NEWARK, NJ – Myles Foster led all players with 18 points and 15 rebounds, but Monmouth University Men's Basketball (0-1) dropped the 2022-23 season opener at the Prudential Center in Newark to Seton Hall University (1-0), 79-52.
 
Foster was a force in the second half, scoring 13 of his 18 points after the intermission. Andrew Ball netted MU's first triple at 12:54 of the second, and Amaan Sandhu followed that with a jumper in the lane for his first points, but Seton Hall held a lead that steadied over 20 points for the bulk of the period.
 
Tied at four early, Seton Hall used a 6-0 run to go in front, but the Blue and White hung in, with two Tahron Allen Drives cutting the deficit to 20-15 at 7:49 of the first. However, a 15-0 Pirates run sent them to the break with a 36-17 lead.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"Any time you come up and play a high-major club, it can go badly for you. Seton Hall impresses you with their size. I wish our younger guys would have made a few more, we got clean looks, we just weren't making them. You feel bad because we're such a young club but this is what college basketball is." – Head Coach King Rice
 
"I think it's one of those things, when you play high-majors you can't back down. I'm in a new position this year where we have a lot of young guys so I try to lead by example by going to the boards, talking on defense and hopefully I can lead by example. There's a lot to build on" – Junior Myles Foster
 
-Myles Foster posted his first career double-double with career highs in points (18) and rebounds (15), leading all players in both categories in the game.
-Tahron Allen scored a career-best 11 points.
-Klemen Vuga secured a career-high seven rebounds.
-Jakari Spence had five rebounds and five assists, both career bests.
-Andrew Ball, Jack Collins, Jayden Doyle and Amaan Sandhu made their MU debuts.
-Ball, Collins and Sandhu netted their first collegiate points.
-Jack Holmstrom made his first triple since January 29, 2021 against Marist.
-Fosters' 15 rebounds is the most since Nikkei Rutty's 19 on 2/22/22 against Siena.
-Jack Collins became the fourth true freshman to start a season opener for Monmouth under King Rice, joining Myles Ruth (12/15/20 vs. Hofstra) and Justin Robinson and Zac Tillman (11/8/13 at Hofstra).

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth shot 42.9% in the second half.
-The teams each had 16 offensive rebounds.
-Each team totaled 30 points in the paint.
-Eight different Hawks scored on the night.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth is at #18 Virginia on Friday night, with a 9:00 p.m. tip from Charlottesville set to air on the ACC Network.