Seton Hall basketball survives Saint Peter's as Chaunce Jenkins delivers

Seton Hall basketball survives Saint Peter’s as Chaunce Jenkins delivers

Posted by author November 5, 2024 Basketball

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NEWARK – Chaunce Jenkins was perhaps the least heralded transfer of Seton Hall basketball team’s offseason, but he brought the most experience.

It was sorely needed in Monday’s season opener.

The postgrad guard from Old Dominion tallied 19 points and six rebounds as the Pirates survived Saint Peter’s 57-53 before a crowd of about 6,000 at the Prudential Center.

With 10 new players, the Pirates looked like strangers for long stretches, but Jenkins pulled them out of the fire. It probably was not an aberration – he was the leading scorer in both of their closed-door scrimmages.

On a foul-fest night when buckets were hard to come by, Jenkins shot 9-of-10 from the free-throw line and 4-of-9 form the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. His plus/minus of plus-22 was double that of anyone else.

Boston College transfer Prince Aligbe added 10 points and Evansville transfer Yacine Toumi delivered a key block late as Shaheen Holloway’s Pirates beat his former team for the third straight year since he switched programs. This was by far the hardest.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

1. Holloway hurt himself

Shaheen Holloway wears his heart on his sleeve. After this game, his wrist told the story.

The Pirates’ third-year coach conducted his postgame interview session with his right wrist wrapped in a white medical tape.

“I’m in a little bit of pain right now, sorry, I think I broke my wrist at halftime,” Holloway volunteered.

When asked what happened, he replied, “coaching stuff…coaching stuff.”

Apparently Holloway hurt his wrist while heading into the halftime locker room, with Seton Hall leading 32-27 after Saint Peter’s cut into an 11-point deficit. Early in the second half athletic trainer Tony Testa taped up Holloway’s wrist on the sideline.

Holloway was his typically blunt self afterward. He praised Saint Peter’s as “a tough, hard-nosed team,” criticized his own substitution patterns, and added, “Yes, I’m happy we won – a win I’ll take all day over a bad loss. But I’m trying to get used to these guys. I’m trying to get to know these guys, and I don’t.”

He closed his press conference by saying: “I’ve got to go to the hospital.”

2. Sloppy

Ball-handling was one of the biggest concerns all preseason and it spilled over into the opener. The Pirates didn’t just play sloppy – their 15 turnovers handed Saint Peter’s 18 points on the other end. The passing, in particular, was careless at times.

Garwey Dual’s much-anticipated debut after transferring from Providence was a mixed bag, with flashes of creative playmaking and plenty of questionable decisions. Bethune-Cookman transfer Zion Harmon got a quick hook as the backup point guard.

The free-throw shooting also was a problem, growing worse at the game unfolded. The Pirates finished 24-of-37 from the stripe (64.9 percent).

3. Rotation surprises

The absence of 6-foot-9 Louisville transfer Emmanuel Okorafor, who remains out after suffering a serious dehydration episode last month, meant freshman Godswill Erheriene got reps in the Pirates’ closed-door scrimmages, and he must have impressed Holloway because he was in the starting lineup.

The 6-foot-9, 215-pounder from Nigeria held his own through six minutes, flushing a feed from Dual, grabbing two boards and altering multiple missed shots on the defensive end. But got into foul trouble early in the second half and never got back into the flow.

Also starting were Dual, Jenkins, Aligbe, Dylan Addae-Wusu. Sophomore wing Isaiah Coleman, a presumed starter when healthy after serving as the sixth man last winter, sat out with a muscle strain.

Holloway, who is still figuring out what he has, played all 11 available scholarship guys. Wisconsin transfer Gus Yalden got rock-star treatment from the crowd during his reserve minutes in the post.

But experimenting sometimes comes with a cost. The Pirates led by 11 late in the first half when a lineup with three deep subs got shredded. The spurt allowed Saint Peter’s to hit halftime within striking distance at 32-27.

4. Typical Peacocks

There were no surprises by Saint Peter’s, which returned four key players from last season’s NCAA Tournament team and brought the physicality to the Pirates. The Peacocks won the battle of the boards and ran two guys at Dual on defense, mostly keeping him out of the lane. They played chippy and it seemed to get to the Pirates at times. They certainly were not the least bit intimidated. Although all the guys who played on Holloway’s Elite Eight team in 2022 are gone, the “we do that” mentality remains.

5. Big learning curve

The Pirates looked like a team with 10 new scholarship players. These guys don’t know how to execute together yet, what their roles are, how to play for Holloway. Coleman’s absence makes it that much harder – there’s one guy who knew the lay of the land. They’ll get better, but there is a lot of learning ahead.

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