2019–20 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team represented Seton Hall University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They are led by tenth-year head coach Kevin Willard. The Pirates played their home games at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 21–9, 13–5 in Big East play, which put them in a three-way tie for first place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament, they were slated to play Marquette in the quarterfinals, but the Tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the rest of the NCAA postseason.

2019–20 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball
Big East regular season co-champions
ConferenceBig East Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 15
APNo. 15
Record21–9 (13–5 Big East)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaPrudential Center
Walsh Gymnasium
Seasons
2019–20 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 Creighton 13 5   .722 24 7   .774
No. 11 Villanova 13 5   .722 24 7   .774
No. 16 Seton Hall 13 5   .722 21 9   .700
Providence 12 6   .667 19 12   .613
No. 24 Butler 10 8   .556 22 9   .710
Marquette 8 10   .444 18 12   .600
Xavier 8 10   .444 19 13   .594
Georgetown 5 13   .278 15 17   .469
St. John's 5 13   .278 17 15   .531
DePaul 3 15   .167 16 16   .500
Note: The 2020 Big East tournament was cancelled at halftime of the first game of the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rankings from AP poll

Previous season edit

The Pirates finished the 2018–19 season 20–14, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in a four-way tie for third place. In the Big East tournament, they defeated Georgetown in the quarterfinals and Marquette in the semifinals before losing to Villanova by two points in the final. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region and were defeated by No. 7 seed Wofford in the first round.

Offseason edit

Departures edit

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Michael Nzei 1 F 6'8" 205 RS Senior Makurdi, Nigeria Graduated

Incoming transfers edit

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Takal Molson 1 G 6'5" 205 Junior Buffalo, New York Transferred from Canisius. Under NCAA transfer rules, Molson will have to sit out for the 2019–20 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

Class of 2019 recruits edit

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Tyrese Samuel
PF
Mono, Ontario, Canada Orangeville Prep 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Nov 27, 2018 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN grade: 81
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019.

Roster edit

2019–20 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Quincy McKnight 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Sr Sacred Heart Bridgeport, Connecticut
F 1 Takal Molson   6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Canisius Buffalo, New York
G 2 Anthony Nelson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So South Kent School New York, New York
F 4 Tyrese Samuel 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Orangeville Prep Montreal, Quebec
G 13 Myles Powell 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Trenton Catholic Academy Trenton, New Jersey
G/F 14 Jared Rhoden 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Our Saviour Lutheran School Baldwin, New York
F 15 Taurean Thompson 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Jr Syracuse Jersey City, New Jersey
C 21 Ike Obiagu 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 265 lb (120 kg) RS So Florida State Abuja, Nigeria
G/F 22 Myles Cale 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Appoquinimink High School Middletown, Delaware
F 23 Sandro Mamukelashvili 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Montverde Academy Tbilisi, Georgia
G 30 Asiah Avent 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Hartford Springfield, New Jersey
F 32 Darnell Brodie 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 265 lb (120 kg) So East Side Newark, New Jersey
G 33 Shavar Reynolds Jr. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Manchester Township High School Manchester, New Jersey
C 35 Romaro Gill 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 255 lb (116 kg) RS Sr Vincennes St. Thomas, Jamaica
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: October 30, 2019

Schedule and results edit

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 25, 2019*
7:00 pm
No. 12 Bloomfield
Charity exhibition
W 81–52 
 21  Powell   10  Samuel   8  McKnight  Walsh Gymnasium (1,655)
South Orange, NJ
October 29, 2019*
7:00 pm
No. 12 Misericordia
Charity exhibition
W 112–38 
 22  Powell   7  Obiagu   5  Reynolds  Walsh Gymnasium (1,655)
South Orange, NJ
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2019*
6:30 pm, FS1
No. 12 Wagner W 105–71  1–0
 27  Powell   6  Samuel   7  McKnight  Walsh Gymnasium (1,655)
South Orange, NJ
November 9, 2019*
2:30 pm, FSN
No. 12 Stony Brook W 74–57  2–0
 17  Mamukelashvili   10  Gill   4  Reynolds  Walsh Gymnasium (1,655)
South Orange, NJ
November 14, 2019*
8:30 pm, FS1
No. 12 No. 3 Michigan State
Gavitt Tipoff Games
L 73–76  2–1
 37  Powell   8  Gill   6  McKnight  Prudential Center (14,051)
Newark, NJ
November 17, 2019*
4:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 12 at Saint Louis W 83–66  3–1
 26  Powell   8  Rhoden   4  Nelson  Chaifetz Arena (9,611)
St. Louis, MO
November 23, 2019*
12:00 pm, FS2
No. 13 Florida A&M W 87–51  4–1
 23  Powell   9  Gill   5  McKnight  Prudential Center (9,656)
Newark, NJ
November 27, 2019*
9:30 pm, ESPN2
No. 13 vs. No. 11 Oregon
Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals
L 69–71  4–2
 32  Powell   4  Tied   4  Tied  Imperial Arena (1,565)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 28, 2019*
9:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 13 vs. Southern Miss
Battle 4 Atlantis consolation 2nd round
W 81–56  5–2
 18  Powell   7  Mamukelashvili   4  Mamukelashvili  Imperial Arena (1,204)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 30, 2019*
7:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 13 vs. Iowa State
Battle 4 Atlantis 5th place game
W 84–76  6–2
 24  Powell   12  Cale   5  McKnight  Imperial Arena (2,650)
Nassau, Bahamas
December 8, 2019*
9:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 16 at Iowa State
Big East/Big 12 Battle
L 66–76  6–3
 19  Powell   8  Powell   4  Nelson  Hilton Coliseum (14,269)
Ames, IA
December 14, 2019*
4:00 pm, BTN
No. 22 at Rutgers
Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic
L 48–68  6–4
 11  McKnight   8  Rhoden   2  3 Tied  Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,329)
Piscataway, NJ
December 19, 2019*
7:00 pm, FS1
No. 7 Maryland W 52–48  7–4
 17  McKnight   12  Rhoden   6  McKnight  Prudential Center (13,313)
Newark, NJ
December 22, 2019*
4:30 pm, FS1
Prairie View A&M W 75–55  8–4
 25  McKnight   9  Rhoden   7  Nelson  Prudential Center (8,879)
Newark, NJ
Big East regular season
December 30, 2019
8:30 pm, FS1
at DePaul W 74–66  9–4
(1–0)
 27  Powell   6  Cale   7  McKnight  Wintrust Arena (6,364)
Chicago, IL
January 3, 2020
9:00 pm, FS1
Georgetown W 78–62  10–4
(2–0)
 17  Gill   9  Rhoden   10  McKnight  Prudential Center (10,481)
Newark, NJ
January 8, 2020
8:30 pm, FS1
at Xavier W 83–71  11–4
(3–0)
 24  Powell   8  Powell   8  McKnight  Cintas Center (9,832)
Cincinnati, OH
January 11, 2020
4:00 pm, CBSSN
Marquette W 69–55  12–4
(4–0)
 23  Powell   7  Powell   6  McKnight  Prudential Center (12,707)
Newark, NJ
January 15, 2020
6:30 pm, FS1
No. 18 at No. 5 Butler W 78–70  13–4
(5–0)
 29  Powell   8  Rhoden   13  McKnight  Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,823)
Indianapolis, IN
January 18, 2020
12:00 pm, FOX
No. 18 at St. John's W 82–79  14–4
(6–0)
 29  Powell   13  Gill   5  McKnight  Madison Square Garden (10,428)
New York, NY
January 22, 2020
8:30 pm, FS1
No. 10 Providence W 73–64  15–4
(7–0)
 17  Gill   8  Rhoden   8  McKnight  Prudential Center (9,267)
Newark, NJ
January 29, 2020
6:30 pm, FS1
No. 10 DePaul W 64–57  16–4
(8–0)
 24  Powell   11  Rhoden   6  McKnight  Prudential Center (9,302)
Newark, NJ
February 1, 2020
11:00 am, FOX
No. 10 Xavier L 62–74  16–5
(8–1)
 15  McKnight   5  Tied   4  Powell  Prudential Center (12,230)
Newark, NJ
February 5, 2020
8:30 pm, FS1
No. 12 at Georgetown W 78–71  17–5
(9–1)
 34  Powell   12  Mamukelashvili   10  McKnight  Capital One Arena (4,344)
Washington, DC
February 8, 2020
2:30 pm, FOX
No. 12 at No. 10 Villanova W 70–64  18–5
(10–1)
 19  Powell   11  Rhoden   4  Reynolds  Wells Fargo Center (20,706)
Philadelphia, PA
February 12, 2020
6:30 pm, FS1
No. 10 No. 23 Creighton L 82–87  18–6
(10–2)
 20  McKnight   12  Rhoden   6  McKnight  Prudential Center (9,736)
Newark, NJ
February 15, 2020
8:00 pm, CBSSN
No. 10 at Providence L 71–74  18–7
(10–3)
 27  Powell   8  Tied   4  Tied  Dunkin' Donuts Center (13,255)
Providence, RI
February 19, 2020
6:30 pm, FS1
No. 16 No. 21 Butler W 74–72  19–7
(11–3)
 18  McKnight   7  Gill   5  Powell  Prudential Center (10,481)
Newark, NJ
February 23, 2020
2:00 pm, CBS
No. 16 St. John's W 81–65  20–7
(12–3)
 18  Powell   9  Mamukelashvili   6  McKnight  Prudential Center (14,648)
Newark, NJ
February 29, 2020
2:30 pm, FOX
No. 13 at Marquette W 88–79  21–7
(13–3)
 28  Powell   9  Mamukelashvili   8  McKnight  Fiserv Forum (17,538)
Milwaukee, WI
March 4, 2020
8:30 pm, FS1
No. 8 No. 14 Villanova L 77–79  21–8
(13–4)
 20  Mamukelashvili   10  Mamukelashvili   8  Powell  Prudential Center (16,863)
Newark, NJ
March 7, 2020
2:30 pm, FOX
No. 8 at No. 11 Creighton L 60–77  21–9
(13–5)
 15  Tied   12  Mamukelashvili   5  Powell  CHI Health Center Omaha (18,519)
Omaha, NE
Big East tournament
March 12, 2020
9:30 pm, FS1
(3) No. 16 vs. (6) Marquette
Quarterfinal
This game was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings edit

  • On January 20, the Pirates achieved their 1st Top 10 ranking in 20 years, when they were ranked #8 on December 18, 2000.[1]
  • On March 2, the Pirates were ranked at #8 in the AP Poll, their highest ranking since reaching #7 in 2001.
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
AP12121213131622RVRVRVRV1810101210161381615
Coaches1313*13*13131522RVRVRV25181091310141371515

References edit