PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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By Tyler Calvaruso
Seton Hall played with fire against DePaul and Marquette.
It got burned against Georgetown.
The Pirates played themselves from safely into the field of 68 to firmly on the bubble Saturday afternoon, as their three-point defense and offensive execution sputtered down the stretch en route to an 81-75 loss to the Hoyas. Georgetown shot 10-16 (63%) from beyond the arc, including two four-point plays in the second half that proved costly for Seton Hall.
“It’s something that we had talked about going into the game,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “We did a really good job with Jahvon Blair, but we really talked about the other guys and we didn’t do a good job on the other guys. I thought we let them get off to too good of a start shooting the basketball and we just had some breakdowns in the second half where they hit some really tough shots.”
Seton Hall struggled shooting the ball throughout the game and went ice cold down the stretch, finishing 6-21 (29%) from three. Its last made three came with 7:50 remaining, as Myles Cale and Shavar Reynolds both missed key shots in the final minute of play. The Pirates’ offensive woes didn’t cost them against Marquette and Butler, but played a major role in coming on the short end of a matchup with a Georgetown team that looked worlds better than it did when it came to the Prudential Center earlier this season.
“This is our third game in six days and they’re coming off a seven-day bye week,” Willard said when asked if he was worried about his team’s performance over the last three games. “We’re still 10-6 in the league and we’ve played more game than anybody. When you play against a team that’s coming off a bye week, you gotta come in and make sure you execute defensively. We didn’t execute defensively today.”
Seton Hall now sits at 13-9 overall and four games above .500 in Big East play, but its NCAA Tournament resume now has a sizeable blemish on it. Its chances of making the Tournament are far from crushed – especially with opportunities for quality wins against St. John’s and UConn on the horizon – but Wednesday’s trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse to take on Butler is now as close to a must-win game as the Pirates could have at this point in the season.
“I think we’re in a really good spot,” Willard said. “I like where we’re at. We just need to take a couple of days, get our rest, get our legs under us and get ready for the stretch run.”
Quick Thoughts
-The officiating was horrendous, but Seton Hall simply did not deserve to win this game. Its perimeter defense was essentially non-existent and when two seniors in Shavar Reynolds and Sandro Mamukelashvili are fouling three-point shooters and allowing the opportunity for four-point plays, it compounds the problem even further. It looked like the Pirates figured out their perimeter defense woes against Marquette and DePaul, but clearly it is still an issue for this team.
-Bryce Aiken was sorely missed in this one. Seton Hall’s second unit has been nowhere near as impactful with Aiken back on the shelf and it cost them big-time against Georgetown, as Reynolds was gassed down the stretch.
“It’s a big loss,” Willard said of not having Aiken. “Shavar’s been great all year...the second half we never really felt like we were in a position where we could give him a long, extended break. He’s been playing great and it’s a matter of, I think he has to try and pick his spots a little bit where he can get a rest. Sometimes that’s hard to do when you’ve never really had to do it. It’s a big loss, but we just have to get other guys to step up right now.”
-While an extremely tough pill to swallow given the circumstances, this loss isn’t exactly a back-breaking one for Seton Hall. The Pirates have two opportunities to bolster their resume against St. John’s and UConn before the beginning of the Big East Tournament. However, beating Butler is now a necessity. Another bad loss on Seton Hall’s resume would likely push it out of the field. Those opportunities against St. John’s and UConn won’t mean much if the Pirates can’t find a way to play better than they have their last three games, either.
