SHU Pirate Patrol: 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.