NEWARK, N.J. — I’m going to be promoting everybody else, and since I refuse to give Elon a single cent of my money, I’m rationing out the tweets on that godforsaken app. So come join me here!
7:18 p.m. — The first vestiges of “Onward Setonia” this season. The crowd is still a work in progress, as it usually is leading up to the tip, but it’ll fill in. The Pirates later took the floor to the Jay-Z classic “Big Pimpin.” Every time I hear that one, I automatically picture Derek Jeter walking up to the plate at the Stadium. Forgive me for being a teenage Yankee fan again.
7:32 p.m. — Seton Hall amassed the apricot, but couldn’t get anything going on its first possession, getting forced into a shot clock violation. Saint Peter’s, no stranger to defense since Bashir Mason is a Dan Hurley guy, turned that into a Bryce Eaton three at the other end. Eaton and Terry Copeland ended up exchanging buckets inside the arc shortly thereafter, and it’s the Peacocks 5, the Pirates 2, with just over two minutes gone.
First half U16: Bryce Eaton was a preseason first team all-Metro (née MAAC) pick, and if you haven’t watched him yet, it’s easy to see why. Bash deserves major credit for retaining and developing him for three years, and he’s got all eight points for Saint Peter’s through the first 4:31. Seton Hall looks flustered against the Peacock defense, getting doubled up by an 8-4 count. Copeland, who looked like the Pirates’ best player in the Monmouth exhibition, has the entire offense for The Hall in the early going.
First half U12: A Seton Hall killshot (10 unanswered points) has vaulted the Pirates into a 12-8 advantage with 11:50 remaining in the opening stanza. Elijah Fisher, one of only two players that Shaheen Holloway was able to keep off last year’s 20-win outfit, is making an impact early with five points and three rebounds. If he didn’t get the extra year, it would be a much harder hill for The Hall to climb early. The defense has found a groove too, forcing misses on eight of 11 Saint Peter’s attempts and holding everyone not named Eaton scoreless.
7:57 p.m. — Trey Patterson, who has been around long enough that he committed to and played for Villanova before Jay Wright retired, just stopped the bleeding for Saint Peter’s after Seton Hall put up 17 consecutive points. If Patterson can stay healthy, he’ll be a factor for the Peacocks. His size is a matchup problem in the Metro.
First half U8: Sha has already gone ten-deep, which is standard practice around these parts. Devin Williams, the Florida Atlantic transfer, has had the best run of the second unit, going for four points on a pair of mid-range jumpers that got friendly rolls, and Illinois transfer Mihailo Petrovic has done well with the ball in his hands on a team desperately searching for steady and consistent point guard play. Seton Hall is a lot better off now than it was about 15 minutes ago, leading by a 19-10 tally with another 7:28 to get through before the intermission.
First half U4: Seton Hall is in complete control here, up by a 29-15 margin with 3:35 to play in the first half. The defense, which was in midseason form against Monmouth, has held Saint Peter’s to just 6-for-21. All Peacocks not named Bryce Eaton are only 2-for-15 against a Pirate side that is already plus-6 on the glass, to the tune of a 15-9 mark on the boards.
HALFTIME: Saint Peter’s was up 8-2, then Seton Hall got serious.
After 20, it’s the Pirates 36, and the Peacocks 18. Everyone not named Bryce Eaton is a combined 3-for-20 from the floor as Sha has played 12 guys and gotten 50 percent shooting (11-for-22) and 4-of-7 from distance. Couldn’t ask for a better opening frame than that if you’re a Hall fan.
8:49 p.m. — We’re starting the second half with the shot clock on the visiting bench side set up on the floor since the one atop the basket got knocked out of commission somehow. If you’re an older Seton Hal fan, you’ll remember the game at St. John’s in 2010 when this happened after Jeremy Hazell cut the webbing between his fingers on his shooting hand going through pregame warmups. Bobby Gonzalez got his first and only win at Carnesecca Arena that night, so things could have gone much worse. Oh, and Roddie Anderson is up to 13 points after breaking the seal on the second half with a right corner three-ball to extend the Pirate lead to 21, at 39-18.
SAINT PETER’S TIMEOUT: Bash just pulled the cord on a 30, trailing by 19 at the 16:52 mark. It’s been more of the same, which isn’t great if you’re a Peacock fan, because no one has stepped up alongside Bryce Eaton to provide an ancillary spark. Saint Peter’s as a whole is still shooting just 28 percent from the floor, but has kept it from going completely off the rails so far, on the short end of a 44-25 score.
Second half U16: One bucket apiece since the last update. It’s Seton Hall 46, Saint Peter’s 27, with 15:03 still remaining in regulation.
Second half U12: The pace in this one would make Tony Bennett and Bo Ryan blush. It’s only a 47-29 contest with 11:38 on the clock, which means only seven points have been scored in just over five minutes of game action, when Bashir Mason called a timeout.
Second half U8: Seton Hall is on a little bit of a run here, scoring seven of the last nine to expand its advantage to 54-31 with another 7:59 separating both teams from the finish. The 25 percent shooting for Saint Peter’s is something Sha will undoubtedly single out later, and we came one second from an exact media timeout, which the Twitter following would have gone apeshit for.
Second half U4: They’re going down the stretch, and Seton Hall is 3:58 away from wrapping up a typical Sha performance against the program that gave rise to games like these, leading Saint Peter’s, 60-36. Holloway has played everyone except Abdulai Fanta Kabba, who is still recovering from injury but was dressed and went through pregame warmups. Maybe we’ll see him in the final minutes, but either way, the Pirates silenced some of the criticism after last week.
FINAL: Kabba got in before the horn, and Seton Hall wrapped up a 66-42 win over Saint Peter’s that was over as soon as the Pirates uncorked their 17-0 run in the first half. Good team effort in the opener.
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