Cale Scores 17 Points, Pirates Bow Out of BIG EAST After Loss to UConn - Seton Hall University Athletics
The Pirates will now turn their attention to NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday.
52 Seton Hall 21-10,11-8 Big East 
62 UConn 23-8,13-6 Big East Score By Periods
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NEW YORK - In a defensive slugfest, the No. 6 seeded Seton Hall men's basketball team held No. 3 seed Connecticut to 36 percent shooting, but the Pirates themselves only shot 36 percent and were not able to get to the free throw line enough as the Huskies pulled away with a 62-52 win Thursday night in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals at a sold-out Madison Square Garden.
Graduate student Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) led Seton Hall (21-10) with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
The Pirates, who came into the game 15-4 on the season when attempting as many or more free throws than their opponent, only were awarded nine free throw attempts and made just five of them.
How It Happened
Richmond scored the game's first basket with a spin move layup along the baseline and it was the lone lead that the Pirates would have in the contest.
The Huskies would later race out to an 11-point lead, 20-9, with 9:36 to go in the first half and it forced Seton Hall to call a timeout. The timeout helped jumpstart a 6-0 run for the Pirates that cut their deficit to five, 20-15, with 6:09 left before halftime. However, UConn countered with a spurt of their own, stretching their advantage to 14 points, 29-15, before a three by Cale with 1:03 left made it an 11-point game at the break, 29-18.
At the start of the second half, the Pirates forced a Husky turnover and Richmond scored on the other end that sliced the deficit to single digits, 29-20. The Hall would twice make it a seven-point game on baskets by Cale but it couldn't get any closer as UConn game out with the quarterfinal victory.
Inside the Numbers
- The shooting numbers were nearly identical for both teams; Seton Hall shot 35.7 percent (20-for-56) and UConn shot 36.1 percent (22-for-61). The Pirates were 37 percent from three (7-for-19), and the Huskies were 30 percent (6-for-20).
- The difference came at the free throw line, where Seton Hall was just 5-for-9 (56 percent) and UConn was 12-for-14 (86 percent).
- UConn out-rebounded the Pirates, 46-33, but the Pirates did have 14 second chance points on 11 offensive boards.
- Cale had his most efficient shooting night of the season, making seven of 10 attempts to finish with his team-high 17 points.
- Obiagu blocked five shots and now is averaging 5.0 blocks over his last four games.
News & Notes
- Seton Hall is now 33-38 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament, 12-13 all-time in the quarterfinal round, 12-10 with Kevin Willard as head coach and 2-6 against Connecticut.
- The Pirates and Huskies hadn't met in a BIG EAST Tournament game since 2003.
- This was Seton Hall's first loss of the season when holding its opponent under 70 points. The Pirates had been 18-0 in that scenario coming into the game.
- Combined with his seven blocks last night, Obiagu now holds the program record for most career blocks at the BIG EAST Tournament with 20 in only four games. He already holds a share of the program's single-game tournament record with seven, which he has done twice.
Up Next
Selection Sunday awaits Seton Hall. One of only 11 teams in the nation with at least six NET "Quadrant 1" wins and zero "Quadrant 3+4" losses, the Pirates are an overwhelming candidate for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, which will be the program's fifth in the last six tournaments (with a sixth bid canceled due to COVID-19 in 2020).
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show takes place Sunday at 6 p.m., on CBS. Information regarding tickets will be forthcoming after the Pirates find out where they are headed.
