By JP Pelzman
In normal times, the head coach of a program the caliber of Seton Hall’s wouldn’t be upbeat about merely coming close on the Big East road.
But, of course, these are far from normal times.
No. 15 Seton Hall entered Wednesday’s game at No. 21 Providence with only eight available players because of COVID-19 protocols. Among the missing were rim protector Ike Obiagu and another big, Tyrese Samuel. Not only that, associate head coach Grant Billmeier and assistant coach Duane Woodward also were sidelined for the same reason.
Worse yet, the Pirates hadn’t played since a victory against Rutgers on Dec. 12 because of the coronavirus.
Given those daunting odds, it’s not surprising the Pirates trailed by 13 points with eight minutes left and by 10 with 3:20 to go after a three-pointer by A.J. Reeves.
But The Hall kept coming, and even cut its deficit to three twice in the final seconds. But the Friars (12-2, 1-0 Big East) held on for a 70-65 victory, snapping the Pirates’ ??-game winning streak.
Seton Hall (9-2, 0-1) now must face preseason conference favorite Villanova (8-4, 1-1) on New Year’s Day at the Prudential Center at 2 p.m. Villanova had its Big 5 game against visiting Temple on Wednesday postponed because of the Owls' COVID issues.
Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard told broadcasters Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin on WMCA-AM 570 after the game that he was as proud of his team as he had ever been.
“I wasn’t expecting a Wednesday night crowd like this,” he said. “They were into it.
“Our offense in the first half really hurt us.”
The Hall managed only 34.4% shooting in the first half and was only 2-for-9 from three-point range as the rust clearly showed. Still, the Pirates were able to keep the Friars within range until Providence went on what proved to be the decisive run in the game.
With Seton Hall ahead 22-19 after Kadary Richmond’s jumper in the lane with 5:41 to go in the first half, Providence embarked on a 15-0 run that began with three treys by Noah Horchler and was capped by a driving, fast-break layup by Jared Bynum with 1:55 left in the half.
Essentially, that one run was the difference in the game.
That, and the fact the Pirates never found their three-point shooting touch, going 4-for-19 (21.1%) from beyond the arc. Overall, Jared Rhoden (31 minutes) shot 4-for-12 and Bryce Aiken (28 minutes) was 3-for-11. Alexis Yetna played 38 minutes and was 6-for-13 for 13 points.
Willard said Yetna was “phenomenal” and noted that “we’ve got four guys who haven’t played a Big East road game. Welcome to the Big East. That's not a foul. That’s a great wall-up by Nate Watson,” referring to the physical nature of the game.
Willard added, “We had four straight opportunities on the break that we didn’t convert. … I think that’s what lost us the game.”
He felt the inactivity and the inability to practice 5-on-5 hindered the Pirates in running their transition game.
On defense, Willard felt his team did well against Reeves (11 points, 1-for-6 from three-point range) and Watson (5-for-14, 14 points), and he credited Yetna for his play against Watson in Obiagu’s absence. But Horchler went 5-for-6 from long range and scored 17 points and Jared Bynum had 14 points and four assists.
“Horchler played great. He was the difference-maker,” Willard said.
Seton Hall twice cut its deficit to three in the final 17 seconds but PC's Al Durham went 4-for-4 from the foul line to seal the Friars' win.
Still, Willard said, “I'm super-proud of this basketball team.”
And when there are a full complement of Pirates, this game could be a sign of better things to come.
