By Colin Rajala
Seton Hall’s trio of veteran captains led the Pirates to a perfect 4-0 start to the season, but it was a trio of Trojans that proved to be the difference makers in Thursday’s opening round matchup in the Rady
Children’s Invitational as Southern California emerged victorious 71-63 in front of 3,588 fans
USC’s triumvirate of Boogie Ellis, Kobe Johnson and Isaiah Collier gave Seton Hall all they could handle in the first half, registering 25 of their team’s 32 points before ultimately ending the contest scoring more
than two-thirds of their team’s total points -- 22, 14 and 13, respectively.
The Pirates trekked more than 2750 miles westward for their first test of the season against the nation’s #23 ranked team and kept the game close in the opening ten minutes before a nearly seven-minute
scoring drought allowed USC to take a 13-point lead, 27-14, with just three minutes remaining in the first half.
Despite their lack of offensive execution and poor shooting on top of being manhandled on the boards (27-15 including 6-3 on the offensive end) thanks to two fouls from graduate center Jaden Bediako with
junior forward Elijah Hutchins-Everett still unavailable due to a concussion, The Hall would enter the half down just 10, 32-22.
The double-digit deficit was not terrible at surface level when you consider the fact that they received a combined four points from two key cogs – graduate guard Al Amir Dawes, who was held scoreless on 0-10 shooting from the field and 0-4 from three, and senior guard Kadary Richmond, who shot 1-7 from the field.
All told, Seton Hall shot 9-32 (28.1%) from the field and 0-6 from long distance in the opening stanza.
Seton Hall did themselves no favors to start the second half as they allowed USC to connect on two shots from long range to go along with a dunk and two free throws to extend their lead to 20, 42-22, less than three minutes in.
The Pirates responded with a quick 7-0 run of their own over the ensuing two minutes, including a three pointer and two free throws from captain and senior wing Dre Davis, who had a large gathering of family on hand at UC San Diego's LionTree Arena, to cut the lead down to 42-29.
USC would push their lead to 49-31 with 13 minutes to play before Seton Hall dug themselves out of another hole, this time with a 12-0 run capped by a layup from Bediako off the dish downlow from Davis
to cut the score to 49-43 with just over eight minutes remaining.
With both teams battling back and forth over the ensuing minutes, Seton Hall cut the lead to three, 56-53, on a fast break layup from Richmond off the steal from Bediako with just over four minutes to go.
USC was reeling from Seton Hall’s physicality and ferocious comeback and a foul by Richmond sent freshman phenom Collier to the line, where he proceeded to miss both freebies, breathing new life into
the Pirates with just over two minutes on the clock.
With a chance to cut the lead to two on the next possession, The Pirates would have two great looks from Davis and senior guard Dylan Addae-Wusu in the paint, but they were thwarted as USC senior
forward Joshua Morgan rejected both attempts to give him a program record 10 blocks in the contest. The Trojans would seal the victory in the final minute and change on six free throws from Ellis and two
from Collier, who proved to be as good of a backcourt as Seton Hall will see all season.
Pacing the Pirates was Richmond with 18 points, while Davis and Bediako contributed 15 and 12 apiece. The Hall bolstered their chances at a comeback by cleaning the glass in the second half (24-10 to give
them a 39-37 edge for game), but the lack of offensive potency was too much to overcome as they finished the game just 25-71 (35.2%) from the field and 3-16 (18.8%) from the field.
Seton Hall returns to feast week action in Friday’s consolation game against Iowa at 6 p.m.
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