PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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Midway through the second half Friday night, Sandro Mamukelashvili tipped away an Oregon pass and started downcourt. But he could not quite control the ball well enough as he was trying to dribble, and it was ruled out of bounds, leaving a disbelieving Mamukelashvili thoroughly frustrated.
It was that kind of a night for the Pirates in Omaha, as Oregon led for most of the way en route to an 83-70 victory behind 22 points from former Rutgers standout Eugene Omoruyi. Seton Hall (1-3) must beat Penn State on Sunday to be able to salvage a win from a three-game road trip that began with a road loss to Rhode Island.
Although that game also resulted in a 13-point loss, it was anybody’s ballgame at the under-4 minute mark. This one was not. The Ducks controlled most of the second half, steadily building upon a six-point halftime advantage as The Hall struggled to get touches for Mamukelashvili, who attempted only seven shots in 35 minutes and finished with 10 points after averaging 21.7 in the first three contests.
“I didn't do a good enough job of moving him around to get him in different situations,” coach Kevin Willard said in a postgame interview with Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin on 970 AM radio. “That's more on me.”
Surprisingly, the Pirates lost by double figures despite shooting 14-for-24 (58.3%) from beyond the arc, as the Ducks’ matchup zone helped take away Mamukelashvili and forced The Hall to get its offense from the perimeter. An 11-1 run that put the Ducks ahead 65-49 sealed the victory.
Oregon shot 53.4% overall and 42.9% from three-point range as the Pirates continued to have trouble defensively. Oregon had 12 offensive rebounds to only four for The Hall, and thus had a 14-3 advantage in second-chance points.
Again, Willard took the blame for that in his post-game comments.
“Some of our switching,” he said, “is causing mismatches which is hurting our rebounding.”
He noted a couple of instances in which point guard Shavar Reynolds wound up on Omoruyi.
“That’s more on me than anybody else,” Willard added. “It is hurting us on the glass.”
Five takeaways
Mamu needs to be more involved. As Willard indicated, he has to figure out ways to create more opportunities for Mamukelashvili on the offensive end. He can do so many things, and is a matchup nightmare for so many defenses, that it is imperative that he be involved. It may become a similar situation to Myles Powell last season, even though their styles are very different. Seton Hall should try to run plays for Mamukelashvili early in the game and get him into the flow immediately.
Rhoden needs to do more. It was another relatively quiet night for junior wing Jared Rhoden. Yes, he has scored in double figures in all four games, but he had 11 points against Louisville and 10 each at Rhode Island and versus Oregon. Rhoden needs to be that consistent second option behind Mamukelashvili, and he knows it himself. Other teams know it, too, thus Rhoden also is seeing more attention than when Powell and Quincy McKnight were around. It's an adjustment he will have to make. He has the talent and savvy to do it, and he must for this team to maximize its potential.
Reynolds could use a break. Shavar Reynolds had a career-high 17 points and eight assists, also a career-high, for the second consecutive game as he continues to fill in ably for Bryce Aiken (sprained ankle). The senior has averaged 36 minutes in the last two games.
“I'm trying to give Shavar a little bit of a break,” Willard said. “He's working so hard.”
Willard said he wants to give more playing time to freshman Jahari Long. “I’ve got to get him in there. I'm definitely going to make a concerted effort on Sunday to get him in there. I'm just so nervous about putting a freshman in there and him not doing well and it hurting his confidence.”
Metro NJ/NY flavor for Oregon transfers. The Ducks, who certainly have mined the transfer wire under coach Dana Altman, not only have added Omoruyi, who sat out last season. Former St. John’s star LJ Figueroa was granted a waiver Thursday by the NCAA, unfortunately for the Pirates. Although he scored only six points, he had four steals and nine rebounds and Altman said his energy was the difference in the game, per the Oregon website.
Scouting Penn State. The Nittany Lions (2-0) routed VMI in their opener and then blew an eight-point lead in the final 3:46 against Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday before Myles Dread drained a three at the buzzer to give them a 72-69 victory. The Nittany Lions lost a lot in the frontcourt but are experienced in the backcourt, so maybe this is the game in which Willard can get Mamukelashvili some quality touches early. However, Penn State has played both of its games at home and has been off since Wednesday while Seton Hall has been been globetrotting.
Willard's plan. Willard explained to Cohen and Popkin that he scheduled this week the way he did to get ready for Big East play. Assuming the coronavirus doesn’t get in the way, the Pirates are scheduled to begin their league season at home against DePaul on Friday. "We're going to have to go through it, to learn, to get better," Willard said. "I think long-term it's going to help these guys when they get into the Big East schedule."
