Pirates Earn Wire-to-Wire Win at UConn, 80-73

Saturday, February 6

Storrs, Conn.

12 p.m.

Seton Hall University

11-8,8-5Big East

Connecticut

8-4,5-4Big East

Seton Hall

UConn

Photo by: David Butler II/USATSI

2/6/2021 3:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

Storrs, Conn. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team built an 18-point, first-half lead at Connecticut and then stayed the course in the second half with a strong finish as the Pirates never trailed in an 80-73 win over the Huskies Saturday at Gampel Pavilion.

It was the first game between these two charter BIG EAST members since 2013, and it was Seton Hall's first road win at either of Connecticut's two home venues since a 1997 win at the Hartford Civic Center. It was the program's first win at Gampel since 1992.

The Pirates were led by the senior duo of Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.), who had 22 and 20 points, respectively.

The Pirates, who now have won five BIG EAST road games this season, were terrific at the free throw line, making 27 of 31 attempts (87.1 percent).

Turning Point
Seton Hall came out on fire in the first half, so much so that the Pirates made nine consecutive field goal attempts between 15:47 and 5:36. Cale was the igniter on the front end making the second and third of those field goals, and he was fouled on his triple at 13:47, resulting a four-point play that put the Pirates on top 14-2. On the back it was back-to-back threes from sophomore Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) and a driving layup from Cale to give the Pirates a 30-15 advantage.

The lead was as high as 18, 36-18, before UConn chipped away with an 11-2 run to go into halftime with the score 38-29.

The Huskies got as close as two points early in the second half, but the Pirates answered every UConn run with a bucket. After it was 38-36, Mamukelashvili swished a three to get things back under control. Junior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) then picked up a steal in the backcourt, and found a cutting Cale for a tomahawk dunk, and the Pirates went back up seven, 43-36, and then up 10, 50-40, on a Rhoden midrange jumper.

The teams then went blow for blow over the final 14 minutes of the game, but the Pirates never wavered. It was 57-53 when Mamukelashvili buried another three-pointer. It was 69-65 when senior Bryce Aiken (Randolph, N.J.) drew a foul and calmly made two free throws. It was 73-69 when Cale again drove the basket and got the bucket to fall.

At the end with the game at 75-71 and UConn needing a stop, senior Shavar Reynolds Jr. (Manchester, N.J.) drove to the basket at the end of the shot clock, stopped short and then pulled up a setback jumper that swished and served as the backbreaker. The Pirates then got a stop on defense and the rest was history.

Inside the Numbers

Seton Hall shot 50 percent for the game (22-for-44), 50 percent from three (9-for-18) and 87 percent at the free throw line (27-for-31). The 27 made free throws were second-most on the season for The Hall, most in a BIG EAST game.
Connecticut shot 48 percent overall (23-for-48), 32 percent from three (6-for-19) and 84 percent at the line (21-for-25).
The Pirates outrebounded the Huskies, 28-23, but the Huskies did use eight offensive rebounds to generate 13 second chance points compared to The Hall's eight.
The Pirates had 11 assists on their 22 made field goals.
The Pirates had the edge in fastbreak points, 16-9.
Mamukelashvili led all scorers with 22 points. He was 5-for-10 from the field, 2-for-3 from three and 10-for-12 at the free throw line. He added seven rebounds and two assists.
Cale was fantastic with 7-for-13 shooting, 3-for-6 from deep and 3-for-3 at the line to finish with 20 points.
Rhoden added 11 points, six rebounds and three assists in another great effort.
Aiken was 6-for-6 from the free throw line and ended the game with nine points.

News & Notes

This was the 64th all-time meeting between Seton Hall and Connecticut, but first since 2013, and it was the Pirates' first visit to Gampel Pavilion since 2010.
This was Seton Hall's first win at either UConn home venue since 1997 and the first win at Gampel since 1992.
The Pirates are now 12-4 in their last 16 BIG EAST road games dating back to last season. The program has the second-most conference road wins in the league dating back to 2015-16 with 27.
The Hall is now 111-15 (.881) since the start of 2015-16 when leading by seven or more at any juncture of the game.
Mamukelashvili moved into 47th place all-time in Seton Hall scoring history and is now up 968 points.
Cale moved up to 52nd all-time and now stands at 918 points.

Up Next
Seton Hall will have another bye week and will resume action on Sunday, Feb. 14 when it hosts Marquette at Prudential Center. Game time is 3 p.m., and FS1 will have the national telecast. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will deliver the radio call on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network and TuneIn.