Kissimmee, Fla. – Sophomore Michael Nzei (Makurdi, Nigeria), making the start for an injured Ismael Sanogo (Newark, N.J.), delivered a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double-double, leading the Seton Hall men’s basketball team to a 90-79 victory over Quinnipiac Friday in an AdvoCare Invitational consolation game at HP Field House.
The Pirates will close out their participation in the tournament in a fifth-place game against Stanford Sunday at 7 p.m., live on ESPNU, WatchESPN, AM970 The Answer and the Pirate Sports Network using the SHU Pirates App.
Nzei ended up shooting 7-for-9 from the field and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Junior Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) had another big night with 23 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Junior Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 17 points, freshman Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) put in 12 points and senior Madison Jones (Raleigh, N.C.) scored a season-high 11 points.
Turning Point
After a sluggish start that became a 10-point deficit, the Pirates used a 16-2 run mid first half to snap out of a funk and go on to a seven-point halftime lead, 46-39.
In the second half, the Pirates extended their lead to 15, 62-47, after Nzei’s three-point play at 12:45. However, Quinnipiac roared back with a 13-0 run that included two three-pointers from Peter Kiss. The Pirate lead was down to two, 62-60, with 9:54 remaining in the game.
Composed, the Pirates regrouped and stayed solid. Rodriguez buried a jumper in the lane to get it back to four points. Then with the team up three, Nzei came up with a huge offensive rebound and put-back while also being fouled intentionally at the same time. He made both free throws for an unconventional four-point play to put the Pirates up seven, 68-61, with 8:41 to play.
Quinnipiac could not get any closer than five, and the Pirates found their way back into a double-digit lead towards the end with strong free throw shooting and a rim-rocking dunk from Carrington that took all the wind out of the Bobcats’ sails with 1:51 left on the clock.
Inside the Numbers
- The Pirates shot 50 percent for the game, making 30 of 60 field goal attempts. Quinnipiac shot 42.4 percent, going 28-for-66 from the field.
- This was Seton Hall’s best performance of the season at the free throw line, making 27 of 35 attempts for 77.1 percent.
- The Pirates continue to dominate inside the paint, where they outscored Quinnipiac 46-28. For the season, the Pirates are ahead in the paint 222-124.
- In his first start of the season, Nzei notched his second career double-double, posting a career-high 19 points and matching his career high with 12 rebounds. He was 7-for-9 from the field, and now in his career he’s 61-for-93 from the field, which is 65.6 percent.
- Rodriguez continues to shine early in the season as he puts forth his fourth career 20-point game and second of the season. He finished with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting along with 11 rebounds and three steals. It was his seventh career 10+ rebound night and his fifth career double-double.
- Carrington continued his torrid scoring pace early in the year with 17 points and three assists. He is averaging 22.0 points this season, and he now has 862 career points, moving him into 54th all-time in Seton Hall history.
- Powell scored 12 points and was 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
- Jones delivered his first double-digit scoring game of the year with 11 points, going 2-for-4 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line.
- Although he only had five points and eight rebounds, junior Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) led the team with four assists on the night as he was efficiently passing out of double teams.
- Kiss led Quinnipiac with 19 points, and Chase Daniels had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
News & Notes
- This was only the second all-time meeting between the two teams, the last coming in 1999. Seton Hall is now 2-0.
- Seton Hall now has played 74 consecutive regular season non-conference games without losing two in a row.
- The Pirates have now won 29 consecutive games when they hold at least a seven-point lead at any time during the contest.
Up Next
The Pirates will conclude their experience at the 2016 AdvoCare Invitational Sunday against Stanford at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU and streamed online via WatchESPN. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the radio call on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network through the SHU Pirates App for free.