Seton Hall basketball fights but falls as St. John's clinches Big East crown

Seton Hall basketball fights but falls as St. John’s clinches Big East crown

Posted by author March 1, 2025 Basketball

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NEW YORK – More than few folks thought Seton Hall basketball would be the sacrificial lamb in Saturday’s coronation of St. John’s as the outright regular-season Big East champion.

The coronation happened, but the Pirates looked less like a doormat and more like the team head coach Shaheen Holloway had envisioned for this season.

They went toe-to-toe with the seventh-ranked Johnnies most of the way, betraying good defense and ball-sharing with horrific free-throw shooting in a 71-61 loss at a sold-out Madison Square Garden.

“We never really had a full roster where the guys could play together – someone was always out,” Holloway said. “So when we finally get a chance to practice together and play together, this is what happens – you give yourself a chance to be in the game. I’m just upset that we didn’t have a chance to really gel like we could have – I think we could have had a better season than what we’re having right now.”

Despite shooting 52 percent, handing out 17 assists and holding St. John’s to 43 percent shooting, the Pirates (7-22 overall, 2-16 Big East) got swept by the Red Storm (26-4, 16-2) for the first time since 2013-14. The Johnnies are the outright Big East champions for the first time in 40 years and look like a threat to advance deep into March Madness.

“We’re just getting started,” head coach Rick Pitino told a roaring crowd during an on-court postgame celebration.

“They’re having a phenomenal year,” Holloway said. “Obviously he’s a great coach, doing a great job, and when you have good guard play, you’re going to be really good – and they have great guard play.”

St. John’s now leads the all-time series 65-50, but the Pirates lead 41-37 in Big East contests. This was their first regular-season meeting at the Garden since 2022.

“I told these guys: When you get a chance to play in this building on national TV, you’ve got to come out and bring it,” Holloway said. “We’ve got some guys who didn’t bring it today, and I’m a little disappointed in that. But for the most part we battled, we gave ourselves a chance.”

5 TAKEAWAYS

1. Dylan Addae-Wusu brought it

The postgrad guard received some cheers by St. John’s fans during introductions, a classy hat tip to a guy who spent three years with the Red Storm. He rose to the moment after that, opening the game with a steal-turned-layup, and never took his foot off the pedal.

Omnipresent, handling the ball versus St. John’s pressure and hounding their guards, Addae-Wusu finished with 18 points, seven assists, four steals and three rebounds in 37 gritty minutes.

It was reminiscent of his showing against the Storm last season at the Rock: 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a runaway Hall triumph.

“Dylan does what Dylan does – he gave us defense, he gave us toughness, he made shots and he made some plays,” Holloway said. “I put the ball in his hands more today because of the way they were playing defense. I wanted to make sure we drove the basketball, and we did.”

If there was one common thread throughout this season for the Pirates, it’s that they were so much more competitive when Addae-Wusu played. The season’s biggest embarrassments (blowout losses to Butler and St. John’s at home and DePaul on the road) came while he was injured. His roles in the two Big East victories, against DePaul and UConn, were pivotal.

In a lost season, Addae-Wusu has fought the good fight.

2. Another Kadary Richmond Senior Day

A year ago this week, it was an emotional Senior Night for Kadary Richmond as the Pirates handled DePaul in what most observers thought was a Big Dance berth-clincher. It also was a bit sad that he marked the ceremony alone – his mother and siblings arrived too late to join him on the court pregame.

A year later, Richmond’s second Senior Day took place against his old program, and the crowd gave him a huge ovation as his mother and brother were by his side.

It was a strange dynamic – two senior nights, one each for rival programs – but probably the last of its kind as the fifth-year “Covid guys” cycle out of the sport this offseason. That said, Senior Night is much less significant than it used to be because so few players stay with one program for four or even three years anymore.

Richmond, who came in averaging 12.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals, seems like a lock to repeat as an All-Big East first-team honoree. He finished this one with eight points on 4-of-12 shooting, plus seven rebounds and seven assists.

He did not seem to relish facing the Hall.

Earlier in the week, when asked about the prospect of clinching the outright Big East title against his old team, he replied, “I wish it was anybody else. I did a lot of good things over there. Celebrating in front of them wouldn’t be on my to-do list, but it will be done.”

Senior guard RJ Luis paced St. John’s with 21 points and six rebounds.

“RJ Luis, to me he should be Big East Player of the Year,” Holloway said. “Not knocking anybody on their team – Kadary is great. He was great for me, he’s great for them. But what (Luis) brings to their team is how they win games.”

3. Free throws a killer, again

After shooting 8-of-17 from the free-throw line in Wednesday’s 59-54 loss at Villanova, the Pirates were brutal again in that department, shooting just 9-of-21 against St. John’s. They came into the game at a respectable 72 percent for the season, too. Addae-Wusu (7-of-13) and Isaiah Coleman (0-of-4) were the worst offenders.

“Man, free throws killed us,” Holloway said. “After we lost to Villanova, the next day we did nothing but shoot free throws. We didn’t do anything else.”

So what happened this past week?

“I wish I could tell you what’s going on,” Holloway said. “I don’t know.”

4. Godswill is a keeper

There was a sequence in the second half where Godswill Erheriene blocked a layup by star St. John’s center Zuby Ejiofor, and when Deivon Smith grabbed the offensive rebound, Erheriene recovered quickly enough to lunge and get a finger on the put-back, directing it away from the hoop.

He didn’t get credited with the second block, but that kind of hustle and agility will play well in the Hall’s film room. The sequence summarizes just how far the 6-foot-9 freshman center has come since November.

Remember, this is an 18-year-old who who only started playing hoops three years ago and missed his senior year at Long Island Lutheran High School with a foot injury.

Going against Ejiofor – one of the best centers in the country – he finished with eight points on 4-of-4 field goals and added five boards, two blocks and a steal. And he when St. John’s was on offense, he successfully pushed Ejiofor away from the hoop on several occasions – a herculean task.

“He’s a freshman and he got tired a little bit, but for the most part he battled,” Holloway said.

There is no question about it: This kid is a keeper for Seton Hall this offseason.

5. On tap: Seton Hall Senior Day

There will be a Senior Night ceremony Tuesday, before the Pirates’ final home game against Creighton (7 p.m., Fox Sports 1). Addae-Wusu, fellow postgrad guard Chaunce Jenkins (who has missed 10 straight games with a knee injury) and postgrad forward Yacine Toumi, will be recognized, along with senior managers.

Asked if Jenkins might return to action these final few games, Holloway said he hasn’t worked out at all and added, “I don’t know if he can do anything. He seeing another doctor on Monday.”

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.