1 week ago
2
Seton Hall improved to 12-2 on the season but Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway wasn’t happy with the Big East schedulers.
The Pirates had a week off between games, but traveled to Marquette to play Tuesday night, where they ended the game on a 13-0 run to pull out a 79-73 come-from-behind victory to move to 3-0 on the road and 2-1 in the conference.
Advertisement
“I’ll be honest with you, the Big East ain’t do us no favors, either,” Holloway told Dave Popkin in his post-game radio interview. “We played on the 23rd, we wanted to give the guys three days off [for Christmas] and then you only have two and a half days to prepare for a team like this, it’s kind of ridiculous. Nobody wants to say it, but I’m going to say it, that’s ridiculous.”
Still, The Hall avoided a bad road loss to a bad Marquette team (5-9, 0-3 Big East) as the storybook start to their season continues.
It was just The Hall’s fifth win in 19 appearances at Fiserv Forum.
Stephon Payne had a brilliant night with a double-double of 14 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards, and 3 blocks. He became the first Pirate with 20+ rebounds in a game since Angel Delgado tallied 23 boards against Kansas on March 17, 2018, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Advertisement
“Steph Payne, 22 rebounds, that’s unbelievable,” Holloway said.
Overall, the Pirates out-rebounded Marquette, 51-33, including a whopping 20 offensive boards.
AJ Staton-McCray shook off an early ankle sprain to finish with 14 points, making four of his first five 3-point attempts.
Budd Clark tallied 13 points, six assists and four rebounds, including a driving layup to make it a three-point game, 76-73, with 44 seconds on the clock.
After that, The Hall’s defense, fueled by the zone and some fullcourt press, forced a pair of poor shots, and they made free throws to win the game.
Tajuan Simpkins tallied 11 points, including a huge 3-pointer late and two free throws to ice it.
Advertisement
Najai Hines returned after missing two games and tallied six points and two boards in eight minutes.
“I thought we just toughed it out,” Holloway said. “Those guys that finished the game off, I called them over in the four-minute timeout and I said, ‘Listen, there’s a lot of time left. If we get three stops in a row and just don’t turn the ball over, we could get a chance to win. Don’t get no run-outs’ and I thought that was the difference.”
He added: “For us to come in and get this win, this is a big win for us.”
Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
English (US) ·