NEWARK — The team in blue looked like one in the ascendency.
The team in red looked defeated.
Shaheen Holloway and Seton Hall are the kings of New Jersey college basketball.
Budd Clark was named Game MVP after a virtuoso point-guard display with 16 points and seven assists and the Pirates delivered a Garden State butt-kicking to the Scarlet Knights in a wire-to-wire, 81-59, victory on Saturday night at the Prudential Center.
“It meant a lot to Seton Hall to get it done,” Clark said. “We lost the past two years. That was a great environment, the students came out.”
A.J. Stanton-McCray netted a game-high 18 points and Najai Hines and Elijah Fisher added 10 each for Seton Hall (10-1), which off to its best start since 2011-12 when it also opened 10-1. The Pirates snapped a two-game skid in the rivalry series and improved their overall lead to 43-33.
“I think guard play is different,” Holloway said. “We got better guard play, our bigs are more athletic, they us more. We’re just a different team, with a different mindset. Our guards are just different and when you have good guards you’ll be in every game.”
Seton Hall won seven games all of last season, but has won 10 of its 11 in non-conference. It begins Big East play on Friday at Providence.
The Pirates were cheered on by a full-throated crowd of 11,153.
“When I recruited a lot of these guys and told them when this place gets rocking there’s nothing like,” Holloway said. “I want to see it like this not just for the Rutgers game, but for all the Big East games. We’re building. We’re not there yet, but for us to get where we want to get this place rocking every night.”
Rutgers (5-6) nearly had as many turnovers (18) as made field goals (19) and coughed it up seven times before connecting on its first shot.
Seton Hall scored the game’s first 11 points and then stretched the lead with a 15-0 run in the first half after the Scarlet Knights worked the deficit back to one. In those opening 20 minutes, the Pirates forced 13 turnovers and blocked six shots while holding Rutgers to 6-of-22 from the floor.
“We were careless. It was on us,” said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell, whose team was coming off blowout losses against Purdue and Michigan, both top-10 sides. “We talked about breaking pressure to score and when you play in a game like this you have to come out swinging. You can’t be timid.”
With Rutgers still hanging around down eight with 11:25 left in the second half, the Pirates landed the knockout punch with a 9-2 run.
Clark, who came over after being a First Team All-MAAC selection at Merrimack last season, scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half.
Harun Zrno led the Scarlet Knights with 15 points.
Both coaches were asked about the future of the series.
Pikiell tongue-in-cheek suggested they play a home-and-home series next season.
Holloway was asked for his response to that.
“If they want to play twice,” he said, “tell them to come back to the Big East.”
“It’s good for everybody,” he continued. “It’s good for New Jersey. It’s good for Rutgers. It’s good for Seton hall. This year it was good to win at home.”
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