Jared Rhoden Scores 18 Points to Lead the Way
The Seton Hall Pirates returned home to defeat the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 84-70 at the Prudential Center on Sunday afternoon. The Pirates win helped them to improve to 5-1 on the young season. Seton Hall was led by Alexis Yetna and Jared Rhoden to drop the Wildcats to 1-6. Bethune-Cookman took a surprising 34-33 lead into halftime against the 21st ranked Pirates.
Alexis Yetna produced his first double double of his career with the Pirates scoring fourteen points and grabbing thirteen rebounds. This breakout performance will be a building block for the South Florida transfer in preparing for the rigors of the upcoming Big East season. “I’m feeling more comfortable every day,” Yetna said. “Coaches are always pushing me to be more aggressive.”
Jared Rhoden led the Pirates with eighteen points and Kadary Richmond had another strong overall game with six points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Two things that stuck out for Seton Hall was the ball movement with twenty-one assists this afternoon. This was missing in their last couple of games. Also Seton Hall continued their strong foul shooting to start the year making 20/21 (95%) from the charity stripe. This is something that has plagued Pirates teams of the past with their poor free throw percentage.
The Wildcats were led by Joe French who scored a game high thirty points. Coach Reggie Theus’ squad came into the contest ranked 355th out of 358 Division 1 teams by Kenpom.com. They did not play last year because of Covid but are looking to build on their hard work and effort. The Wildcats closed the first half on a 9-0 run to take the lead into the break which caused some unrest for the four thousand Pirates fans who enjoyed the game on a football Sunday.
Additional Notes– Myles Cale missed is second straight game with a groin pull. Seton Hall recruit JaQuan Harris was at the game with his family rooting on his brother and his future teammates. His brother, Jamir Harris, had eleven points in the contest. Seton Hall is back in action on Wednesday versus Wagner at the Prudential Center.