Seton Hall basketball holds on at Georgetown, stays in 1st place

WASHINGTON, D.C. – If you looked at the box score without watching Seton Hall basketball’s 74-70 survival at Georgetown Tuesday, you’d have no clue who pulled the Pirates out of the fire in the final three minutes.

Kadary Richmond, who dazzled with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, opened his postgame interview by explaining it.

“Dylan Addae-Wusu,” he said outside the Pirates’ locker room afterward.

He took the words right out of the mouth of backcourt mate Al-Amir Dawes, who scored 25 points and made all eight of his free throws in 40 ironman minutes.

“Yeah, my guy Wusu,” said Dawes as he stood next to Richmond, a knowing smile across his face. “We talked together as a team about locking down (in the final minutes), and Wusu did what he had to do. Proud of him.”

With Georgetown up three points and 2:36 left, Addae-Wusu snuffed out three straight Hoyas possessions by drawing a charge and recording two steals. Those led to six points that gave the Hall the lead for good. All told the senior guard took just two shots, scored a mere four points and committed five turnovers, but his teammates crediting him like that underscores the values of a squad whose surprising campaign continues.

Seton Hall (11-5 overall, 4-1 Big East) took sole possession of first place in the conference. This after being picked to finish ninth in the league's preseason coaches' poll. Georgetown (8-8, 1-4), which was picked eight in that same poll, roared back from a 16-point deficit in this game. When asked how his team was able to respond, Hall coach Shaheen Holloway gave the same answer as his two star players – and elaborated on how it unfolded.

“It was Dylan, right? I was on him,” Holloway said. “He had bad body language, and he wasn’t playing well – he let his offense dictate his defense. I took him out, we had a talk and we hugged it out and I told him, ‘Your defense is going to win the game for us.’

“And it did. He had two big stops down the stretch, and that’s what it’s all about.”

As a result Seton Hall remains red hot, following up wins over 23rd-ranked Providence and seventh-ranked Marquette by avoiding a trap that might well have felled a softer, less-connected squad. Make no mistake: There are no style points for conference road wins.

There’s only a W, and they rarely come easily.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

1. Free-throw shooting delivers again

After many years of watching the program struggle at the stripe, it’s jarring to see Seton Hall close out games from that spot with such confidence. The Pirates now shooting 76 percent from the line this season. Not only did they convert 13 of 16 freebies Tuesday, but they consistently got the ball to the right guy when the Hoyas were looking to foul.

That’s high-IQ situational basketball and not something to take for granted.

“Al-Amir Dawes makes 90 percent from the line but he don’t get there (enough) – we’ve got to use that as a weapon," Holloway said. "We did a better job of handling (late-game) pressure this game than last game. That’s something we worked on the past couple of days.”

Dawes actually is shooting 94.6 percent this season (35 of 37), and against Georgetown just one of his free throws even hit the rim.

“We know that’s what it takes to close it out," Dawes said. "We work really hard on that – we prepare.”

2. Turnovers and fatigue

After committing 22 turnovers against Marquette, the Pirates were sloppy again, committing 12 miscues in the first half alone to betray some red-hot shooting – an incredible 73 percent from the field. The struggles mostly came in the passing department as Georgetown switched to a zone; the Pirates simply threw the ball away over and over, mostly unforced.

Fatigue is definitely a factor. Playing three Big East games in six days, two of them on the road, and two of them against Top 25 foes – that’s a tall order, especially for a squad with minimal depth. One of Holloway’s biggest ongoing challenges is picking spots to rest his starters during games – especially Richmond. The playmaking ace logged 36 minutes and when he sat the offense grinded to a halt.

"I'm happy with the win, we'll take it, but these guys need a day off," Holloway said. "They're tired."

3. Historic series moment

These foes have been squaring off since 1909. Georgetown now leads the rivalry 60-59, but Seton Hall owns a six-game winning streak over the Hoyas, its longest in the series since capturing the first nine from 1909-1952.

Obviously this is not your father’s Georgetown, and first-year skipper Ed Cooley has to repair a ton of damage from the disastrous Patrick Ewing era. For example: Roughly 2,000 fans showed up for this game in cavernous Capital One Arena (capacity: 20,300).

Holloway is now 2-2 as a head coach against mentor Cooley, including 2-1 with the Pirates. Cooley credited the Hall's backcourt – “they controlled the game,” he said. Holloway tipped his hat to Hoyas sophomore Jayden Epps (30 points) and said, “That team played free, and when you play free, it’s scary.”

4. Isaiah Coleman’s homecoming

Freshman wing Isaiah Coleman hails from Fredericksburg, Va., so a big crowd of 50-plus family and friends showed up to root him on – and made themselves heard behind the Pirates’ bench. Especially as the Hall closed the game out, their noise took over the arena and clearly spurred the exhausted visitor on.

Coleman played well, scoring seven points in 13 minutes off the bench. Afterward, when he emerged from the locker room, his throng of supporters burst into raucous cheers. He greeted them one by one with hugs and high-fives.

"He's playing, he's learning and he's getting better," Holloway said.

5. Another road test coming

This was a Quad 3 victory and a must-get. Bracketologist Brad Wachtel put it this way in a social-media post: "The casual fan may not realize it, but Seton Hall beating Georgetown to avoid a second Q3 loss is just as important as any major win the Pirates have already accrued."

Saturday, by contrast, is all-upside: A Quad 1 opportunity at Butler (10-5, 1-3), which is much-improved this season.

But so are these Pirates. Georgetown was an easy game to lose. Seton Hall pulled it out because someone who had a rough night got stops when it counted most.

For Richmond and Dawes to spotlight that, unprompted, is a sure sign of the right culture.

“As long we stay level-headed and stay together,” Richmond said, “there’s nothing we can’t do.”

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at  jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball holds on at Georgetown, stays in 1st place