NEWARK – The basketball was loose under Seton Hall’s basket. Najai Hines threw his 6-foot-10, 265-pound body on the floor, hitting the Prudential Center’s hardwood with the ferocity of an anvil dropped from a skyscraper. He beat two Rutgers players to the ball, tipping it to an open teammate.

There were many sequences in Saturday’s Garden State Hardwood Classic when Hines – a freshman center out of Plainfield High School – played with a pride that seemed personal as the Pirates thumped the Scarlet Knights 81-59. But that one was the quintessence of selfless effort, because it won’t show up in a box score or on a metrics analyst’s spreadsheet.

“It’s amazing to watch, honestly,” Hal point guard Budd Clark said. “It’s amazing to play with him. He’s a monster.”

In just 22 minutes of action,

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