Seton Hall sent a message to St. John’s on Tuesday night that while the Red Storm may be on the come up under first year Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino, their own head coach, Shaheen Holloway, is determined in his mission to elevate the Pirates to national prominence.
After piloting Saint Peter’s extraordinary 2022 postseason run, in which the Peacocks became the first No. 15 seed in NCAA’s men’s Division I tournament history to reach the Elite Eight, Holloway returned to coach his alma mater, where he was a three-time All Big East selection from 1996 to 2000.
Twenty-four years later, the Queens native has the Pirates sitting atop the Big East standings at 6-1 after a decisive 80-65 victory over St. John’s Tuesday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The loss dropped the Red Storm to fifth in the Big East at 4-3 and 12-6 in total.
Seton Hall is 13-5 overall, including 9-1 in home games, and on the precipice of entering the top 25. A victory over No. 18 Creighton on Saturday (12 p.m., Fox Sports 1) at the Prudential Center would lift them into one of the nation’s top spots.
Spearheading the resurgence for a team that finished 17-15 and 10-10 in the Big East last season is former South Shore High School star Kadary Richmond. On Monday, the Brooklyn product was named the Big East Player of the Week for the second straight week after averaging 22 points, 10 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals in a January 9, 74-70 Seton Hall win over Georgetown, and a 78-72 victory against Butler last Saturday, both on the road.
Richmond began his collegiate journey at Syracuse in 2020 before transferring to the South Orange, New Jersey campus. This is the senior’s third season playing for the Pirates and he has emerged as one of the best guards in college basketball.
In the MAAC, Saint Peter’s is in first place at 5-0 and 9-5 in all games, Iona has fallen in the post-Rick Pitino era after winning the conference and tournament championships last season. They are 7-9 overall and 2-3 in the MAAC. Manhattan is 1-5 and 4-11 on the season.
Fordham, playing in the Atlantic 10 Conference, was 8-8 and 2-1 in the conference before taking on Davidson at home last night (Wednesday).
