Pirates Celebrate Seniors, Battle In Narrow Loss To Villanova, 76-72 - Seton Hall University Athletics
In front a season-best crowd of 11,071 at Prudential Center on Senior Night and without its starting point guard for the second consecutive game, the Seton Hall
shupirates.com
Pirates Celebrate Seniors, Battle In Narrow Loss To Villanova, 76-72 - Seton Hall University Athletics
In front a season-best crowd of 11,071 at Prudential Center on Senior Night and without its starting point guard for the second consecutive game, the Seton Hall
shupirates.com
Pirates Celebrate Seniors, Battle In Narrow Loss To Villanova, 76-72
76
Villanova 16-14,10-9 Big East
72
Seton Hall 16-14,9-10 Big East
Score By Periods
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Villanova | 34 | 42 | 76 |
| Seton Hall | 37 | 35 | 72 |
Newark, N.J. - In front a season-best crowd of 11,071 at Prudential Center on Senior Night and without its starting point guard for the second consecutive game, the Seton Hall men's basketball team battled and held a late lead but couldn't get past red-hot Villanova as the Wildcats topped the Pirates, 76-72, Tuesday evening in Newark.
Senior Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.) led the Pirates (16-14, 9-10 BIG EAST) with 21 points and dished out four assists while junior Femi Odukale (Brooklyn, N.Y.) registered his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six assists and two steals. Senior Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds.
How It Happened
It was a hot-shooting half from deep on both sides. After Villanova canned the first basket of the game, graduate student Jamir Harris (North Brunswick, N.J.) knocked down the first of seven made three-pointers in the first half for the Pirates. Less than two minutes later, Dawes cashed his first three, giving The Hall a 6-2 lead. Both sides traded baskets before the Wildcats jumped out to the game's largest lead on a three by Cam Whitmore that made it 23-17 Villanova with 6:01 left in the first half.
The Pirates responded with a 6-0 run that started with an Odukale layup after forcing a turnover and ended with back-to-back buckets by junior Dre Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) that knotted up the score at 23-23. After a Villanova bucket that put them back in front, consecutive treys by Odukale and Dawes gave The Hall a four-point lead, 29-25, with 3:30 left before halftime and it forced the Wildcats to call a timeout. Another three from Dawes off an Odukale dime with 20 seconds left gave the Pirates a 37-34 lead going into the locker room.
It was a back and forth second half with 11 lead changes and both sides making key shots. After senior Tray Jackson (Detroit, Mich.) made a pair of free throws to tie the score at 57-57 with 6:34 to go in the game, Dre Davis came up with a steal on the defensive end and it went into the hands of Odukale who made a nice pass to Dawes for a layup, giving the Pirates a 59-57 advantage. The Wildcats used a 6-0 to go up by four, 63-59, which is was the largest lead of any team in the second half up to that point. But the Pirates wouldn't back down as they used a 6-0 spurt of their own, capped off by a Samuel three-point basket with 1:55 to play, that gave them a 65-63 lead.
It would be the final lead Seton Hall would have in the game as Villanova countered with a basket on the other end, a stop on defensive end and connected on four consecutive free throws that pushed its lead to four, 69-65, with 25 seconds left. Despite a traditional three-point play converted by graduate student KC Ndefo (Elmont, N.Y.) that trimmed the Pirates' deficit to one, 69-68, the Wildcats cashed in at the stripe where they made 11 consecutive free throws with under a minute to go, helping put the game out of reach.
Inside The Numbers
- Seton Hall shot 45 percent from the floor (25-of-55), 44 percent from three (8-of-18) and 77 percent (14-of-18) from the free throw line.
- The Pirates out rebounded Villanova, 30-23, and was plus-10, 12-2, on the offensive glass.
- Seton Hall finished with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 14-13, and forced 14 Villanova turnovers.
- There were 20 lead changes in the game and the contest was tied 10 times.
- Odukale and Dawes played the full 40 minutes.
- There was only one free throw attempt in the first half but both teams combined for 41 free throws in the second stanza.
- The Pirates took 27 shots in the second half while the Wildcats only put up 15, connecting on 60 percent of them (9-of-15).
- The crowd of 11,071 at Prudential Center marks the 13th-largest crowd for Seton Hall basketball in the building's history.
- Seton Hall's seven made three-pointers in the first half was its most before halftime this season.
- Ndefo tallied two blocks, giving him 58 on the season and 368 in his career, the most of any active player in a power conference.
- Odukale had a season-high six assists to go along with his first career double-double.
- Dawes now has five 20-point games this season, the most for a Seton Hall newcomer since Sterling Gibbs posted six 20-point scoring games in 2013-14.
Seton Hall will wrap up the regular season on Saturday when the Pirates travel to No. 20 Providence for a noon game at Amica Mutual Pavilion on FOX. Fans can listen to Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin call the action on the Seton Hall Basketball Radio Network that can be heard on the SHU Pirates mobile app, the Varsity network and SiriusXM.
