Seton Hall beats pesky NJIT
NEWARK, N.J. » Kevin Willard has more than very three talented seniors on No. 22 Seton Hall. His young kids are starting to step up.
Senior Desi Rodriguez scored 19 points and Seton Hall used an 18-2 second-half run to shake off pesky NJIT and post an 82-53 victory on Saturday.
Sophomore Myles Powell added 13 points for the Pirates (4-0), Myles Cale had 11 and fellow freshman big man Sando Mamukelashvili added 11 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots on a day that Willard decided to give senior center Angel Delgado some rest after he tweaked a calf in the second half.
“The other guys gave us a lot of energy,” Rodriguez said of the bench. “Myles Cale played well, Eron Gordon (seven points, three assists) played well, Sandro played well. Our starters were sluggish today and they came and picked us up and ran up the score. That was good for us.”
Willard said he talked to Mamukelashvili on Friday because the native of the Republic of Georgia was a little frustrated after three games. He told the 6-foot-10 forward he was close, sometimes a step slow or just in the wrong position.
He got it right on Saturday along with Powell, who starts, and Cale, who had a 3-point basket and a three-point play in the big run in helping the Pirates win their 20th straight non-conference game at the Prudential Center.
Rodriguez was the stabilizing senior. He was 7 of 13 from the field, hit all three free throws and added seven rebounds.
“Desi is an elite player,” Willard said. “He has put the work in, he has the confidence. He is scoring in so many different ways. He is playing at a very high level.”
Senior Khadeen Carrington added nine points as the Pirates beat NJIT for the sixth time in as many games. The big surprise was Delgado being held to five points and two rebounds in 16 minutes, playing only 2 minutes in the second half.
“He has logged a lot of minutes already,” Willard said of Delgado, who led the nation in rebounding last season. “He’s a workhorse, so I kind of gave him the night off, which he deserves.”
Abdul Lewis had 10 points and five rebounds to lead the Highlanders (12), who drew within 39-35 after scoring the first five points of the second half. Chris Jenkins added nine points for NJIT, which is winless in 15 games at the Prudential Center, which is about a mile from its campus. WEST VIRGINIA 111, MORGAN STATE 48 » Daxter Miles had a career-high 32 points to leading No. 24 West Virginia over Morgan State.
The Mountaineers (2-1) had control from the start, opening the game with a 14-3 run.
WVU finished the game shooting 45 of 77 (58 percent) from the field.
Jevon Carter added 16 points or West Virginia while Beetle Bolden had 13 points and freshman Teddy Allen added 10.