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  • Dre Davis Lays The Game-Winner In As Seton Hall Beats Indidna State To Win The NIT

Dre Davis Lays The Game-Winner In As Seton Hall Beats Indidna State To Win The NIT

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Basketball

Dre Davis scored the game-winning layup with 16 seconds remaining as the Seton Hall men's basketball team took home the 2024 NIT championship with a victory over Indiana State, 79-77, on Thursday night inside Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The win gives the Pirates, who ended the game on a 9-0 run over the final 2:38, their second NIT title in program history and first since 1953. Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.) capped off his strong tournament with a game-high 24 points, while Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Richmond, Dawes and Davis were all named to the NIT All-Tournament Team and Dawes was named the NIT's Most Outstanding Player.

The team is flying home Friday morning, and Seton Hall will welcome the champions back to campus with a public celebration on the green in front of the Seton Hall University Center. The Seton Hall University community and all Pirates fans are welcome to attend. A brief celebratory program will occur with Seton Hall University Director of Athletics Bryan Felt, Head Men's Basketball Coach Shaheen Holloway and the entire team.

How It Happened

Seton Hall led 16-10 with 13:49 left in the first half as the Pirates found success capitalizing off of multiple Indiana State turnovers. The Sycamores would go on to rattle off 10-straight points to jump in front by three, 19-16, before an 11-3 run by the Pirates, including five-consecutive made free throws by Dawes, put The Hall back ahead, 27-22, with 8:06 to go before halftime.

A Davis three-pointer at the 3:30 mark in the first half gave the Pirates their largest lead of the game, 39-28, but the Sycamores would use a half-closing 11-0 run to tie the score up at 39-39. Despite the momentum switch in the Sycamores' favor in the latter stages of the first 20 minutes, the Pirates came out strong in the second half as Davis scored seven of The Hall's first 12 points that gave the Pirates a nine-point lead, 51-42.

Indiana State made it a one-point game, 58-57, with 10:17 left when a Richmond layup, a defensive stop and a lefty layup from Dylan Addae-Wusu (Bronx, N.Y.), pushed the Pirates' lead to five, 62-57. A 12-5 run by the Sycamores gave them their first lead since the 10-minute mark in the first half and they would later lead by seven, 77-70, with 3:03 left in the game. That's when the Pirates' three captains — Dawes, Davis and Richmond —  took over the game. Richmond's layup off of his own offensive rebounds with 2:38 left made it a five-point game before five-consecutive points were scored by Dawes, including an off-balance three-pointer that tied score up at 77-77 with 1:05 to go. With under a minute left, the ball was Davis' hands and his patented spin move in the lane put the Pirates in front for good at 79-77 with 16 seconds remaining. 

On the final possession of the game, a block by Bediako on an Indiana State shot beyond the three-point line helped seal the NIT championship for the Pirates. The Seton Hall defense held Indiana State scoreless over the last 3:03 and the Sycamores missed their last seven shots.

Inside the Box Score

  • Both teams shot well from the floor as Indiana State shot 47 percent and Seton Hall shot 45 percent.
  • The Pirates shot 35 percent from deep and Indiana State shot at a 38 percent clip a the three-point line. 
  • The Pirates shot 89 percent (17-of-19) from the free throw line and the Sycamores shot 90 percent (9-of-10).
  • There were nine ties and 12 lead chances but Seton Hall held the lead for 26:23 of game time.
  • The Pirates owned a 38-30 edge in points in the paint.
  • Seton Hall scored 20 points off of 15 Indiana State turnovers
  • The Sycamores finished plus-four on the glass, 35-31.

News & Notes

  • This is Seton Hall's second NIT championship in program history and its first since 1953.
  • Seton Hall's 25 wins this season is tied for the fourth-most in program history and the most since the Pirates' 25-win BIG EAST Tournament championship season in 2015-16.
  • Head coach Shaheen Holloway is now 6-0 in the city Indianapolis with wins over Kentucky and Murray State in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, two road wins over Butler and two wins this year's NIT over Georgia and Indiana State.
  • Seton Hall has won five straight games at Hinkle Fieldhouse including eight of its last 10 contests.
  • Dawes finishes his career with 169 made three-pointers, which ranks 14th in program history.
  • Dawes' 91 made three-pointers this season is tied for the eighth-most in a single season in program history.
  • Dawes finished with 12 20-point games this season and 20 in his career.
  • Richmond notched his eighth double-double of the season and the 11th of his career.