Zielonka: Rutgers steals Seton Hall’s spotlight ahead of Hardwood Classic
Seton Hall has the better resume. Seton Hall has home court on Sunday. But Rutgers has all the thunder now.
I’m opening this column by discussing Seton Hall instead of Rutgers, because if I don’t, I think Jared Rhoden might come looking for me.
You might remember from my Pirates season preview that during Big East media day, Rhoden gladly and politely took the program’s preseason ranking to task. He said Seton Hall coming in fifth in that poll “really hurt.”
“I actually think we’re going to be one of the top two teams that finish in the Big East this year, and not only one of the best teams in the Big East, but we’ll be one of the best teams in the country when it’s all said and done,” Rhoden said at the time.
Now it’s Dec. 10. And what do the Pirates have, if not the resume of one of the best teams in the country?
No bad losses. One of the best scoring offenses and scoring margins in the country. A road win over a Michigan team ranked No. 4 at the time. And now, a solid, hard-earned win over No. 7 Texas.
What was on Rhoden’s mind after last night’s win?
“I think it just shows how much people doubted us,” Rhoden said. “You know, we were ranked fifth preseason in the Big East, and I think that it just shows how good of a team we actually are, and how deep we actually are.”
What’s so comedically ironic about Seton Hall’s position now is that even coming off another impressive ranked win, it’s still going to end up with second billing entering its next marquee matchup, the Garden State Hardwood Classic.
From out of nowhere, a team that really was being doubted at every turn showed up Thursday night and knocked off the No. 1 team in the country.
Seton Hall has the better resume. Seton Hall has home court on Sunday. But Rutgers has all the thunder now.
I didn’t predict myself writing any of that Thursday until late in the Rutgers-Purdue game. Even with a few minutes left on the clock, I figured Purdue was going to escape Piscataway with a win, tweaking the prevailing narrative to, “Rutgers finally found its identity, nearly converting the biggest win in program history.” Ron Harper Jr. had other ideas.
Steve Pikiell was not one for “I told you so’s” Thursday, even when directly asked if beating No. 1 Purdue gave him a feeling of vindication after such a rocky start to this season.
“I believed in this team for the whole time,” Pikiell said. “These guys know it. We’re not that far away even though we’re a couple 3-point bombs away from being probably where we would like to be, but we’ve hit a lot of obstacles. I don’t need to be vindicated – these kids work their tail off. They do all the right things.”
New Jersey knows about feeling snubbed. Is there a more “big brother-little brother” relationship than New York’s with New Jersey? For these basketball programs, it extends to their conferences, where Seton Hall is left overshadowed by Villanova, UConn and even St. John’s in greater Big East lore and Rutgers has never quite fit in with the Big Ten.
But on Sunday night in Newark, these teams deserve the spotlight, and any national college basketball pundits not directing your attention that way aren’t worth their own weight in Gatorade. There’s plenty of time left in this season, but we could be looking at not one but two NCAA Tournament teams facing off at the Rock. More to the point: Locally, the hype might reach an all-time high.
The rivals could not hammer out a deal to play in 2020-21 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that, Rutgers won two of the past three meetings – both times at home, and both times, it should be noted, while Seton Hall was ranked in the Top 25.
Rutgers fans feel Kevin Willard was trying to avoid the game last year. Seton Hall fans will want revenge on Rutgers for a 20-point beatdown in 2019, not to mention wrest back the mantle of New Jersey’s preeminent hoops program after Rutgers stole their moment Thursday.
I’ll be in Newark for Guarden State and Field Level Media. It’ll be a night to remember.
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Time to clean the glass and send you on your way into the weekend:
Geo Baker returned to practice before the Purdue game, Pikiell said – then caught the flu that was going around the team and had to sit out a fourth game. No promises were made, but it seems to me he is on a trajectory to return Sunday against Seton Hall.
Both teams’ big men picked up injuries during Thursday’s action. In Cliff Omoruyi’s case, the visual looked scarier than the final product ended up being. He grabbed for his neck after falling to the floor late in Rutgers’ game but only came off the floor for a few minutes. For Seton Hall, Ike Obiagu hurt his ankle early in the first half and never returned; the severity of that injury is unknown for now.
Harper dropped 30 points and 10 rebounds on Purdue, gaining speed as more time went on. Amazing quote from him after the game about the end-of-game sequence: “I huddled these guys up, and I’m like, ‘God forbid they score, give me the ball, and I’m going to send them home.’”
Bryce Aiken didn’t garner quite the same amount of attention with his game-clinching 3-pointer for Seton Hall, but it tells me something about the program’s belief in the super senior that Willard would draw up a play for him to shoot when he stood at 0-for-7 from distance at that point. The “clutch skill” activated for the Harvard transfer on that one.
As Steve Kornacki pointed out, Monmouth nearly made it a Jersey trifecta with its close loss to St. John’s, 88-83. The Johnnies had trouble putting that game away, and Monmouth was too sound and experienced to let them get off easy. Thanks to Walker Miller, George Papas and Shavar Reynolds, the Hawks went from down 11 with 3:32 left to down two and a chance to tie or win. Posh Alexander’s hustle play on a free-throw rebound situation finally iced it for St. John’s. The Hawks’ seven-game winning streak is no more, but they are ranked No. 135 by KenPom, second in their conference only to Iona.