Seton Hall returned to Newark on Saturday night after losing two games on the road. DePaul traveled to town with hopes of stealing another win from Seton Hall after defeating them in mid-January. The Pirates, despite struggles down the stretch, avenged their loss and came out victorious against the Blue Demons behind a monster 18-point, 18-rebound double-double from senior Jared Rhoden.
Rhoden got on the board early with an elbow jumper for a 2-0 lead in the first half. This was the high of an extremely tough first half, as DePaul and The Hall were a combined 1-11 from the floor with 15:49 remaining in the first half. Seton Hall finally got the lid off of the basket with a deep ball from Myles Cale. Kadary Richmond threw it down with authority to bring the lead to 12 in the first half.
Before the first half concluded, Rhoden brought down 10 boards and the Pirates were holding DePaul to 18% from behind the arc and 17% overall. Richmond struck again with a three of his own, followed by his assist to Tyrese Samuel under the rim to extend the lead to nine before the break.
Seton Hall led 30-21 behind Jared Rhoden’s near first half double-double of 8 points and 13 rebounds. Kadary Richmond and Tyrese Samuel followed with 5 points each. Despite their lead, Seton Hall shot 30% from downtown and 38% overall.
The Hall attempted to contain the Blue Demons’ offense, though Myles Cale’s foul trouble kept him on the bench. Rhoden earned his double-double with an easy slam that he followed with a huge three-pointer. An 8-0 run from DePaul later in the half cut The Hall’s lead to one with just over 10 minutes left
Both teams traded threes before Alexis Yetna knocked down a three to bring their edge to four, 52-48. DePaul went on another run, this time 9-0, to take a 5-point lead. Jamir Harris rushed down to the other end to cut the DePaul lead to two, and Yetna tacked on two free throws to tie the game at 57 with just over four minutes to go.
The lead changed six times until Yetna and Samuel were sent to the line consecutively. Yetna missed both, though Samuel knocked both down for a 63-62 lead. Courvoisier Mccauley went coast-to-coast for a layup, but Richmond bodied his way down low for a 65-64 lead with 28 seconds remaining. Harris was fouled late and made a free throw that eventually sealed the game after a potential game-tying layup did not fall.
A career-high 18 rebounds from Jared Rhoden won the rebound battle for the Pirates, 42-41. Kadary Richmond and Alexis Yetna had big second halfs, as they had 11 points and 12 points, respectively. Richmond pulled down 7 rebounds as well.
The Hall improves to 7-8 in Big East play and 16-9 overall. They will face Butler at the Prudential Center on Wednesday, February 13rd at 8:30 pm.
