PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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By JP Pelzman
Looking back at Seton Hall’s 70-65 loss to UConn Wednesday night and looking ahead to DePaul on Saturday:
Cleaning the glass.
Yes, the Huskies dominated on the boards, with a 41-31 rebounding advantage, including 17-10 on the offensive glass. But, strangely enough, as bad as it looked, UConn got only one more second-chance point than Seton Hall. (The margin was 13-12.)
The problems were more psychological and in terms of fatigue, that is, the energy expended having to continue to defend on those possessions.
Haunted again.
And yes, the man responsible again for much of that rebounding dominance was almost-Pirate Adama Sanogo. The 6-9 power forward has now scored in double figures in all four games against The Hall, with double-doubles in each of the last two.
Sanogo is averaging 16.5 points and 10.8 rebounds in those four contests. Ouch.
Defensive breakdowns.
I could’ve put this in the main story, but chose to focus on the offense. Another thing that must be fixed is the defense, particularly against set plays.
Both Villanova and UConn exposed the Pirates with pick-and-rolls and backdoor cuts, and while perhaps fatigue can be a factor, spatial and situational awareness also are key. Seton Hall will need to be especially mindful of that versus Butler next week.
Frontcourt woes.
Tyrese Samuel was 1-for-8 Wednesday, and Tray Jackson and Alexis Yetna both shot 1-for-4. The Pirates simply have to get better production from this trio, if only to take some of the burden off Jared Rhoden and Kadary Richmond.
Scouting DePaul.
The Blue Demons will be playing their third game in five days. They have a COVID makeup scheduled at home Thursday night versus Creighton.
Javon Freeman-Liberty, who suffered a groin injury in DePaul’s win over The Hall on Jan. 13, returned to action in a 73-71 loss to Butler on Tuesday and scored 13 points. Even with the Pirates’ limited roster, it would make sense to push the pace early given DePaul’s situation.
