By Colin Rajala
The highlight of Seton Hall’s season, so far, came Saturday, February 15 at the Prudential Center when the Pirates came back from seven points in the final minute of regulation and five points in overtime to upset Connecticut 69-68 for its fourth consecutive home victory over the Huskies.
Coincidentally, the low light of Seton Hall’s season may have come Saturday afternoon at Connecticut when the Huskies jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first three minutes and thirty seconds of the game, led by 21 at halftime and by as much as 43 in the second half en route to a decisive 81-50 victory in front of 10,299 fans in Gampel Pavilion.
The loss was Seton Hall’s sixth straight, bringing their season total up to 24, which set a program record and cemented the Pirates first last place finish in the Big East standings since 1996-1997, when they shared the basement with Rutgers, and first outright last place conference finish since the 1985 season.
UConn (22-9, 14-6) set the tone early as three different players scored in the paint on the team’s first four possessions to take a 10-3 lead less than three minutes into the game, including two layups and a dunk from Samson Johnson, before a three-pointer from Solo Ball gave the Huskies a double-figure lead, 13-3, with 16:33 to go in the first half.
Seton Hall (7-24, 2-18) would not score its second field goal of the first half until the 12:34 mark when Isaiah Coleman converted a layup to make the score 18-5.
The Pirates’ 18th point came with just under four minutes to go in the opening half when Emmanuel Okorafor slammed home the dish from Dylan Addae-Wusu to close the score to 34-18 and prompt a timeout from Connecticut Head Coach and Seton Hall alum Danny Hurley.
Connecticut closed the first half on a 9-4 run that saw three different players score to enter the half up 43-22.
Garwey Dual was the lone bright spot for Seton Hall in the first half as he scored 10 of his team-leading 12 points, shooting a perfect 3/3 from long distance.
The Pirates shot 8/26 (30.7%) from the field in the first half and committed eight turnovers, while Connecticut shot 15/26 (57.7%) with nine assists.
Prince Aligbe and Isaiah Coleman were the only other Pirates to finish in double figures for the game with Aligbe tallying 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Coleman recorded 10 points, three rebounds and a steal.
Solo Ball led all scorers with 17 points, Johnson recorded 14 points, six rebounds, three blocks and a steal, while Alex Karaban recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists for the Huskies, who also got 10 points apiece from Jaylin Stewart and Aidan Mahaney off the bench.
Seton Hall now sets its sights on the Big East Tournament, where it will have sixth-seeded Villanova (18-13, 11-9) Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden in the vaunted last game with tip scheduled for 9 p.m. The Wildcats swept the season series over the Pirates, winning 79-67 at home in mid-December and coming back from 16 points down in the second half to defeat Seton Hall 59-54 at the Prudential Center on Feb. 26.
The highlight of Seton Hall’s season, so far, came Saturday, February 15 at the Prudential Center when the Pirates came back from seven points in the final minute of regulation and five points in overtime to upset Connecticut 69-68 for its fourth consecutive home victory over the Huskies.
Coincidentally, the low light of Seton Hall’s season may have come Saturday afternoon at Connecticut when the Huskies jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first three minutes and thirty seconds of the game, led by 21 at halftime and by as much as 43 in the second half en route to a decisive 81-50 victory in front of 10,299 fans in Gampel Pavilion.
The loss was Seton Hall’s sixth straight, bringing their season total up to 24, which set a program record and cemented the Pirates first last place finish in the Big East standings since 1996-1997, when they shared the basement with Rutgers, and first outright last place conference finish since the 1985 season.
UConn (22-9, 14-6) set the tone early as three different players scored in the paint on the team’s first four possessions to take a 10-3 lead less than three minutes into the game, including two layups and a dunk from Samson Johnson, before a three-pointer from Solo Ball gave the Huskies a double-figure lead, 13-3, with 16:33 to go in the first half.
Seton Hall (7-24, 2-18) would not score its second field goal of the first half until the 12:34 mark when Isaiah Coleman converted a layup to make the score 18-5.
The Pirates’ 18th point came with just under four minutes to go in the opening half when Emmanuel Okorafor slammed home the dish from Dylan Addae-Wusu to close the score to 34-18 and prompt a timeout from Connecticut Head Coach and Seton Hall alum Danny Hurley.
Connecticut closed the first half on a 9-4 run that saw three different players score to enter the half up 43-22.
Garwey Dual was the lone bright spot for Seton Hall in the first half as he scored 10 of his team-leading 12 points, shooting a perfect 3/3 from long distance.
The Pirates shot 8/26 (30.7%) from the field in the first half and committed eight turnovers, while Connecticut shot 15/26 (57.7%) with nine assists.
Prince Aligbe and Isaiah Coleman were the only other Pirates to finish in double figures for the game with Aligbe tallying 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Coleman recorded 10 points, three rebounds and a steal.
Solo Ball led all scorers with 17 points, Johnson recorded 14 points, six rebounds, three blocks and a steal, while Alex Karaban recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists for the Huskies, who also got 10 points apiece from Jaylin Stewart and Aidan Mahaney off the bench.
Seton Hall now sets its sights on the Big East Tournament, where it will have sixth-seeded Villanova (18-13, 11-9) Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden in the vaunted last game with tip scheduled for 9 p.m. The Wildcats swept the season series over the Pirates, winning 79-67 at home in mid-December and coming back from 16 points down in the second half to defeat Seton Hall 59-54 at the Prudential Center on Feb. 26.
