Death, taxes and Seton Hall beating UConn in Newark.
Scotty Middleton made a dramatic off-balance tip-in of his own miss after a steal by Garwey Dual to give the last-place Pirates a dramatic 69-68 overtime win over the two-time defending national champions in front of 10,222 at Prudential Center. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for The Hall.
Hassan Diarra front-rimmed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer for UConn.
“We got some good team pressure,” Middleton said of the play. “Got a steal, just put the ball in the basket where it needs to belong.”
“It was a crazy Euro-step,” Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway said. “One of the best things about Scotty is his desire to play basketball. He just cares about winning and playing basketball.
“It was good to get a win at home because we haven’t won here in a long time.”
It marked Seton Hall’s fourth straight win over UConn (17-8, 9-5 Big East) in Newark. They outscored UConn 11-10 in the extra frame.
The Pirates (7-18, 2-12 Big East) trailed by 5 with 18 seconds to go in regulation and by 4 with 48 seconds in the overtime.
“I feel like in the end we got what we deserved,” said UConn coach Dan Hurley , whose team is 5-5 in its last 10 games.
“Credit Seton Hall, credit Shaheen. Should’ve won it in regulation, should’ve won it in overtime.
“Just did a lot of things that make you look like you’re a poorly coached team.”
Dylan Addae-Wusu, who had missed six of the previous eight games with an ankle injury, scored 10 straight at the end of the first half, hitting a dramatic 3-pointer off a broken play to force the extra period. He scored 11 of his 13 after the first half.
Isaiah Coleman scored a game-high 23 for the Pirates along with 8 rebounds in 42 minutes, while freshman big man Godswill Erheriene had a big game with 12 points and 10 boards, including several dunks (and one missed dunk before Addae-Wusu’s game-tying 3), and Dual scored 9 with 3 assists and 2 steals.
With The Hall trailing 68-65 in the extra period, UConn turned it over on a long baseball pass from Liam McNeeley towards Alex Karaban, giving the Pirates the ball back.
Coleman missed a wide-open layup off an in-bounds pass from Dual.
The Pirates got the ball back again and McNeeley fouled Coleman, who made both free throws to cut it to 68-67.
Middleton then worked his magic off a Dual steal to score the game-winner.
“That’s a winning play right there,” Coleman said of Middleton’s play.
“Scotty been making winning plays all year, that’s what he does.”
Said Hurley: “I felt like it was justice today because they deserved to win.
“But credit Shaheen and credit their guys for fighting back at the end of regulation and fighting back at the end of overtime.”
Discredit us for putting forth a regrettable performance.
Alex Karaban led UConn with 20 points and 6 boards and McNeeley went for 11 points and 9 boards.
Solo Ball added 15 points and 7 boards and Hassan Diarra 12 points and 5 assists for UConn.
With UConn up 58-55 and 12.3 seconds left, Alex Karaban attempted to in-bound the ball, but UConn turned it over when it ran out of time.
On the ensuing possession, Addae-Wusu hit a 3-pointer off a broken play to tie the game at 58.
The Hall got back several injured players in Addae-Wusu (9 points), Scotty Middleton (5 points) and Manny Okorafor but Chaunce Jenkins (knee) remained out and was joined by Gus Yalden (ankle).
“It’s just good to have some subs,” Holloway said. “It’s been a tough 5-6 games without having no subs
“I told these guys we didn’t win this game today, we won this game this week...I’m happy for those guys, just to get this win.”
After The Hall led by as many as 8 in the first half and 5 in the second, UConn used a 7-0 run to go ahead 41-37. The Huskies took the lead 39-37 on a Solo Ball 3-pointer with 8:34 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Dual put the Pirates up 48-47 with 5:16 remaining, but UConn rattled off an 8-0 run featuring McNeeley’s layup and right-corner 3-pointer and then another 3 by Karaban (18 points, 4 rebounds). McNeeley finished with 9 points and 8 boards.
Addae-Wusu was fouled attempting a 3-pointer and made all three foul shots to trim it to 57-53 with 36.2 ticks left. He added a layup to cut it to 58-55 with 12.3 left.
The Hall seized a 25-22 halftime lead after leading by as many as 8 at 25-17. They had a chance to extend the lead to 10 or 11, but the Huskies closed the half on a 5-0 spurt.
The Pirates led 33-26 after a pair of foul shots by Coleman.
“I just got so much respect for Shaheen,” Hurley said.
“I hate losing to anybody but if I’m going to lose to anyone, maybe besides my brother, maybe Shaheen.”
The Pirates next visit No. 18 Marquette on Tuesday night, while the Huskies host Villanova Tuesday.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.