By Zack Cziryak
Seton Hall’s men’s basketball team proved that they still have a long way to go.
The Pirates dropped game two of a two-game tournament that represented the first real test of the season in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego in the consolation bracket game by the score of 85-72 to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday night.
The Pirates clawed back from an 18-point first half deficit to within five in the second half but couldn’t get over the hump. Dre Davis led the Pirates with 18 points and three rebounds while Jaden Bediako tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
A Tony Perkins and-1 staked the Hawkeyes to a 15-4 lead with 15 minutes to play, while a tepid first half saw the Pirates fall behind by as many as 18 points before cutting it to an 11-point deficit heading into the half at 44-33.
Payton Sandfort led four Hawkeyes in double-figures with 22 points and nine rebounds while Perkins, who took it to the Pirates a year ago at the Prudential Center, finished with 14 points five rebounds and five assists in the Hawkeye victory.
Seton Hall posted an abysmal 36% from the floor, shooting, 27-75 overall, including 29.6% from beyond the arc, while the Hawkeye offense generated 20 assists on 31 made baskets that helped contribute to Iowa’s 56.4% shooting rate.
The Pirates did hold a 38-36 rebounding advantage, including 16-3 on the offensive side of the boards and turned the ball over only six times.
After a 4-0 start to the season without any quality tests, the Pirates fall to 4-2 after their first two matches against high-major opponents dropped them to 4-2.
The Hall flies home to South Orange and returns to the Prudential Center court on Wednesday to face Northeastern University at 6:30 p.m. ET before successive high major tests at Baylor on Dec. 5 and home against in-state rival Rutgers on Dec. 9.
