Quincy McKnight headed home to Bridgeport, Conn., to recharge for the Christmas holiday.
But even while he was away from his Seton Hall teammates, the senior guard planned to check in with them.
“We all get to go home, we get three days off,” he said. “We’re going to cherish that. I’m going to still call these guys Christmas Day. These are my brothers, so I’m going to still call them, text them in a group message, things like that.
“We’re going to enjoy the family time, and then come home and have some more family time with these guys in conference play.”
The 6-foot-3 McKnight certainly earned a few days off the way he played leading up to the holiday. In the team’s last two non-conference games, he averaged 21 points while leading Seton Hall to wins over No. 7 Maryland and a pesky Prairie View A&M team with leading scorer Myles Powell and big man Sando Mamukelashvili out.
When the Pirates stunned the Terps on Dec. 19, McKnight went off for 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, including two free throws with 1.1 seconds on the clock.
Then with his team trailing Prairie View A&M by five points at the half on Dec. 22, McKnight took the game over in the second half and finished with a season-high 25 points while shooting 9-of-9 from the foul line in what turned into a 20-point win.
McKnight has been wired as a scorer since his college career began.
Three years ago, he went off for 44 points on 16-for-26 shooting and also had nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals while playing for Sacred Heart in a triple-overtime win against Bryant. That season he averaged 18.9 points and 3.0 assists.
But after transferring to Seton Hall in the summer of 2017 and then sitting out the 2017-18 season per NCAA transfer rules, McKnight evolved into more of a defensive stopper and facilitating point guard. Last season he averaged 9.4 points along with 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals.
“Three years ago now I was scoring the ball at a high level,” he said. “I came here, sat out a year and moved to the point guard position. I kind of started to defer to Myles [Powell] a little bit. With the amazing scorer that he is, it’s kind of hard not to, you know? I just took the role as the point guard and tried to keep my turnover ratio down and tried to get my guys involved and just played my role.”
But with Powell now sidelined with a concussion and second-leading scorer Sandro Mamukelashvili (fractured wrist) out 6-8 weeks, somebody has had to step up and become the alpha scorer to keep the Pirates’ season afloat.
“My role before was playing defense,” McKnight said. “Myles and Sandro went down, so I had to step up on the offensive end, and that’s what I’ve been doing, stepping up on both sides.”
McKnight isn’t the only one who has carried more of the offense recently.
Sophomore forward Jared Rhoden is averaging 10 points and 10.5 rebounds in the last two games and sophomore guard Anthony Nelson is averaging 11 points and 5.5 assists. Freshman forward Tyrese Samuel went for careers-highs of 12 points and seven rebounds in the Prairie View A&M win.
“He’s doing what exactly what you hope talented freshmen do, is they stay patient, keep working and I think he’s going to continue to get better and better,” Pirates coach Kevin Willard said. “And we’re going to need him with the amount of physicality we’re going to see with DePaul, Xavier and those type of teams.”
With Seton Hall set to open the Big East schedule on Monday against DePaul (12-1), the Pirates will need more of that offensive magic from those players. Powell is questionable for the game, and Willard said it was “realistic” he could debut against Georgetown on Jan. 3 at Prudential Center.
“Trust me, that’s all he wants to do is get back on the court,” McKnight said of Powell, who sat on the bench last Sunday wearing glasses. “He came back for a reason his senior year and he has a lot to prove coming into conference play.”
Even after Powell returns, Seton Hall will need a second-scorer because Mamukelashvili is likely out until some time in late January.
And McKnight seems more than comfortable in that role.
“Q has answered the bell since he stepped on campus,” Willard said.
Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media.