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

More information at: http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=330132550