Pirates Own New Jersey With Win Over Rutgers, 81-59

Saturday, December 13

Newark, N.J.

8:00 p.m.

Seton Hall University

10-1,0-0Big East

Rutgers

5-6,0-2Big Ten

Rutgers

Seton Hall

Pirates Lift Garden State Hardwood Classic Trophy

Pirates Own New Jersey With Win Over Rutgers, 81-59

12/13/2025 11:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEWARK, N.J. — In a dominant showing across all phases, the Seton Hall men's basketball team buried the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 81-59, in a Garden State Hardwood Classic Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Prudential Center.

The Pirates (10-1) dominated the inside with 52 points in the paint and 14 offensive rebounds on 54.8 percent (34-of-62) shooting from the field. Scarlet Knights (5-6), meanwhile, turned the ball over 18 times and were stifled to the tune of a 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the field. Budd Clark was named the Joe Calabrese MVP after a tremendous all-around showing with 16 points, seven assists, four steals and only one turnover.

How It Happened
In front of a raucous crowd inside The Rock, the Pirates fed off that energy by locking the Scarlet Knights' offense inside a straitjacket. The Hall kept Rutgers struggling to breathe offensively, missing their first two shots before committing three straight turnovers, all three of which were Clark steals. Seton Hall's floor general took one layup for himself, while dishing the ball around on the other two as The Hall rocked out to an early 6-0 lead in under two minutes, forcing a Rutgers timeout. The run would not stop there, as Rutgers remained out of sorts as Mike Williams buried five straight points to expand the lead, 11-0.

The Hall's defensive torrent eventually ended, Rutgers netted a free throw as the clock ticked under the 15-minute mark, 11-1, but the Pirates would immediately answer at the charity strip themselves to put it back to an 11-point lead. As the Pirates went to their bench, the momentum began to shift away from them. The Scarlet Knights found The Hall out of sorts and took advantage, going on a 13-to-5 run to reduce The Hall's lead to three, 17-14, with nine minutes left in the opening frame.

Proceedings became even more precarious when, with just under seven minutes remaining, Rutgers cut the lead to a single point. While the crowd sat on the edge of their seat, nervous at what would come, it was the fiery hand of AJ Staton-McCray that came to the rescue. The Rock became Staton-McCray's playground as the graduate student rattled off eight points in five minutes, marshaling a 15-to-0 Pirates run as The Hall ballooned its lead to a game high 16 points, 33-17, with under two minutes remaining. Despite an end-of-half charge by the Scarlet Knights, Najai Hines would make his presence known with a layup and a block as Seton Hall in the closing minutes.

Out of the break, the two sides traded buckets before a quick 5-2 run pulled the Pirates' lead back into the single digits, 43-34, with 13:16 remaining in the game. However, the Scarlet Knights would quickly find themselves on the wrong side of Clark once again. The junior rattled off five points, on a 9-3 run as Seton Hall found themselves back in front by 15, 54-39, with nine minutes remaining in this Garden State battle. As a glimmer of momentum appeared for Rutgers, Hines quickly shut the blinds on that light. The freshman out-muscled his opposing big man to a pair of offensive rebounds, laying in both and drawing a foul. His five points in less than a minute held The Hall's lead steady at 15, 59-44, with under eight minutes on the clock.

Every time Rutgers attempted to crawl their way back into the game over the remainder of the game, the Pirates responded in force. While Staton-McCray ended the first run and Clark stopped the second, it was Elijah Fisher who put an end to the game for the Scarlet Knights with four points of his own. By the time the buzzer sounded, the Pirates secured an 81-69 victory, marking their largest victory over their in-state foes since 2015.

News & Notes

With the win, the Pirates are off to a 10-1 start, matching their best record after 11 games since the 2011-12 season.
This was the 76^th matchup between these two programs and the 11th time under the Garden State Hardwood Classic moniker.
- With the win, the Pirates move to 43-33 all-time against Rutgers.
- The Pirates have now won seven of the 11 matchups since the rivalry took on new form in 2014, when the Boardwalk Trophy was introduced.
The Hall's 22-point margin of victory was the Pirates' seventh-largest margin of victory ever against Rutgers and the largest since The Hall's 29-point win in 2015.
With 78 points tonight, the Pirates have logged 68 or more points in every game this season.
- They've also logged six straight games of 75+ points.
The Hall has recorded a minimum of three double-digit scorers in every game this season.
The Pirates have held their opponents under 70 points in nine of their 11 games.
With 13 steals tonight, the Pirates set a school record 11 straight games with 9+ steals.
- This was the most steals ever by the Pirates against Rutgers.
- The Pirates have recorded nine steals in every game this season.
With a team-high 18 points, Staton-McCray logged his ninth-consecutive game with double-digit points.
- It was also the fourth time in the last five games that he scored 15+ points.
Hines recorded his fifth career game with double-digit points, fourth with 4+ blocks and seventh with 6+ rebounds.

Up Next
The Pirates return to action on Friday, Dec. 19, when they open BIG EAST play on the road at the Providence Friars in Providence, R.I. inside Amica Mutual Pavilion. The game will be broadcast on FS1 with opening tip slated for 6:30 p.m.