Seton Hall's Furious Comeback Results in OT Win at Penn State

Sunday, December 6

University Park, Pa.

8 p.m.

Seton Hall University

2-3,0-0Big East

Penn State

2-1,0-0Big Ten

OT 1

Seton Hall

Penn St.

Seton Hall's Furious Comeback Results in OT Win at Penn State

12/6/2020 11:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

University Park, Pa. – Playing its fourth game in seven days, the Seton Hall men's basketball team trailed at Penn State by 19 points and instead of playing out the string, the Pirates played to win. Seton Hall scored 50 second-half points to force overtime, and then senior Shavar Reynolds, Jr. (Manchester, N.J.) sank the three-pointer that put the Pirates up for good in a 98-92 win over the Nittany Lions Sunday night at Bryce Jordan Center.

It's the largest deficit Seton Hall has overcome in a game since coming back from down 23 to beat Robert Morris on Nov. 18, 2007, and it's the largest road comeback since a 15-point comeback at Providence on Jan. 24, 2008 (data before 2007-08 currently unavailable).

Senior Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) led all scorers with a career-high 30 points, one of six Pirates to score in double figures.

The Hall had trailed 37-18 with just over six minutes to go in the first half, trailed at halftime by 11, 45-34, took a three-point lead, 56-53, with 14:31 to go second half and then trailed by eight, 82-74, with 2:59 remaining in regulation before coming back yet again.

Turning Point
After trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half, Seton Hall opened the second half down by 11 and went on a 20-8 run, scoring on nine of its first 10 possessions. The combination of senior Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) and junior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) scored 11 consecutive Pirates points with Cale's three at 14:54 putting them on top and Rhoden's turnaround jumper at 14:31 putting them up three, 56-53.

Penn State recaptured the lead with a flurry of three-pointers and hung on to it until Mamukelashvili tied the game again at 73-73 with 5:46 remaining on a three from Reynolds, Jr. From there though, Penn State regrouped and went on a 9-1 run with Myles Dread hitting what seemingly could have been the backbreaking three-pointer with 2:59 on the clock, pushing the Nittany Lions up 82-74.

However, the Pirates dug in and made yet another comeback. With under two minutes to go down eight, Mamukelashvili buried a three, the Pirates got a stop on defense, and Cale drew an and-one on a layup to make it a two-point game. Penn State went for a three and missed, and it was Reynolds, Jr., who then drove to the basket and found Rhoden underneath for the tying dunk, 84-84.

In overtime, Penn State went up three, 89-86, but Cale made some critical free throws at 2:28 to pull within one. The Nittany Lions again tried a three while leading, missed, and Mamukelashvili drew a foul and put one of two in the net for an 89-89 tie.

Penn State's Sam Sessoms made a tough jumper to make it 91-89, junior Takal Molson (Buffalo, N.Y.) made one of two free throws, and the Pirates got another stop on defense. Then Rhoden got the ball to Mamukelashvili down low, and he kicked it back out to Reynolds, Jr., who swished the three and gave the Pirates the 93-91 advantage.

Penn State went to the free throw line with a chance to tie, but missed one of two. From there, the Pirates stayed solid at the free throw line, making five of six to seal victory.

Inside the Numbers

Seton Hall shot 53 percent for the game (34-for-64), 30 percent from three (7-for-23) and 66 percent at the free throw line (23-for-35). Penn State shot 46 percent overall (32-for-70), 38 percent from long distance (13-for-34) and 79 percent at the line (15-for-19).
In a reversal from Friday night, Seton Hall dominated the paint, outscoring the Nittany Lions down low, 54-30.
The Pirates had 19 assists against 12 turnovers.
Mamukelashvili led all scorers with a career-high 30 points. He was 10-for-19 from the field, 2-for-5 from three and 8-for-10 at the free throw line. He also had five rebounds and four assists.
Cale had a season-high 16 points, going 5-for-8 from the field, while playing strong defense.
Rhoden finished the night with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists in another solid all-around effort.
Reynolds, Jr., had 10 points and seven assists and now has 29 assists in five games this season.
Molson had 12 points, six rebounds and two assists off the bench as he continues to play strong on both ends of the floor.
Junior Ike Obiagu (Abuja, Nigeria) chipped in 10 points.

News & Notes

This was only the seventh all-time meeting between the two programs and now the third to go to overtime. The Nittany Lions still lead the all-time series, 5-2, and in overtime games, 2-1.
This was Seton Hall's first overtime game since March 2, 2019 at Georgetown and first non-conference overtime game since Dec. 8, 2018 vs. Kentucky. Seton Hall's all-time overtime record is now 64-59, including 22-26 in road games.
Head coach Kevin Willard is now all alone in third place on Seton Hall's career wins chart. He now has 192 wins as a Pirate.
Willard is now 9-5 against the Big Ten in his Seton Hall tenure.
In looking at data going back to 2007-08, the 19-point comeback win is Seton Hall's largest since a 23-point comeback win over Robert Morris on Nov. 18, 2007, and it's the largest road comeback since a 15-point comeback at Providence on Jan. 24, 2008.
Seton Hall is now 80-8 (.909) under Willard when it scores 80 points or more.
The Pirates had six players in double figure scoring for the first time since Dec. 22, 2013 vs. Eastern Washington.

Up Next
Seton Hall will conclude a stretch of five games in nine days Tuesday when it hosts Wagner Tuesday at Prudential Center at 5 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on FS1, simulcast on the FOX Sports app. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the radio broadcast live from The Rock on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on XM 380, the Pirate Sports Network and TuneIn.