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Monmouth basketball key takeaways from exhibition game against Seton Hall
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- Monmouth basketball key takeaways from exhibition game against Seton Hall
WEST LONG BRANCH -- Monmouth men's basketball showed a lot of promise for the 2026-2027 season when it brought Seton Hall down to the wire in an exhibition match Saturday night before falling 53-50.
With the game tied 50-50, Seton Hall was able to get a stop with 28.9 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Rodney Brown Jr. hit a winning corner 3-pointer.
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Seton Hall head coach Shaheen Holloway and Monmouth head coach King Rice had a friendly exchange after the shot.
"To me sitting there, that was a fun college basketball game," Rice said. "I can talk for hours on hours about Shaheen. He's one of the best dudes in this whole business. Since he's been a head coach, the movement in his life has been incredible, but he hasn't changed at all."
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"I think I got a really good team over here," Rice said. "Unfortunately, I had to blow them up a little bit. I didn't mean to after the game but we had some pouty faces about minutes and I'm not doing that this year. So I had to ask everybody to get out the locker room that wasn't a member of our team, they heard about it."
The two Garden State schools have typically met in the regular season; this preseason meeting was designed to raise money for both program's rosters. Though it was an exhibition game, the intensity felt real throughout OceanFirst Bank Center.
For Monmouth this season, there's a fair amount of backcourt depth thanks to the re-enrollments of Jack Collins and Madison Durr. The starting five consisted of Ashton Walker, Lureon Walker, Jakai Sanders, Stefan Marjanovic, and Stefanos Spartalis. Walker had a team-high 11 points.
Monmouth played well defensively against the Big East visitors but trailed for most of the game until a breakaway dunk by Sanders gave the Hawks the 42-40 lead with under seven minutes left.
Seton Hall's Simeon Wilcher drives against Monmouth's Stefanos Spartalis in exhibition
4 takeaways for the Hawks:
1. Defensive pressure leads to eight Hawks with steals
The amount of depth in the backcourt for Monmouth runs deep and the Hawks spent much of their time pressuring the ball, denying passes and even switching out on ball handlers. Monmouth was able to force turnovers and get the ball down the court at a high speed without needing to pass the ball. Players filled lanes and attacked the basket while in transition. Eight different Hawks had at least one steal on Saturday night. When beat, Monmouth helped in the paint while also flying out to open players around the arc. Seton Hall got called for multiple shot clock violations along with committing turnovers.
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"We got a lot of kids," Rice said. "So the plan is, if we can play 12-13 guys, you're going to get tired before us. And they did a good job because they (Seton Hall) got tired. They were definitely tired at halftime and then they were tired in the second half and that just shows you the toughness that Sha coaches with, because I'm telling you those kids are tired right now. That shows the toughness they have to be able to pull that game out."
"Our defense is going to keep getting better. This year is the first year I'm doing this, but Micah Seaborn is my offensive coordinator. So he gets most of the offense and our new assistant coach Shammond Williams is our defensive coordinator," Rice continued.
Monmouth's Ashton Walker (Oct. 24, 2026)
2. Monmouth shows strong ability to attack basket
The verdict is still out whether Monmouth has some consistent 3-point shooters, but one thing is for sure, the team has athletic guys who can beat defenders off the dribble. Sanders, Lo Walker and Ashton Walker each stood out as guys who got paint touches when committed to it. However, at times, it did lead to players caught in a tough spot underneath the basket and surrounded by Big East bigs -- which led to turnovers or forced shots. It's clear that these guards will be tough to stay in front of for most teams they face.
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"We got a lot of guys that can hoop," Rice said. "I think with Lo. Lo is a first-team guy in this league and tonight we playing against a Big East team and he can get to any spot on the floor. I think that the intensity ramped up so it took us a few minutes to get our legs underneath us, but Lureon is a high-major player. So we got kids that can go after you."
Seton Hall's Kareem Thomas drives for a dunk against Monmouth's Jack Collins in exhibition
3. 5th-year players work their way in with limited time
The Hawks were predicted to end up in the middle of the pack within the Coastal Athletic Association this year, but that's before Durr and Collins returned. The two fifth-year players came off the bench and had some good moments on both ends of the floor. Collins got in with just under five minutes left in the first half and hit a mid range jumper within minutes. Durr got to the free throw line and also played a part in forcing Seton Hall to commit turnovers. They were also seen directing the younger players and communicating in-between dead balls.
Monmouth's Stefan Marjanovic (Oct. 24, 2026)
"Jack just came along so at first we were all gelling and playing good together so when they came it just kind of exploded," Lo Walker said. "So it's definitely been good playing with them and I think we can take it a lot further."
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Durr didn't have a name on the back of his jersey due to coming back after the uniforms were ordered.
4. Crashing boards a point of emphasis
In an open practice last week, Rice made it a point of emphasis of rebounding and pointed out it being a factor in the CAA championship game last year. Seton Hall got 15 offensive boards in their last meeting. On Saturday, all five Monmouth players were seen crashing the boards. Though Seton Hall won the rebounding battle 38-33, Monmouth has shown improvement.
"We've been really working hard on boxing out," Rice said. "I told everybody and I'll say it in here: I'm still mad we lost the championship by three (by six) and they got 16 (15) offensive rebounds. That's why I'm thankful to my president and my AD (Athletic Director) for allowing us to go after some higher level kids. So we're right in the mix with the guys we chose."
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"We're thankful but we're hungry," Rice said. "I'm not over that we lost even though Speedy (Claxton) is another good friend of mine. I didn't like it and I came back with a little edgier kid almost to every man and we're going to see how this one goes."
Spartalis, a returning starter for the Hawks, was impressive on the boards. He also looked to have slimmed down and looked more agile and quick on his feet. At times, his hard hard play resulted in costly fouls and he left with his fifth foul with 3:37 left.
"Stef is really good and we're so fortunate that he came back," Rice said. "That's a credit to his family, that's a credit to our president and our AD because we got a nice little raise. But his people trust me... They turned down a lot of money to stay. I expect big things from Stef."
Monmouth will have one more exhibition game when it hosts Rhode Island College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth basketball key takeaways from exhibition game against Seton Hall
