Men's basketball coach Jim Hayford secures 400th career win

Senior forward Myles Carter turned in a career night and Head Coach Jim Hayford secured the 400th win of his career as Seattle University men’s basketball earned a 115-81 victory over Pacific University Tuesday night at the Redhawk Center. 

“Players win games," said Hayford postgame. "I’ve had a lot of great players and a lot of great assistant coaches. A lot of credit goes to my family. I’ve been doing this 21 years and it’s a stressful job, so I guess I’ve got some ‘stick-to-it-iveness’ and I got a few things right.”

Carter finished with 37 points and 15 boards, both career highs. The big man hit 11-12 from the field and 15-17 from the charity stripe. Terrell Brown added 19 points on 8-9 shooting and six assists. Aaron Nettles tacked on 16 points, all coming from the free-throw line, to go with five assists.

The second half was the difference maker as Seattle U (2-2) established an 11-0 run coming out of the break to open a double-digit advantage. The Redhawks would lead by as many as 34 in the second half off hot mid-range shooting from Brown and post-play from Carter. 

Sharp team free-throw shooting from Seattle U in the second half also padded the score gap and put the home team in cruise control the remainder of the game. The Redhawks tallied 19-22 from the stripe in the second half, 43-51 on the night.

Carter helped claw the Redhawks out of an early deficit courtesy of a Pacific three-point shooting display to give SU a 53-44 advantage at the half. Carter finished the first with 23 points to counter act the Boxers’ 10 first half triples while Brown added 13 of his own to go with four helpers.

The Redhawks shored things up defensively after halftime going man-to-man, allowing just 11 Pacific points in the first ten minutes of the new half.

“They shot real well early, so it gave our guys a good idea of what we were up against,” Hayford said.

Pacific set the pace of play early, utilizing the full-court press to rack up Seattle U turnovers and quick passing around the arch to find the open triple. Pacific hit six threes in the opening eight minutes to establish a 20-19 lead.

The Redhawks eased some of the first half Pacific pressure on the fast break, dishing to Carter in the paint to impose his 6-10 frame on the PU interior defense. The senior center powered his way to the rim to finish off chances and get to the free-throw line, going 10-11 in the first frame to keep things tight going into halftime.

Seattle U scrambled the Boxers offensively, forcing Pacific into tough shots and pressuring the visitors into 17 turnovers to help secure their second victory of the year.

The Redhawks next head across the country to take on powerhouse Syracuse on Nov. 16 as part of the Preseason NIT. Tip-off from the Carrier Dome is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time, 4 p.m. Pacific.