NEWARK and PISCATAWAY, N.J. – A few observations and notes from two Big East openers this weekend.
On Friday Seton Hall edged St. Peter’s 52-50 at the Prudential Center on Eugene Harvey’s running one-hand trey at the buzzer. On one side the Hall did not play their best. This is not to discredit St. Peter’s, a club that competed and came in with a mindset of winning, not just keeping it close. And a number of the areas Seton Hall struggled were due to St. Peter’s effectiveness.
In a 66-possession contest the numbers for offensive efficiency:
St. Peter’s 77
Seton Hall 80
- To their credit, St. Peter’s was not rattled, they aimed for a half court setting and dictated the tempo. Wesley Jenkins led St. Peter’s with 16 points and hit a jumper that put the Peacocks ahead with 3 seconds to go.
- Jeremy Hazell did not score until he hit a free throw with 5:57 remaining – in the game! Hazell finished with 2 points, both from the line as he was 0-10 from the field. “St. Peter’s did a good job on Jeremy (Hazell),” Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez said. “They switched and made someone was right on him.” As a shooter he has the green light. After missing the first few, however, he began firing fall-always from three-point land. St. Peter’s did the job on defense, but some of Hazell’s attempts were ill advised.
- Herb Pope is the real deal. The New Mexico State transfer gave the Hall another inside presence and a solid stat line : 6 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists an 4 blocks in 35 minutes.
- Harvey did not start for Seton Hall. Gonzalez noted that the senior guard missed several practices with a thigh injury so Jordan Theodore got the nod. Coaches tell you it’s not who starts but who finishes. Harvey was a huge factor with a team-high 16 points and the game-winner.
- Keon Lawrence was on the Pirate bench in street clothes. Gonzalez would not comment on the Lawrence situation and suspension except to say it was under review and “(Lawrence) is still part of our family.
On Saturday at the RAC, Rutgers defeated Marist 74-67. It was not Groundhog Day, though it was a year to the day Rutgers barely edged the Red Foxes. This victory was more of a dictating the pace variety, though Marist made a late run to trim a 16-point deficit to seven. Rutgers coach Fred Hill commented that he opted for a quicker pace and their MAAC opponents complied. In a 71-possession game the offensive efficiency:
Rutgers 104
Marist 94
- Mike Rosario led the way with 17 points but the good news , to paraphrase the Beatles, he ‘ got by with some help from his friends’. Patrick Jackson, a sophomore, who scored all of 10 points last year added 15. Gregory Echenique established himself against the smaller Marist frontcourt with 13 points and 10 boards. Having a complementary scorer or two on a consistent basis can only help. Rosario even noted a few added scorers strengthens the attack and takes some double team and defensive pressure off him.
- Rutgers had assists on 19 of their 27 field goals. Mike Coburn led with seven while James Beatty had four. These figures show that Rutgers not only distributed the ball but spread it around generously.
- Marist’s inside game was negated by Rutgers’ nine blocks. Hamady Ndaye came off the bench to inset energy while rejecting six shots, Echenique added three.
- Chucky Martin has a number of new faces in his rotation. Notable was 6-7 freshman swingman Rob Johnson. The game leader with 18 points, Johnson can do damage in the paint and operate on the perimeter as well.
- Another bright note for Rutgers: they committed only 11 turnovers for an excellent 16% turnover rate. And that is for an uptempo opener in November.
