In what has become an unofficial rivalry between two historic Big East programs, Seton Hall versus UConn is always an intense battle, no matter where the teams are in the standings — and this year was no different. Seton Hall beat UConn, 69-68, on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Prudential Center after an incredible fourth quarter and overtime comeback from the Pirates.
After a tough loss to Georgetown, Seton Hall entered this game on a nine-game losing streak, tying the program’s longest losing streak since 2013. With a conference record of 1-12 and an overall record of 6-18, they sit at the bottom of the Big East standings.
UConn, on the other hand, is hoping to become the first team to win three straight national championships in over 50 years. They enter this game as the fourth-best team in the Big East, with a conference record of 9-4 and an overall record of 17-7. Splitting their last 10 meetings with UConn, Seton Hall looked to extend their home win streak against the Huskies to four.
The Pirates played this game without graduate guard Chaunce Jenkins, the team’s second-leading scorer, who has missed six of the last eight games with a knee injury. Graduate guard Dylan Addae-Wusu and sophomore forward Scotty Middleton made their return from injury for Seton Hall, giving head coach Shaheen Holloway more players to utilize in Jenkins’ absence.
The game was a low-scoring battle early on, with the score set at 5-2 in the first five minutes of the game as both teams struggled to hit their first few shots. After a timeout, sophomore guard Garwey Dual found his rhythm, making three of his first four attempts from the field. For the Huskies, freshman forward Liam McNeeley finally scored in the half with a 3-pointer after missing his initial attempts. In their last game, UConn beat No. 24 ranked Creighton, 70-66, powered by McNeeley’s 38-point performance—the most by any Husky in the last five years and the highest by a Connecticut freshman in 52 years.
After a turnover by Husky junior guard Aidan Mahaney, UConn led 17-16, but Seton Hall had the momentum. At this point, the crowd was energized, with celebrity appearances from legendary actor Bill Murray and former Husky Donovan Clingan adding to the excitement.
With a putback layup on his own shot, sophomore guard Isaiah Coleman recorded his eighth point in the half to take a four-point lead with five minutes until halftime. A dunk from Erheriene off a smooth over-the-shoulder pass from freshman guard Jahseem Felton and a mid-range shot from Middleton extended the lead to eight as the Pirates went on an 11-0 run. However, a corner 3-pointer from sophomore guard Solo Ball ended UConn’s scoring drought, bringing the deficit to five with two minutes left, 25-20.
At halftime, the Pirates led 25-22. Coleman led the team in scoring with eight points, while fellow guard Dual added six points on 3-of-4 shooting. For the Huskies, Ball was their leading scorer with eight points from two 3-pointers and a layup. After scoring 15 points in the first half of their last game, McNeely managed just four in this one.
Early in the second half, Coleman banked a 3-pointer from the top of the to key to extend the lead back to five with 16 minutes left. With the basket, Coleman has scored in double-figures in 14 of his last 17 games. Erheriene then dunked off a pass from Addae-Wusu to push the lead to seven, making it 35-28 with 13 minutes to go. The defending national champions responded with a 3-pointer from sophomore forward Jaylin Stewart, bringing the game within four points, 35-31. Minutes later, UConn would take the lead after Ball hit a 3-pointer in transition, making it 39-37 and prompting a Seton Hall timeout.
Two almost-identical corner 3-pointers from Coleman tied the game at 43 with six minutes remaining. Dual would then hit a 3-pointer of his own to give Seton Hall a 48-47 lead before the Huskies took a timeout with five minutes left.
Late in the half, consecutive layups from McNeeley and a 3-pointer from junior forward Alex Karaban put the Huskies up by seven with two minutes left in the game— an eight-point swing that seemingly put the game out of reach for the Pirates.
The Pirates mounted a comeback with a layup from Addae-Wusu, eventually cutting the deficit to just three with 12 seconds remaining. After a five-second violation on the Huskies, the Pirates regained possession with the score at 58-55. Following a missed dunk from Erheriene, Addae-Wusu hit a clutch 3-pointer with four seconds left to send the game to overtime, 58 all.
After trading free throws early on in overtime, an easy layup by junior center Tarris Reed Jr. gave the Huskies a five-point lead, 68-63, with less than a minute remaining. Down by five, a Hail Mary-like pass from McNeeley resulted in a turnover, giving Seton Hall possession with 50 seconds remaining. The Pirate would then score, and the game was 68-65 with less than 30 seconds left. After Dual stole the ball on the other end, Coleman was fouled and made both free throws to cut the deficit to one.
At this point in the game, the Huskies had struggled against Seton Hall’s inbound pressure, committing multiple turnovers in doing so. After the free throws, Dual and Middleton swarmed Ball off the inbound, pressuring him into a steal. After missing his initial shot, a putback layup from Middleton with three seconds remaining earned the Pirates the win, 69-68, as the Huskies missed at the buzzer.
Coleman was the leading scorer for the Pirates with a game-high 23 points, in addition to eight rebounds. Recently named to the Late Midseason 20 for the Wooden Award, Karaban led the Huskies with 20 points, while Ball followed with 11 of his own on 4-of-13 (30%) shooting.
Late-game hero Middleton finished with seven points and five rebounds in 19 minutes of game time after missing the last few games due to injury. Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway praised the sophomore after the game.
“One of the best things about Scotty is his desire to play basketball,” Holloway said. “That is why he and I get along so well. He just cares about winning and playing, and he made some plays down the stretch for us.”
Facing his alma mater for the ninth time as head coach of the Huskies, coach Dan Hurley is now 5-5 against the Pirates, and just 1-4 in Prudential. “Credit Shaheen, and credit their guys for fighting back at the end of regulation and overtime,” said coach Hurley after the game,” and discredit us for putting forth a regrettable performance.”
UConn struggled all game with turnovers, including three in the final 48 seconds of the game alone. Hurley said that Seton Hall just “came out and played really, really hard” and that “having [Addae-Wusu] helped them a lot.” Also returning from injury, Addae-Wusu was disruptive in this game, recording a steal and several deflections on defense. He also scored when it mattered most, hitting the game-tying three to send the game to overtime with four seconds left.
“Everybody knows Shaheen is a great coach,” Hurley said, “and with the [right] resources, he’s going to be middle to top of this league competing for NCAA berths and conference trophies.”
This echoes a comment Hurley made in a NJ.com article where he said that Seton Hall, like all schools, will struggle without proper NIL resources.
The mutual respect between the two Seton Hall alumni is clear, as Holloway expressed how supportive Hurley has been during what has been a tough season for him and the Pirates.
“Dan’s been unbelievable to me. He’s given me advice…and has been an unbelievable person for me to lean on during this time,” Holloway said.
He also mentioned the support he's gotten from fans, with many sending encouraging messages.
“I’ve been getting support from a lot of our fans,” he said. “A lot of emails [saying], ‘Coach were with you,’ ‘Coach, we got your back,’ and that goes a long way.”
Holloway also said that the energy of the crowd was “needed” and definitely contributed to the Pirates’ victory.
With Big East tournament play less than a month away, Holloway said that this is the win that the team needs to “get some good momentum going into the tournament.”
After falling to the Marquette Golden Eagles, 80-56, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Pirates return to Prudential Center to face the Xavier Musketeers on Sunday, Feb. 23.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
