Whaley, Sanogo lead Huskies to huge road win at Seton Hall
NEWARK, N.J. — It wasn’t exactly a sea of Seton Hall blue at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night. More like puddles of blue — with a dash of Husky navy blue here and there.
A crowd of about 1,700 fans were allowed in the building for the first time this season, hoping to cheer on the Pirates’ four seniors in their vitally important final home game.
Instead, UConn played the role of homewrecker — and, in the process, possible bubble-buster.
Isaiah Whaley notched a doubledouble (17 points, 10 rebounds) and a pair of Jersey Boys had big homecomings as UConn rolled to a 69-58 victory.
Adama Sanogo, the Mali native who attended nearby Patrick School and had all but committed to Seton Hall in April before being swiped away by Dan Hurley & Co., notched career highs with 16 points and nine rebounds. R.J. Cole, who grew up in nearby Linden, added 14 points — nine in the second half.
And, of course, Hurley is a Jersey native and Seton Hall alum who began his head coaching career a few blocks away from “The Rock” at St. Benedict’s
School, turning a dilapidated program into a powerhouse.
Sound familiar? UConn (13-6, 10-6 Big East) all but clinched its first NCAA tournament bid since 2016 with the win. The Huskies also clinched third place in the league standings.
The trio of Whaley, Sanogo and Cole did enough to overcome a rather quiet 16 points by leading scorer James Bouknight (on 4for-13 shooting). In fact, after Bouknight went to the bench with his third foul just over three minutes into the second half, the Huskies extended their lead from five points to nine before he returned about seven minutes later.
Seton Hall, meanwhile, fell to 13-11 overall, 10-8 in the Big East and, in all likelihood, off the NCAA tournament bubble for now. Sandro “Mamu” Mamukelashvili , the Pirates leading scorer, finished with 20 points, but shot just 7-for-19 from the floor, as Whaley and Sanogo consistently blocked or influenced his takes to the rim.
Whaley’s putback bank with four seconds left in the half gave UConn a 27-26 lead at the break — its first lead of the game — despite shooting just 38-percent from the floor. The Hall jumped out to a 7-0 start and led 15-6 a little over six minutes into the game, during which the Huskies made just one shot and turned the ball over four times.
But UConn clamped
down defensively, swatting away Mamu on several drives to the hole. The 6foot-11 senior, playing his final game on his home floor, had eight points at the break but was just 3-for-10 from the floor. Hall shot a mere 36 percent for the half.
Sanogo and Whaley combined for 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the opening half. Bouknight added seven points and four boards.
RIM RATTLINGS
Seton Hall had about 3,000 requests for tickets, according to the Asbury Park Press, priority for allotting them out went to donors, season-ticket holders and students (who got more than 70 percent of the tickets, all free, via lottery). The remainder went to players’ families and frontline health care workers. And, perhaps not on purpose, some UConn fans.
Seton Hall had an application online last week, and anybody could apply. Applicants had to pay for the tickets up front, and if they weren’t picked, would get a refund. The maximum amount a person could procure was four tickets.
Longtime UConn fan Stephen Sanzari of Madison put in for two tickets for he and his father, Adolfo, and got both. He wasn’t the only UConn fan that made it into “The Rock.” R.J. Cole’s parents, Javicia and Robert, were in the house.
There was no floor seating; fans were grouped in twos and fours throughout the lower and upper bowls.