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

More information at: http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=330092550