Following an undefeated two-game road trip against Butler and St. John’s, the Pirates returned to the Prudential Center to host the DePaul Blue Demons for a Sunday matinee.
DePaul scored first with an easy, short jumper on the first possession, while Seton Hall failed to get on the board until Tyrese Samuel made one of two shots from the free throw line. It took four minutes from the initial field goal for another to fall as DePaul connected again to take a 4-1 lead with 15:58 remaining.
Samuel’s lone free throw fell at the 17:16 mark of the first half and it wasn’t until five minutes later that Kadary Richmond added one point onto that total. Tray Jackson finally got the lid off the basket after a 0-for-11 start with 10:39 remaining in the half on a layup as the Blue Demons led 15-4. He followed that with a monstrous dunk that awarded him a trip to the charity stripe.
The early deficit for Seton Hall did not last as the Pirates used a 16-2 run capped off by a Richmond triple to take their first lead with 5:25 left before the break. Despite offensive woes, The Hall managed to keep a 26-22 advantage after the first 20 minutes.
Richmond led the Pirates with ten points in the first half and the team’s lone make from behind-the-arc, while Jackson added seven points in just seven minutes of play.
Al-Amir Dawes connected on two free throws and Samuel tacked on another with just under 16 minutes remaining to give Seton Hall their first double-digit lead. Jackson found his way inside for a layup at the 13:20 mark of the second half to extend the lead to 13.
With the Pirates up by ten with 2:36 left in the game, DePaul began to claw back with five straight points. Though they were relentless late in the game, the Pirates held their ground and escaped with a 69-64 victory at home.
Five Pirates scored double digits in the win. Richmond led with 14 points on the strength of 9-for-10 from the free-throw along with six rebounds and four assists. Samuel also had 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. KC Ndefo added 13 points and six rebounds, while Al-Amir Dawes scored 12 points. Jackson ended with 10 points and five rebounds.
The Hall connected on just three of their 14 attempts from behind the arc, though they shot 45 times from the free throw line and connected on 66.7%.
Seton Hall improves to 8-5 in conference action and 15-9 overall as they win their third straight game. They will return to action on Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. as they host the Creighton Bluejays.
Thomas Donnelly can be reached at thomas.donnelly@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @_tommyd023.
