Instant reactions: Monmouth earns first win; Seton Hall is down bad
Abdi Bashir Jr. put up 28 points for Monmouth and the Pirates looked lost for answers at both ends of the floor.
NEWARK – It was plain as day that Monmouth had locked up Saturday’s game against Seton Hall when the Hawks led by 11 points with 11 minutes to go.
You could even make the argument that the game was over when Monmouth used a 10-0 run to move ahead 39-29 in the opening stages of the second half. Whenever Seton Hall threw a feeble punch, Monmouth had a counter; the inverse absolutely wasn’t true for the Pirates. There was no late-game run around the corner.
But to coach Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall didn’t lose this game at any point in the second half, but at practice in the days leading up to Saturday.
If that sounds familiar, it was just three weeks ago that Fordham stunned Seton Hall at the buzzer in Walsh Gymnasium, and Holloway said the Pirates didn’t lose the game in that moment, but at Wednesday’s practice. His guys simply weren’t practicing or preparing the right way.
In Saturday’s postgame media session, Isaiah Coleman was the first to offer that explanation.
“The older guys… we came in there (to practice) lackadaisical and it kind of carried over to the younger guys,” Coleman said. “So once they see us doing like 100 as we’re supposed to do, it’s going to carry over. So that’s on us.”
Though just a sophomore, Coleman is one of this team’s leaders as a holdover from last year’s NIT-winning squad and he was counting himself among “the older guys” in that statement.
Coleman tied a career high with 20 points Saturday, but that was not close to enough as Abdi Bashir Jr. dropped 28 and the Hawks prevailed 63-51.
If practice is the overarching culprit, Holloway is left to figure out how to get his players to commit harder each and every day.
“We just didn't look like us today,” Holloway said. “We didn't build on what we did. The two (wins) down in Charleston and coming in and have that killer instinct and – understand that we were starting a three game homestand and this was the way to start off good. Monmouth came in and like I said, they was the hungrier team. It sucks, I can't believe I'm saying that, but they were.”
Monmouth was 0-8 to start the season, with each loss looking a bit different from the last. The Hawks finally put it all together against a Seton Hall team that’s now lost to three mid-majors in a month.
Let’s dive into the other major themes from this game, turning to Monmouth’s rising star first.
Abdi Bashir Jr. is everything Seton Hall wishes it had
One guy with a killer instinct. Someone who can create his own shot, get open for his teammates and get hotter as the game goes on.
The Pirates could be a much better team if a player matching that description was on this roster. Eight games in, it’s evident that they don’t have him, the high number of new transfers aside. Chaunce Jenkins has come close, but Seton Hall has nobody like Abdi Bashir Jr.
Bashir concluded an excellent month with his 11-of-19 shooting performance Saturday. He drained six of nine threes and was responsible for the Hawks’ last 14 points of the first half.
Coach King Rice, as he did after Bashir dropped 38 on Rutgers, reiterated he was happy that Bashir would be transferring up next season, a peculiar strategy for a mid-major coach. Everything Rice says at the postgame microphone is partly performative, but he seemed serious Saturday when saying Bashir’s phone is “going to go crazy again, just like it did after Rutgers.”
“Please leave him alone,” Rice said. “We know what’s coming at the end of the year. Everybody get in line. It’s cool. We’re cool with it, all right? But leave him alone right now so he can be the kid that he’s supposed to be. So he can be the guy that can take care of his family after this.”
Maybe Seton Hall should plan a call to Bashir. Wait till this spring, of course.
Monmouth’s secondary contributors are coming along
Bashir alone can’t do everything for Monmouth, which is why it was great to see Jack Collins, Jaret Valencia, Madison Durr and Cornelius Robinson Jr. have decent-to-good games in their roles.
Collins had tallied just 36 points through seven games before going off for 25 in last week’s loss to Presbyterian. He had nine of his 13 points Saturday in the second half, including all three of his threes. Rice said he needs to do a better job of getting Collins open looks.
“Earlier in the year, we were shooting too quick. Jack would get it if we don't shoot so fast,” Rice said. “All right, we're supposed to go three, four sides, but I do give a lot of freedom. So then someone shoots before he gets around to Jack, so now we're slowing down. We're screening, we're making people play defense longer and then all of a sudden the defense makes a mistake. Jack gets four or five open ones and everybody in the building knew they were going in. We have to slow down and play more together.”
Valencia, who missed the start of the season after recovering from hernia surgery, is back in the flow of things and had 11 points, nine boards and four blocks. Durr’s game shouldn’t be overlooked, as the point guard tallied four assists and four steals while the Hawks were plus-19 when he was on the court. And Boog Robinson had an important stretch in the second half once the Pirates pulled within four, making back-to-back layups and grabbing a defensive rebound that turned into one of Collins’ threes.
No easy solutions for Pirates’ offense
Seton Hall did a little bit of everything wrong Saturday.
The Pirates shot 5-of-21 from three; the Hawks shot 10-of-21, because they were getting cleaner looks. Hall forced more turnovers but somehow scored fewer points off turnovers than Monmouth did, a measly nine. Just two points came on the fast break as any sort of transition offense was absent.
On Seton Hall’s very first possession of the game, Garwey Dual wasted time late in the shot clock by doing a pump fake behind the arc and trying to work his way inside. It became a shot-clock violation – one of two called on the Pirates in the first five minutes alone. Bashir scored the game’s first points on the next trip, and it was off to the races.
Emmanuel Okorafor missed two free throws during the second half, but he was gifted another chance due to a Monmouth lane violation on the second. The big man missed yet again, eliciting groans from nearby fans. Dual was the next Pirate to the line; the crowd really started to revolt when he went 0-for-2.
This team, as always, needs shooters, and the window to add new players to the roster ended months ago. A no-doubt starting point guard would help loosen up this offense, too, but no one has yet to emerge.
………
Thanks for stopping by. I tried something different today with a postgame newsletter rather than waiting for the morning, though it probably isn’t something I’ll keep experimenting with going forward. It’s a good format for covering a single game, but I obviously want to keep a broader view of the sport in New Jersey the rest of the season.
No cleaning the glass today, especially since Rutgers-Texas A&M is in progress as I publish this. Instead, a reminder that Monday’s column will be my first paywalled story of the season. Just like last season, Guarden State will be free to read twice a week – Thursdays and weekend editions – but the Monday/Tuesday story will be for paying subscribers going forward.