by JP Pelzman
NEWARK – Governor Phil Murphy declared a State of Emergency for New Jersey, effective at noon Saturday.
It was not long after 10 p.m. that night when the Seton Hall basketball team and coach Kevin Willard were in a position to declare the same.
DePaul swept Seton Hall for only the second time during Willard’s tenure. The Blue Demons’ 97-93 victory at Prudential Center was the product of DePaul’s relentlessness inside against the Romaro Gill-less Pirates, and The Hall’s utter inability to get a defensive stop.
The 97 points were the most permitted by The Hall at home in Willard's tenure.
After becoming one of the surprise teams in the country reaching the cusp of entering the top 25, the Pirates instead have embarked on a January nosedive, losing three straight and four of their last five.
But through their disappointment, the Pirates expressed a firm resolve that they will get this season back on track after a sharp and unexpected derailment.
“We’re a young team,” junior guard Quincy McKnight said. “We’ve got to grow. We’ve got to mature. We’ve got to learn from these mistakes. We’ve just got to get back to what we were doing in the beginning of the season.
“I think we’re going to be” OK, added McKnight, who had 25 points, nine assists and only two turnovers. “Like coach (Willard) said, it’s still early. We’re only seven games into the (Big East) season. This conference is about making runs at the end and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to make our run and take it from there.”
The Pirates (12-7, 3-4) certainly will need to make that run. Their non-conference resume still includes victories over Kentucky and Maryland, both of which are ascending, but two losses to the Blue Demons (11-6, 3-3) figure to be a blight on anyone’s ledger. Unless, of course, the Pirates can somehow steal a win in their next game, at Villanova in Philadelphia on Jan. 27.
Willard said he expects Gill (sprained ankle) to play in that game after missing the last five contests, and that would be good news. Without the 7-plus footer’s intimidating presence in the lane, the Blue Demons operated with complete abandon in the paint. The numbers: 42-19 rebound advantage, 16-6 on the offensive glass and a 25-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Willard tried to counter by starting freshman Darnell Brodie in place of post-grad Mike Nzei, but Brodie posted an incredible minus-15 in plus/minus in 13:28 of action, with no rebounds, no points, four fouls and one blocked shot.
“We let them get in the lane a little too much,” Willard said of his team, “whether it was dribble penetration or coming off screens. When we have to step up and help, it gets you out of rebounding position. Sandro (Mamukelashvili) did a great job fighting all night, but we’re letting guys get into the lane a little too much and putting pressure on our guys.”
Mamukelashvili had 10 rebounds. No other Pirate had more than two.
McKnight indicated that rebounding needs to be a team effort going forward. “Nobody rebounded tonight but Sandro,” he said. “It’s on everybody else. … Sandro was working his butt off down there fighting those big guys and he got 10 rebounds but nobody else boarded up tonight and that was our downfall.”
McKnight added, “We’re playing, I don’t want to say hesitant, but we’re playing a little different when we come home for some reason. … I think we get stagnant at points. We’ve just got to figure out when we get stagnant and why. And figure out how to fix it.”
They’ll have to do it over this next week. If the Pirates could somehow score a road victory over Villanova, something they haven’t done since Bill Clinton resided in the White House, it would be a major boost to their resume.
“We’ve gotten into some bad habits without practicing,” Willard said, referring to having a stretch of four road contests in five games before facing the Blue Demons. “We’re gambling too much (on defense), reaching too much. We just need to get back to being solid. This week will be good for us to get back into a good rhythm.”
“That recharge is going to help us,” said Myles Cale, who shot 5-for-7 from three-point range and had 19 points. “We’re just going to go hard and prepare for Villanova. We’ve got a little chip on our shoulders and we’re going to go in hungry.”
Maybe then the State of Emergency for the Pirates will be lifted.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
COMMENTS?
NEWARK – Governor Phil Murphy declared a State of Emergency for New Jersey, effective at noon Saturday.
It was not long after 10 p.m. that night when the Seton Hall basketball team and coach Kevin Willard were in a position to declare the same.
DePaul swept Seton Hall for only the second time during Willard’s tenure. The Blue Demons’ 97-93 victory at Prudential Center was the product of DePaul’s relentlessness inside against the Romaro Gill-less Pirates, and The Hall’s utter inability to get a defensive stop.
The 97 points were the most permitted by The Hall at home in Willard's tenure.
After becoming one of the surprise teams in the country reaching the cusp of entering the top 25, the Pirates instead have embarked on a January nosedive, losing three straight and four of their last five.
But through their disappointment, the Pirates expressed a firm resolve that they will get this season back on track after a sharp and unexpected derailment.
“We’re a young team,” junior guard Quincy McKnight said. “We’ve got to grow. We’ve got to mature. We’ve got to learn from these mistakes. We’ve just got to get back to what we were doing in the beginning of the season.
“I think we’re going to be” OK, added McKnight, who had 25 points, nine assists and only two turnovers. “Like coach (Willard) said, it’s still early. We’re only seven games into the (Big East) season. This conference is about making runs at the end and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to make our run and take it from there.”
The Pirates (12-7, 3-4) certainly will need to make that run. Their non-conference resume still includes victories over Kentucky and Maryland, both of which are ascending, but two losses to the Blue Demons (11-6, 3-3) figure to be a blight on anyone’s ledger. Unless, of course, the Pirates can somehow steal a win in their next game, at Villanova in Philadelphia on Jan. 27.
Willard said he expects Gill (sprained ankle) to play in that game after missing the last five contests, and that would be good news. Without the 7-plus footer’s intimidating presence in the lane, the Blue Demons operated with complete abandon in the paint. The numbers: 42-19 rebound advantage, 16-6 on the offensive glass and a 25-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Willard tried to counter by starting freshman Darnell Brodie in place of post-grad Mike Nzei, but Brodie posted an incredible minus-15 in plus/minus in 13:28 of action, with no rebounds, no points, four fouls and one blocked shot.
“We let them get in the lane a little too much,” Willard said of his team, “whether it was dribble penetration or coming off screens. When we have to step up and help, it gets you out of rebounding position. Sandro (Mamukelashvili) did a great job fighting all night, but we’re letting guys get into the lane a little too much and putting pressure on our guys.”
Mamukelashvili had 10 rebounds. No other Pirate had more than two.
McKnight indicated that rebounding needs to be a team effort going forward. “Nobody rebounded tonight but Sandro,” he said. “It’s on everybody else. … Sandro was working his butt off down there fighting those big guys and he got 10 rebounds but nobody else boarded up tonight and that was our downfall.”
McKnight added, “We’re playing, I don’t want to say hesitant, but we’re playing a little different when we come home for some reason. … I think we get stagnant at points. We’ve just got to figure out when we get stagnant and why. And figure out how to fix it.”
They’ll have to do it over this next week. If the Pirates could somehow score a road victory over Villanova, something they haven’t done since Bill Clinton resided in the White House, it would be a major boost to their resume.
“We’ve gotten into some bad habits without practicing,” Willard said, referring to having a stretch of four road contests in five games before facing the Blue Demons. “We’re gambling too much (on defense), reaching too much. We just need to get back to being solid. This week will be good for us to get back into a good rhythm.”
“That recharge is going to help us,” said Myles Cale, who shot 5-for-7 from three-point range and had 19 points. “We’re just going to go hard and prepare for Villanova. We’ve got a little chip on our shoulders and we’re going to go in hungry.”
Maybe then the State of Emergency for the Pirates will be lifted.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
COMMENTS?
