Seton Hall, stepping up center play, takes on Albany

Field Level Media|published: Tue 14th November, 13:39 2023

Nov 6, 2023; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Seton Hall Pirates center Jaden Bediako (15) rebounds against St. Peter's Peacocks forward Corey Washington (3) during the first half at Prudential Center. credits: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Three Seton Hall guards are scoring in double figures through two games, but the team appears to be most improved at center in the early going.

The Pirates will continue to rely on newcomers Jaden Bediako and Elijah Hutchins-Everett at center when they face visiting Albany on Wednesday night in Newark, N.J.

Bediako and Hutchins-Everett transferred to Seton Hall (2-0) from Santa Clara and Austin Peay, respectively, to help the Pirates bolster their inside game.

Bediako, who played four seasons at Santa Clara, has started Seton Hall's first two games and notched his fifth career double-double on Saturday in an 85-55 win over Fairleigh Dickinson.

Bediako collected 12 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes. Hutchins-Everett added six rebounds off the bench.

"Jaden went to a good school and played for a great coach, Herb Sendek, tremendous coach, but East Coast basketball is different from West Coast basketball, so he's getting used to that," Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway told reporters.

"And Elijah's getting used to it as well. But I'm proud of both those guys. They came out, I thought Jaden came out and set the tone early for us and did what he needed to do from a defensive and offensive standpoint."

Kadary Richmond leads Seton Hall with averages of 16.0 points, 4.5 assists and 5.0 steals per game. Fellow guards Al-Amir Dawes averages 13.5 points per game and Dre Davis is at 12.5, along with 7.0 rebounds per contest.

Albany (1-1) hopes to outperform the expectations of being picked seventh of nine teams in the America East preseason poll.

The Great Danes rebounded from a 21-point, season-opening loss to UMass by edging Columbia on the road, 78-75, on Saturday.

"We just got the nervous energy out," Albany coach Dwayne Killings told the Times Union of Albany before the Columbia game. "We're going to win a lot of games. This is a good basketball team. We were just nervous and timid and second-guessing ourselves."

Albany's Sebastian Thomas has averaged 21.5 points through two games. He and Jonathan Beagle combined to shoot 16-for-28 (57.1 percent) from the field and make 11 free throws to spark Albany's offense against Columbia.

—Field Level Media