NEWARK — Archie Miller was the first coach from a Power Five conference to be on the receiving end of a physical Seton Hall beatdown this year.
Minutes after his team absorbed an 84-68 loss in the Gavitt Tipoff Games at Prudential Center, the first-year Indiana coach sat down at a table in a makeshift media room and heaped praise on the No. 22-ranked Pirates, who improved to 3-0 with the win.
“Congratulations to Seton Hall,” Miller said. “Terrific team, battle-tested group you can tell. They’re going to be hard to deal with for a number of reasons. They have a lot of weapons. Very physical approach to what they do. Especially in the second half I thought they just played to their physical strengths against our team and at the end it overwhelmed us. Way too many fouls and an inability to really stop them from playing inside/out. So give them credit.”
I’ve never seen this before. Devonte Green stole the ball from Khadeen Carrington WHILE HOLDING HIS SHOE IN HIS HAND. pic.twitter.com/Kko9b28Ug2
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) November 16, 2017
With the non-conference schedule Pirates coach Kevin Willard has constructed this year, Miller may not be the last coach from a big-time basketball conference to leave Seton Hall somewhat awestruck.
In the coming days and weeks, Seton Hall will face Rhode Island, which is now down guard E.C. Matthews for four weeks with a broken wrist, Vanderbilt or Virginia, Texas Tech, Louisville, VCU and Rutgers.
Those are some quality opponents, and all but one of those games (VCU) is on a neutral or road court. But don’t be surprised if you hear coaches from those schools heaping praise on Seton Hall’s depth, talent and physicality in the coming weeks.
On a night where more than a dozen NBA scouts were in the building, senior wing Desi Rodriguez went off for 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Angel Delgado added 19 points and 11 rebounds, Khadeen Carrington had 17 points and 5 assists and sophomore Myles Powell, whom Willard said will go off for 47 one night, added 11 points.
The Pirates were simply too deep, experienced and tough for an Indiana roster that is in transition as Miller takes over for Tom Crean.
“They’re a fun team to watch, especially if you’re a guy like myself,” Miller said. “You’d like to have two or three of those guys and go to battle anywhere with anyone. But to me I think Delgado obviously is the centerfold of what they do. They can play through him out of the post. He’s a great passer, he dominates the glass so you always are focused on him.
“But to me the X-factor for those guys is Desi Rodriguez. I mean there’s very few guys that have a matchup for him, and if they do you’re really good because he is so physical. The way he shoots from three right now is something that really causes problems. But to me he’s a guy that if he’s not a first-team All-Big East player, I’d be surprised. He is a terrific player.”
Whether Rodriguez is an NBA player down the road remains an open question, but right now he’s one heck of a college player.
“I think Desi’s an elite college player, by far,” Willard said. “I think he’s one of the best players in college basketball.”
Don’t forget about Carrington or Powell, either.
“Carrington is really under control as well,” Miller said. “So they have with Powell, Rodriguez, Carrington and Delgado, they have four guys there that two of them can beat you by themselves if they’re things well. They got great balance and their depth and their bench and the way that they play. Kevin has those guys playing extremely hard, they’re a really good team.”
Willard, in turn, praised Miller’s rebuilding effort at Indiana.
“I think Arch is going to do really well with this team as the year goes on,” he said.
Archie Miller came into Newark and his team got a full dose of a Seton Hall team focused on having another big season and then making a March Madness run.
You can bet he won’t be the last coach who leaves a Seton Hall game this season with a mix of awe and praise.
RECRUITS ON HAND
Seton Hall had a number of high-profile recruits on hand.
Recruits tonight at Seton Hall:
Austin Richie
Giorgi Benhanishivili
Khalil Whitney
Jabri Abdur-Rahim
AJ Hoggard
Jamir Brickus
Paul Mulcahy
Clifford Omoruyi
Justin Winston
Al Amir Dawes— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) November 15, 2017
Photo: Seton Hall
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