Field Level Media
Nov 10, 2021
Tyrese Samuel led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, Bryce Aiken added 15 points and Seton Hall opened its season with a thorough performance to beat Fairleigh Dickinson 93-49 Wednesday night in Newark, N.J.
Samuel went 7-for-12 from the floor and added four blocked shots. Myles Cale scored 15 points, Tray Jackson had 14 and Jamir Harris, a transfer from American, contributed 13 in his Seton Hall debut.
Like Samuel, Aiken also came off the bench for a fine night. A former Harvard star who spent most of his first season with the Pirates battling injuries, he went 5-for-8 shooting with three 3-pointers and two steals in 19 minutes.
Fairleigh Dickinson, picked ninth of 10 teams in the Northeast Conference preseason coaches' poll, shot a forgettable 28.1 percent (18-for-64) from the field. Brandon Rush led the Knights with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
The Pirates went on runs of 9-0, 9-0 and 11-0 to build a 40-20 halftime lead. Aiken scored 10 in the first half and made both his 3-point attempts.
During the 11-0 run in the final minutes, Cale knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, one of them set up by Jamir Harris' one-handed shoulder pass from out of the corner.
Seton Hall led 40-17 before Devon Dunn hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds to go, the Knights' only three of the game (1-for-15).
The Pirates clamped down on defense as they controlled the rest of the game. Samuel threw down a dunk and drew a foul at 6:01 to push the lead to 76-35 and make the rest of the night a formality.
Seton Hall played without Jared Rhoden, a preseason All-Big East first-team selection, who is nursing an ankle injury suffered in practice. Kadary Richmond, a Syracuse transfer, started but only played 15 minutes, finishing with four points and six rebounds before fouling out.
--Field Level Media