes in the first half; I didn’t think I was going to be able to play him (much) in the second half, but he and Dre (Davis) fought through it, and I’m proud of both those guys.”

Two early fouls on Omoruryi -- one a touch call, the other a needless reach far from the hoop -- took Rutgers' formidable postman out of the flow early. But he did play 25 minutes and managed just one field goal, a tribute to the Hall's interior defense.

Hat tip to assistant coach Ryan Whalen, who prepared the scouting report. Last March, when he was with Saint Peter's, the world saw how strong the Shore Regional High School grad is with defensive tactics. Also credit to Holloway for rolling the dice and playing small down the stretch. He saw that Ndefo was locked in and trusted him to man the paint.

Worth noting: Ndefo did a lot of talking on the court, to his teammates and the opponent. In such a hostile environment, you have to play with some moxie and not be a shrinking violet, Indiana-style. Ndefo embodied that moxie, grabbing every loose ball in sight. He also scored the game-winning bucket, a layup off a Femi Odukale drive and dish with 1:54 left.

"He understands," Holloway said of Ndefo, who followed him from Saint Peter's. "To have never played in this game before and to play with that sense of urgency, the guys kind of followed behind him. I thought that was huge."

2. What it means for Rutgers

There are no style points in a rivalry game. The Scarlet Knights had to turn the page from the Ohio State gut-punch with a win by any means necessary. That proved harder than it sounds.

"We tried – and in this league and with the kind of schedule that we play, you got to turn the page quickly," Pikiell said. "I thought we had our best practice yesterday. Usually, how we practice (is how) we kind of play and that didn't show today. It was a distraction, but there's a lot of distractions during the course of the season. We just kind of tried to move on from that, but it was a quick turnaround, obviously to this game. I don't like to make any excuses, but maybe it played a role in us not playing that way but you know, that's not an excuse."

The quick turnaround does matter, and so does the shock of what happened in Columbus, but Seton Hall also brought a level of physicality that might have surprised the Scarlet Knights a bit after watching film of the Pirates.

"We have got to play with much more energy, and that's on me," Pikiell said. "But credit Seton Hall and how they played."

Offensively, the issue a lot of folks feared in the preseason -- who would replace Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. in those white-knuckle possessions with a game on the line -- is rearing its head. Every close finish thus far, Rutgers has lost. It didn't help that the Scarlet Knights couldn't exploit its size advantage, scoring just two second-chance points.

"We just weren't being us," junior forward Mawot Mag said. "We weren't finishing plays."

In the big picture, Rutgers has one more chance to register a decent non-conference win -- next Saturday against Wake Forest. The Scarlet Knights are 0-3 in their competitive non-conference games this year. Once again, they'll have to get it done in Big Ten play. But don't be fooled: This is still a good team. Losing two one-possession games this week doesn't change that.

3. What it means for Seton Hall

The Pirates showed how good they can be defensively when all 10 rotational players are available and playing with the throttle pinned. They were a cohesive, aggressive, tough unit on that end of the floor. The return of junior forward Dre Davis (10 bench points) certainly helped.

This team is only going to get better as the pieces become more comfortable. This could be a turning point in the season, a sign of what's to come.

“This is a good win, a good confidence booster, it’s a good thing for our guys to see where we could be if continue to keep fight and keep growing and keep playing together, but we’ve got a long way to go," Holloway said. "This was a big win, but I don’t want to get too carried away.”

If the Pirates beat Drexel Wednesday they'll finish their non-conference resume with a 7-4 record, including two quality wins away from home -- a neutral over Memphis, which is looking better and better (the Tigers are 8-2 after beating 11th-ranked Auburn), and Sunday's triumph. Both likely will remain quad one victories at the end of the season.

After the final buzzer, Seton Hall hoisted the Boardwalk Trophy on the court and did so in unconventional fashion, turning the trophy's back side to the cameras. The back side features engravings of each winning team and year in the series.

It wasn't an accident; Seton Hall's name dominates the list.

“Going back on the rivalry, seeing the pictures of guys (from the past) holding that trophy, we knew what we wanted to do," Ndefo said. "Having that trophy is a big accomplishment for us.”

4. Crowd was raring to go, but …

The student section was packed an hour before tip-off. The “Deck the Hall” T-shirts lined the seats. The crowd was 95 percent pro-Rutgers, with some Hall fans in the upper reaches.

During introductions, the place seemed like the old trapezoid was ready to explode.

"I want to thank all the fans; very appreciative of everyone who came out tonight," senior guard Cam Spencer said. "I wish we had a better result for them."

Seton Hall did something important from the jump. By matching Rutgers’ physicality and turning the action into a meat-grinder, the Pirates took the crowd out of the game. Winning the first four minutes was huge, and that tone -- you're in for a street fight, fellas -- seemed to put both the host and its fans (most of whom probably anticipated a comfortable win) on their heels.

It wasn't a church by any means, but this was the quietest Rutgers' home court has been for a Seton Hall game since 2015.

5. A telling moment

Steve Pikiell and Shaheen Holloway like and respect each other. Having spent many years in the mid-major ranks, Pikiell was genuinely happy for Holloway and Saint Peter’s during last season’s March Madness run. Their pregame embrace was warm and they shared a long laugh.

This is important because the coaches ultimately control the future of this series, and both of these guys embrace it. Holloway grew up in the game, and Pikiell has grown to appreciate its meaning.

The Garden State Hardwood Classic is here to stay, and ultimately, the biggest winners are Jersey fans of the college game.

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 stuns Rutgers in defensive clinic