NEWARK – It’s tempting to overreact to college basketball exhibitions, but one thing can be said with certainty off of Seton Hall’s 68-60 win at NJIT Saturday: Pirate standout Kadary Richmond gave everyone their money’s worth.
The senior point guard racked up 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists and shot 9-of-10 from the field, controlling the action and, in truth, passing the rock well enough for at least 15 assists.
Senior wing Dre Davis (19 points, 7 rebounds) and postgrad guard Al-Amir Dawes (13 points) paced the Pirates.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
1-Take exhibitions in stride
Resist the temptation to draw sweeping conclusions from an October exhibition. Coaches experiment in these settings, and they also hold stuff back.
For example, though Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway started what will probably be his standard starting lineup of Richmond, Davis, Dawes, Dylan Addae-Wusu and Jaden Bediako, he rode an atypical lineup for a key first-half stretch: Dawes at the point with subs Jaquan Sanders, freshman Elijah Coleman, Sadraque Nganga and freshman Arda Ozdogan. (Freshman forward David Tubek, who is expected to be in the rotation, continues to be sidelined by an undisclosed injury).
On the NJIT side guard Elijah Buchanan – who scored 25 in a recent scrimmage against Marist – limped off after a first-half collision. He could have returned if the game counted but was held out as a precaution.
2-NJIT executed superbly on offense
For a team projected to finish last in the America East Conference – a total rebuild in Grant Billmeier’s first year – the Highlanders looked like a cohesive unit on the offensive end. Their screening, spacing and ball movement in their motion offense gave Seton Hall fits.
NJIT shot 7-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half, and most of those were clean looks, to take a 38-33 lead into the break. Postgrad guard Adam Hess (finished with 16 points) had a hot hand and freshmen guards Tariq Francis (11 points, 4 assists) and Jake Goldberg (12 points) played well. Senior guard Mekhi Gray (10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) played well.
3. Seton Hall’s bigs, bench struggled
Bediako drew two fouls in the first four minutes and two more in the opening two minutes of the second half.
His backup, Elijah Hutchins-Everett, racked up four fouls before the 12-minute mark of the second half.
NJIT’s 6-foot-10, 230-pound postman postgrad Kjell de Graaf consistently outjockeyed both Hall bigs for position. The Pirates actually looked better with a small, no-center lineup that featured 6-6 wing Dre Davis defending the paint. Obviously that’s not optimal for Big East action.
All told, NJIT’s bench outscored Seton Hall’s by a whopping margin of 23-1.
4. Kadary Richmond did his thing
The Hall’s standout guard was head-and-shoulders above everyone on the court. Beyond his stat line, his passing was off-the-charts good. Richmond could have logged 15 assists if his teammates shot the ball better. He also doled out several “hockey” assists – passes that led to an assist.
The senior’s shot selection was excellent, he boxed out on the defensive glass and was in total command when he was on the court.
5. Gotta love October hoops
The proliferation of charity exhibitions in college basketball, replacing one of the two traditional closed-door scrimmages, is good for the sport. Thousands of dollars were raised Saturday for Team Walker, a nonprofit run by former Hall standout Jerry Walker that helps kids and families in his hometown of Jersey City.
The crowd of about 1,000 fans, two-thirds rooting for the Hall and about a third for NJIT, brought the energy in a 3,500-seat arena with outstanding acoustics and sight lines. Hopefully this event remains an October staple.