PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By JP Pelzman
The two-man game.
When it’s a textbook-run pick-and-roll, or a perfectly-executed drive-and-dish for an open trey, it’s the epitome of good basketball.
When that’s much of what a team’s offense is reduced to, it isn’t so hot. But that was the situation Seton Hall faced Monday night in the first semifinal of the Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament in Fort Myers, Fla.
Jared Rhoden, who scored a game-high 29 points, and Bryce Aiken totaled 22 of The Hall’s last 33 points as the Pirates frantically rallied from an 11-point deficit to tie the score on Jamir Harris’ steal and layup with 14 seconds left. But Ohio State’s Meechie Johnson hit a long stepback three with 2.3 seconds left to give Ohio State (4-1) a 79-76 victory.
No. 21 Seton Hall (3-1) will play woeful California, an 80-60 loser to No. 23 Florida, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. for third place. The Golden Bears (2-3) already have lost to Cal-San Diego and needed double OT to squeeze past Southern Utah, with both of those games at home.
Worse yet for Seton Hall, super senior guard Myles Cale, who had been the driving force behind the excellent perimeter defense though the first three games, crumpled to the floor just before the lights literally went out in the Suncoast Credit Union Arena with 8:59 to go in the first half and Seton Hall ahead 24-19 at that juncture. The Buckeyes then went on a 9-0 run which put them ahead until Harris’ clutch basket.
Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard afterward told broadcasters Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin on AM Radio 970 that Cale had a strained groin and definitely would miss the Cal game and possibly more time. Granted, both teams were hitting exactly 53.3% from the field when the illumination failed---yes, they shot the lights out---but it’s no coincidence that OSU finished at 11-for-22 (50%) from behind the arc after The Hall had held its first three opponents to 13.3% from long distance. Cale's intensity and veteran savvy were missed on the defensive end.
But the last three was a long stepback.
Willard called it a “really tough shot” and added, “We played really good defense there and he takes a 29-footer and makes it.”
Still, he was unhappy that Justin Ahrens got 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting to complement All-American candidate E.J. Liddell’s 28 points on 8-for-17 from the floor and 10-for-10 from the line. “You knew he was going to get it,” he said of Liddell, but he termed Ahrens’ output “frustrating.”
Still, the Buckeyes needed Johnson’s three because Rhoden had 12 points and Aiken 10 during an extended 33-22 run that erased a 54-43 Ohio State lead with 14:16 to go. Harris’ steal and layup after he perfectly anticipated a poor pass by Johnson capped the rally and almost forced overtime.
Rhoden was 8-for-15 from the field and 11-for-13 from the line. In an offense that was mostly stagnant, other than Aiken’s drives that were reminiscent of his healthy days at Harvard, Rhoden showed why he is the focal point of the Seton Hall offense.
Willard said of him, “I don’t think Jared’s playing nearly as good as Jared’s going to play. He’s our emotional leader, but I need him to be the emotional leader where he helps everybody else sometimes, too.”
The Hall had only four assists, three by Kadary Richmond, on 24 baskets. “The ball is sticking,” Willard said. “We’re over-dribbling.”
