Tyrese Samuel scored a season-high 19 points, Kadary Richmond flirted with a triple-double and Seton Hall dominated Butler 76-51 on Saturday night in Newark, N.J.
Samuel shot out of the gate to post nine points and four rebounds in the first five minutes alone, giving the Pirates (9-8, 2-4 Big East) an early lead they would not relinquish. He made 9 of 11 shots and grabbed seven boards.
Richmond finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Tray Jackson added 15 points — with 3-of-3 3-point shooting — and Al-Amir Dawes scored 12.
Jayden Taylor led Butler (10-7, 2-4) with 14 points on just 3-of-14 shooting. Manny Bates added 11 points for the Bulldogs, whose two-game win streak was halted.
Seton Hall outshot Butler by a staggering margin, 52.7 percent (29-for-55) to 26.8 percent (15-for-56).
Samuel scored Seton Hall’s first seven points, including a three-point play. After grabbing his fourth rebound, he sent it to Richmond in transition to feed KC Ndefo for an emphatic dunk that made it 9-2.
Bates and Jalen Thomas combined to bring Butler within 16-11 before Seton Hall set off a 9-0 run with a long passing sequence to set up Richmond’s trey. Butler coach Thad Matta burned two timeouts less than a minute apart, but it barely helped.
Jackson drained two 3-pointers on his way to scoring the final eight points of the first half, putting Seton Hall ahead 41-23. Samuel had 15 points and five rebounds in just 13 minutes, while Richmond posted nine points, seven assists and six boards.
The Pirates stretched their lead to 55-29 with seven straight points in the second half, capped by Dawes’ 3-pointer.
The Bulldogs answered with a 10-2 run to claw within 18 points. Taylor supplied seven points in that span on a 3-pointer and four foul shots.
But Jackson answered with his third 3-pointer, and the game was in hand from there. The Pirates’ largest lead was 28 as they rebounded from a 22-point loss to Creighton on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media