Newark, NJ—The Hall tipped off the 2023 season at their familiar spot, the Prudential Center against Monmouth and it wasn’t even close for the Pirates.
Seton Hall (1-0) beat Monmouth (0-1) 79-52 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey in front of an announced crowd of 8,626.
SHU has a new coach pacing along the sidelines Shaheen Holloway, a 2000 alumnus. Holloway becomes the first Pirates graduate to lead the basketball program since all time great Richie Regan ’53 led Seton Hall from 1960-70.
Seton Hall’s first game at the Rock was against the Hawks on Nov 11, 2007, an 89-81 overtime victory.
Seton Hall went on 9-0 and went up 29-15 at 5:05 mark with thunderous dunk by Tray Jackson. Al-Amir Dawes was a complete floor general breaking the Monmouth’s guards ankles early and often in the paint. He capped off the half with seven points and the Pirates went into the break with a 36-17 advantage.
Tyrese Samuel looked 100% healthy gliding down the court after battling some injuries last season, scored 11 points in 19 minutes of playing time. Harris and Dawes were definitely a difference maker for the Pirates, they ran the Hall’s offense flawlessly.
“It was fun out there with the crowd, it was electric for my first time ,” Dre Davis said.
Pirates coach Halloway shuffled the lineup alternating Dawes and Harris at the point throughout the game, things started to slow down for the Pirates offense in the second half and they were able to create space and make their shots in the half. Jamir Harris hit a deep three at the top of the key to extend SHU lead to 58-30 at the 11:58 mark. They led 68-42 at the 5:52 mark with Dawes leading the way with 10 points, Samuel had nine, and Davis chipped in eight in that span.
Seton Hall tighten up their defense and held Monmouth to just 29.8 % shooting from the floor and 2-for-20 shooting from three-point range for the game. The Hawks couldn’t buy a basket in the second half due to the added pressure on the wings by the Pirates.
In the second half, Seton Hall went on 9-0 run at 14:27 mark to upped the score to 56-27 and cruised from the point on. The Hawks battled but they couldn’t get closer than a 24-point deficit the rest of the contest.
Tray Jackson led the Pirates with 12 points and Tae Davis chipped in 11 points along with eight boards.
“It is going to be a working progress with this team, this is maybe our sixth time with this group as a team practice and games. It is going to be a working progress. The sad thing it is going to have to come through games because everything is coming so quickly. On to the next.”Seton Hall Shaheem Halloway said.
Freshman forward Myles Foster led Monmouth with 18 points and fifteen boards.
“The difference between last year and this year, we have players that are very athletic and can create their own shots. Having those components makes us a very exciting team, we just have to clean up a few things.” Seton Hall Tyrese Samuel said in the post conference.
Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to play on Saturday at the Rock, November 12 when it play St. Peter’s for a noon tip-off.
