The question, after Wednesday’s overtime win against DePaul: Could Seton Hall basketball build on its first Big East victory?
The answer, after Saturday’s trip to Providence: some, but not enough.
The Pirates performed well offensively once again, but succumbed to fouls and a backbreaking second-half run in a 91-85 defeat.
Sophomore wing Isaiah Coleman posted a career-high 26 points and four rebounds, continuing his All-Big East caliber tear, but was foul-limited to 24 minutes as Seton Hall fell to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Providence (9-8, 3-3) continues to play without star forward Bryce Hopkins (17.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg), who is sidelined by a knee injury and reportedly considering a medical redshirt. Junior guard Corey Floyd, a Franklin native and Roselle Catholic alum, scored 14 points.
The Hall now trails the all-time series against Providence 56-59, but is 39-36 against the Friars in the Big East regular season.
Next up is Wednesday’s trip to staggering Butler (7-10, 0-6), which has lost nine straight. That tips at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
3 THOUGHTS
1. Fouls a killer
Seton Hall was rolling midway through the second half, up 63-62 thanks to a small, quick lineup that created havoc with the full-court press. It seemed like a replay of the second half against DePaul until Coleman and Chaunce Jenkins (17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) each got whistled for their fourth fouls in quick succession and went to the bench.
Providence proceeded to rip off a 9-0 run and by the time the pair checked back in, the Friars had matters firmly in hand. Should Shaheen Holloway have rolled the dice and left one of them in, or reinserted one or both sooner as the margin widened? That’s a fair question and obviously a tough judgment call, but there is no doubt the whistle was the turning point.
2. Improvement offensively
The first half featured some of the best offense the Pirates have run all season. The pace, spacing, screening and passing were good and the score was tied 41-41 at the break. It marked a definite step forward in a hostile environment.
Junior forward Prince Aligbe (19 points, 7 boards) seems to be emerging as a finisher, and that can only help going forward.
The defense did not hold up its end of the bargain – credit Providence, too, for its impressive shot-making as sub Bensley Joseph pulled a Jamee Crockett with 28 points on 7-of-9 shooting from deep – and the Hall could not keep pace in the second half. Dylan Addae-Wusu followed up his 24-point outburst against DePaul with a 3-for-15 clunker here and Jenkins went scoreless after the break.
This group still hasn’t put it all together, but at least it’s more watchable.
3. Nothing from the five spot
Seton Hall’s two centers, junior Manny Okorafor and freshman Godswill Erheriene, played a combined 10 minutes and produced zero statistics, with the exception of one foul. Sadly, this was not an anomaly. It might be time to ditch the position with the exceptions of special situations.
The next two biggest guys on the roster were not a whole lot better than the aforementioned centers: Gus Yalden and Yacine Toumi combined for 6 points and 4 boards in 22 minutes. Yalden does set quality screens.
Credit the 6-foot-7 Aligbe for doing much of the heavy lifting inside for the second straight game.
It’s hard to win at this level when your big men don’t produce anything.
3 QUOTES
From Shaheen Holloway’s postgame radio interview with Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin…
Overall impressions: “You can’t win games on the road giving up 91 points. This is why I’m really hesitant to play the small lineup. When you’re playing against a team that’s got a lot of good guards – and they’ve got really good guards – and you don’t get turnovers, we played into their hands. It’s a gift and a curse.”
On Prince Aligbe: “I thought the last couple of games his passion has been better; that’s why he’s playing. He got the memo. Play hard, play with energy, play with passion. He’s been doing that and that’s why he’s been playing the way he’s been playing.
On the improvement in ball movement and driving and dishing: “We’re doing a better job – I’ve been on it. We’ve been working at it, working at it, working at it. It’s starting to come a little bit. Still not as much as I want. I don’t want to take 22 3-pointers. I know we made 11 last game, but that’s fool’s gold.”
On whether fatigue from DePaul was a factor: “I’m the wrong coach to ask that to. Most coaches would say yes. I’m going to say this is college basketball, it’s what they do, and there’s no school right now. Our trainer did a good job of getting these guys hydrated. We played hard, but we didn’t play smart. And that’s starting to but us in the butt.”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
