Rutgers Falls to Seton Hall in Battle of New Jersey
SETON HALL 77 – RUTGERS 63 Unable to build off the momentum they earned by beating Purdue last week, Rutgers fell to cross-state rival Seton Hall 77-63 on Sunday night…
NEWARK, NJ – DECEMBER 12: Myles Cale #22 of the Seton Hall Pirates drives to the basket as Caleb McConnell #22 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights defends during the second half of a game at Prudential Center on December 12, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall defeated Rutgers 77-63. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
SETON HALL 77 - RUTGERS 63
Unable to build off the momentum they earned by beating Purdue last week, Rutgers fell to cross-state rival Seton Hall 77-63 on Sunday night in Newark.
Rutgers was hanging tough with the Pirates for a majority of the first half; the score was knotted at 23 after Rutgers' Caleb McConnell nailed a jumper to tie it with 4:18 to go before halftime. However, the Pirates exploded down the stretch offensively, scoring 14 unanswered points, and carrying a 10-point lead into the break.
After Kadary Richmond and Jared Rhoden hit back to back buckets to put Seton Hall up 27-23; Richmond came back to nail down a three pointer to expand the lead to seven. Bryce Aiken would later follow with a three-pointer of his own to blow the game open at 37-23.
Seton Hall, who improved to 9-1 on the season, never looked back.
"It's been al ong week especially with the great win we had on Thursday," said senior guard Caleb McConnell. "We had a game plan and I just feel like we didn't execute the game plan tonight. We jsut have to be better. We didn't come here and play Rutgers basketball. They did a better job on both ends tonight."
Aiken was really difficult to handle for Rutgers on Sunday. He scored a game high 22-points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-7 from downtown and a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
Aiken was one of five Seton Hall players in double figures. Rhoden, 16 points, Richmond added 12, while Alexis Yenta and Myles Cale each contributed 10 points for the Pirates.
Rutgers had four players in double figures, led by McConnell and Clifford Omoruyi who each contributed 13 points for RU. McConnell also led the way with 12 rebounds. Geo Baker had 11 points, and Ron Harper Jr. had 10 points in defeat.
Twice Rutgers was able to close the gap to six points in the second half, but Seton always had an answer.
"You know we just never seemed to get that stop. There was that long possession there where the ball kept getting tipped out of bounds. But we just didn't play well. You've got to play well when they have a good basketball team," Coach Steve Pikiell said afterwards.
Rutgers (5-5) will host Rider on Saturday at 5 p.m.
