Seton Hall Pirates 55 vs Providence Friars 67

Seton Hall (12-4, 1-2), coming off a loss at home to the Louisville Cardinals, faced Providence, winless in the Big East.  The Friars (8-7, 0-3) stunned the Pirates early.  They kicked off the game with a 22-5 run, a deficit from which the Hall would never recover.  Providence took advantage of a worn-down offense, forcing turnovers left and right. The Pirates managed to go 6 whole minutes without scoring, allowing 12 uncontested Providence points.  The Friars succeeded in shutting down Seton Hall’s offense.  Although Fuquan Edwin and Aaron Cosby dropped 17 and 10 respectively, the other starters didn’t do much to help out.  Haralds Karlis, however, did come out strong, scoring 11 points off the bench.  He played most of the game after Brandon Mobley committed two quick fouls, causing him to bench most of the first half.  The nail in the coffin for Seton Hall was Providence’s explosive starters.  They combined for 60 of their 67 points, 21 of which were during that breakaway run in the first half.  The Hall was just outmatched, falling 67-55.

Seton Hall, a team that averages 16 turnovers per game, had 15 in the FIRST HALF.  12 of those came in the first half of the first half, or the first 10 minutes of the game.  By the end of that run, Seton Hall was down by 17.  Brandon Mobley  was not as much of a presence down low as he normally is.  He fouled early, causing him to return to action later in the first half.  When he did return, the results were devastating.  He fell hard on his shoulder; dislocating the same one he had surgery on to repair a torn labrum during the offseason.  He is expected to miss more games this season.  Mobley, who missed 3 games with a hyperextended knee, may miss many more with this.  An MRI will determine if surgery is necessary.  Aaron Geramipoor made his return after a stress fracture in his foot.  He played 12 minutes to replace a foul-prone Eugene Teague.  He managed to grab two boards and convert a free throw.  Seton Hall’s big men struggled all game.  Teague, Geramipoor, and Johnson combined for 37 minutes.  They committed a total of 5 fouls, scoring only 7.  Eugene Teague managed to get 5 rebounds, but countered that by turning the ball over a typical 4 times.  Aaron Cosby scored 10, but fouled out as well.  Providence as a whole shut down Seton Hall.  They were coming off a close loss to #6 Syracuse, only losing by 6 points.  The Hall, also coming off a tough loss to a Top 10 opponent, looked less than stellar.

Room for Improvement:

·      Better performance down low

·      Turnovers

·      Injuries

Seton Hall (12-5, 1-3) continues its 3-game slide, while Providence (9-7, 1-3) stops theirs.  Seton Hall will face its 3^rd nationally ranked team in the 25 Marquette Golden Eagles (13-3, 4-0).  This matchup, however will be on the road.

The Seton Hall Pirate pre-game

Brandon Mobley re-dislocates shoulder later in game

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Seton Hall Pirates 58 vs 3 Louisville Cardinals 73

Seton Hall returned home for their first home game of Big East play.  The Seton Hall Pirates (12-3, 1-1) would face the third best team in the nation, the Louisville Cardinals (13-1, 1-0).  This game was a chance for redemption, as Louisville eliminated Seton Hall after a close game in the Big East Championship last season.  The game was close the entire first half of the game.  The biggest lead of the half, 9 points, was held by Louisville.  However, that lead was not established until there was only 4 minutes left in the half, with Louisville leading 31-22.  Seton Hall then rallied on a 12-5 scoring run, ending the half at a near tie, 36-34 in favor of the Cardinals.  The second half started off poor, as it took three and a half minutes for the first score, a lay-up by Louisville’s Kevin Ware.  Seton Hall tied the score again with 13 minutes left.  A 7-0 run by Louisville started to show a debilitated Pirates roster.  The Hall only had 8 players suited up for the game, and that forced four players to play over 30 minutes during the game.  Fuquan Edwin suffered the fewest breaks, only sitting one minute over the course of the game.  The 10-man Cardinals were revitalized and struck down the Pirates, ending the Pirates’ hope of a big upset.  Seton Hall fell by a score of 73-58.

This game had a result that poorly demonstrated Seton Hall’s performance.  The fact that Seton Hall was able to play evenly for 27 minutes with the #3 team in the country is impressive.  The wear and tear of a season with little rest finally took its toll late in the game.  Louisville’s main scorers consisted of seven players, while the Pirates could only really score with four players.  Aaron Cosby, Eugene Teague, Brandon Mobley, and Fuquan Edwin all dropped more than 10 points. Kyle Smyth was the only other player to score, contributing only two points.  Seton Hall, a team that lives and dies from 3, died today, shooting only 25% beyond the arc.  Aaron Cosby and Fuquan Edwin, players who need to be automatic for a win, combined for 5-24 from the field, a shocking 21%.  This stat line is less than half of their season average of 45%.  The Cardinals also brought a force of their own in Gurgui Dieng.  Since Peyton Siva didn’t do much for the scoreboard, Dieng stepped in with a double-double, dropping 16 and grabbing 14 boards.  All of this came three games after coming back from a broken wrist.  Seton Hall’s goal was to shut down Peyton Siva and Russ Smith.  They succeeded there, but underestimated Dieng, who had a career day at the Prudential Center.  The Cardinals’ goal was to shut down Fuquan Edwin, and succeeded.  He scored 13 points, 9 of which were made after Louisville pulled away.  Had he been hitting shots earlier, the crowd would have gotten into it.  At halftime, the arena was electric, with everyone on their feet.  That flusters opponents, and really leads to a true home court advantage.  Had Seton Hall had more fresh players available, they had potential to capitalize on Louisville’s mistakes.

Room for Improvement:

·      Roster Depth

·      Not relying on just a few players for points

·      Consistency to keep the crowd in it

A close game that ended as a blow-out, Seton Hall loses at home by 15 to #3 Louisville.  Seton Hall drops to 12-4 on the season and 1-2 in the Big East.  Next week, the Pirates will host the Providence Friars (8-7, 0-3).  Keep in mind, the Friars had just lost to #6 Syracuse by only 6 points.  With that in mind, Seton Hall hopes to lock in a win and move to .500 in their conference, which may be the most competitive in the NCAA.

Tom Maayan defended by Russ Smith

Some kids in the crowd getting into it 

Eugene Teague hitting the front end of an "and one" before the half

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Seton Hall Pirates 74 @ 21 Notre Dame Irish 93

The Seton Hall Pirates (12-2, 1-0) traveled to South Bend to take on their first Top 25 competition of the season, the Fighting Irish (12-1, 0-0).  Seton Hall managed to keep it close during the first half, finishing the first 20 down by eight.  However, after the break, Notre Dame scored five unanswered points in the first minute, forcing Seton Hall to regroup.  After that, it was over.  Notre Dame finished the game in astounding fashion, winning 93-74.  Aaron Cosby and Fuquan Edwin led the team with 21 points each.  The pair shot 7-15 from deep, accounting for half of their points.

Apparently, only three of the players got the memo that there was a game going on.  Eugene Teague, Fuquan Edwin, and Aaron Cosby combined for 58 of The Hall’s 74 points.  The remaining 16 points were distributed among five other players.  Rebounds had never been a problem for the Pirates before this game.  However, they had never before played against Jack Cooley.  This 6’9” senior is a force to be reckoned with, and boy did he show it.  He snagged 13 boards, 6 of which were offensive.  He was 6-10 from the field, and 7-8 from the line.  It wasn’t just him, though.  The entire team could not be stopped.  Seton Hall’s terribly ineffective zone defense gave Notre Dame looks left and right from three.  They shot 67% from three-point range that game.  And that’s from a team that normally shoots an impressive 41%.  They were also 57% from the field, where Seton hall was only 45%.  (Note that Notre Dame is 5^th in the NCAA for FG% with 50.6%.)  Seton Hall’s real trouble this game was not turnovers, but once again, fouls.  Brandon Mobley was atrocious, shooting 1-6 for three points, but somehow managed to foul out.  This forced Kevin Willard to either shift Fuquan Edwin to the power forward position, or play both Kevin Johnson and Eugene Teague at the same time, a recipe for disaster.  In the end, a recuperating Kevin Johnson only played 5 minutes, scoring two and pulling down three rebounds.  Nothing much is to be said about this loss.  The Pirates were playing a stacked Top 25 team who played the best game of their season.  The Pirates struggled themselves, resulting in a 19-point loss.  Also, keep in mind that Notre Dame was 44-1 at home entering the game, a streak started in December of their 2008-2009 season.  In addition, they were on an 11-game win streak this season.

Room for improvement:

·      Fouls

·      Zone Defense

·      Roster Depth

·      Praying that the other team doesn’t have a career day like the Irish did

All in all, a bit of a disappointment from the Hall.  I would have liked to see the Pirates keep it closer for a bit longer than they did, but playing on the road against good teams is a situation few teams can cope with.  Hopefully seeing more of a team effort rather than just three men carrying the squad.  The Pirates fall to 12-3 on the season and 1-1 in the Big East.  Next week, The Pirates return home to Newark to take on a #3 ranked Louisville (13-1, 1-0) led by a dynamic guard in Peyton Siva.

Tom Maayan playing aggressive defense

Aaron Cosby dribbling up to Scott Martin

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Seton Hall Pirates 73 @ DePaul Blue Demons 72

It was only in the closing seconds that the Seton Hall Pirates (11-2) were able to close the near-loss to the DePaul Blue Demons (9-4) away at the Allstate Arena.  Point Guard Aaron Cosby was the pirate to be this game, notching 24 points, 12 from beyond the arc.  He replaced an underperforming Fuquan Edwin who was held to just 11 points with only one three-pointer.  Edwin, a player known for his capabilities from long range, managed to drop only one three-ball in four attempts.  However, it was Edwin’s layup with 6.9 seconds left that gave the Pirates a one-point lead.  They would refuse to give up a point in the closing seconds.  Also big for the Pirates was Brandon Mobley who scored 16 and collected 10 boards. 

The Pirates entered their first Big East game with a close win.  The game was between two teams of seemingly equal caliber.  Both teams shoot 45% from the floor, and between 65%-70% from the foul line.  However, what makes Seton Hall different from most teams is their ability to convert from three.  They shoot 37% from the arc, compared to DePaul’s 29%.  Fuquan Edwin and Brandon Mobley on the season have been consistently hitting half of their shots from three, making them lethal against any defense.  Together, they shot 4-8, matching their season averages. One stat line that often goes unnoticed during the game is turnovers.  That is one that will prove crucial during many of The Hall’s important games in Big East play.  Seton Hall managed to turn the ball over twenty times to DePaul’s 12.  Seton Hall averaged a turnover every two minutes over the course of the game.  That kind of carelessness can and will determine the outcome of games.  With Edwin constantly getting in foul trouble, more players, including freshman guard, Tom Maayan, rarely get breaks.  He is just careless with the ball, but as a freshman, there is plenty of room for improvement.  Given his six turnovers in 22 minutes, he should spend less time at the point.  However, playing with only a seven-man roster (two substitutes), Maayan spent more time on the court than he really ever should have.  Foul trouble is also on the radar.  Given their shortage of players, you might expect the defense to be a little less aggressive to conserve energy. Wrong.  Three players for Seton Hall recorded four fouls each: Fuquan Edwin, Eugene Teague, and Kyle Smyth.  With a center, forward, and guard all in trouble, the only hope was to just hope someone didn’t foul out.  The Pirates do expect to have center Kevin Johnson back for the next game, adding to their depth.

Room for improvement:

·      Fouls

·      Consistency from three-point range

·      Roster Depth

·      TURNOVERS

Overall, a close win for Seton Hall, led by an automatic Aaron Cosby.  Seton Hall moves to 12-2 on the season and 1-0 in the Big East.  Later this week, The Hall goes to South Bend to face the #23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. (12-1 0-0 Big East)

Aaron Cosby led the Pirates with 24 points against the DePaul Blue Demons

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