The Pirates got the fast paced, high energy affair they needed if they wanted to defeat Notre Dame on Saturday – and still fell short, falling 88-79.

In a game with 14 lead changes, the Hall gave the Irish everything it could. Playmakers, though, would mark the difference.

With the game tied late, it was Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney that stole the show. Despite early game struggles (including Harangody’s worst shooting performance of the year), both came up huge in the waning minutes, propelling Notre Dame to an emotional victory.

Eugene Harvey paced the Pirates with 21 points, while Robert Mitchell kicked in 15. Jeremy Hazell, who didn’t start, turned in a rough 3-12 mark from the floor.

John Garcia, meanwhile, left the game in the first half with back spasms.

Now at 0-4 in the conference, Seton Hall has a week off before traveling north to face Connecticut next Sunday.

That’s all for now, folks.

-Skip

At 0-3 in the Big East, the Pirates have to think their time is coming.

Well they would, anyway, if their next two games weren’t against Notre Dame and Connecticut.

Last year, the Fighting Irish beat the Hall 95-69. Two years ago, Note Dame prevailed 88-76. The year before that: 102-91. And the one before that: 66-65. The list goes on and on against the Irish, currently No. 13 in the country, who’ve had the Pirates’ number for years.

Worse, the Irish are on a 44-game home winning streak, which make things even worse for the Hall, which has bumbled its way to an 0-3 start in conference.

Notre Dame is led by forward Luke Harangody, who feels like he’s been a part of the Fighting Irish lineup for a decade. Harangody averages 24 points and 12 rebounds a game, and has historically made Seton Hall big men look like children on the floor.

Trust that he’ll get his, regardless. The test will be whether or not the Hall can respond.

The Pirates will counter with Jeremy Hazell’s 23 points a game, which may not be enough at the Joyce Center. Last year the sharpshooter dropped 26 on Notre Dame, and the Pirates were still embarrassed. Without massive help from Robert Mitchell and Eugene Harvey, things will be ugly yet again.

I’ll have more tomorrow, when I hit the arena.

That’s all for now, folks.

-Skip

If there was one game during the Hall’s five game gauntlet of death, its tonight’s.

Nothing against the Villanova Wildcats, who are a very legitimate team, but Seton Hall can at the very least match up with them – something the Pirates can’t claim to do with their next two opponents in Notre Dame and Connecticut.

‘Nova rolls into the game off their Big East opener loss to Marquette, and still sits in the AP Top 20. Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds are still the leaders there, and will both get theirs tonight regardless of how the Hall decides to defend them.

The one saving grace is that the Pirates match up alright size wise. John Garcia didn’t look anywhere near healthy against West Virginia, but if he’s better tonight he could play a pivotal role.

As we’ve seen, just Jeremy Hazell going nuts has not been enough for the Pirates. He dropped 23 on Syracuse, and the team lost. He dropped 29 on West Virginia, and the team lost. He’ll need help from Robert Mitchell, Eugene Harvey, and hopefully Garcia, to pull this one off.

I’ll have more on the game tonight, when I’m forced to catch it on television. Fortunately, tough, I’ll be traveling with the team for Notre Dame and Connecticut in the coming weeks.

Talk to you soon.

-Skip

Talk about worst possible outcomes.

In the aftermath of a 92-66 drubbing at the hands of the Mountaineers, it’s hard to believe that the Pirates were within eight points during the second half.

West Virginia had six players in double digits – the Hall only had six different players score, for the record – shot better than 50 percent from the floor, and simply overwhelmed the flailing Pirates.

Jeremy Hazell gave the Hall everything he could, with 29 points, but received little to no help. Robert Mitchell, coming off an impressive performance against Syracuse, was neutralized. His 2-11 mark from the floor hurt.

John Garcia came back, but wasn’t even close to 100 percent. That can be evidenced by his zero points and five fouls in 16 minutes on the floor.

It all leads into what will be another tough one for Seton Hall when Villanova rolls into town on Tuesday. The Wildcats lost their Big East opener against Marquette two days ago, and will come to South Orange hungry.

I’ll have more on that as it approaches.

-Skip

It’s about an hour from Gametime at The Rock, and the Pirates are gearing up to host the Mountaineers.

West Virginia hasn’t played a Big East game yet this season, so you can expect them to come out ready to roll. They’re winners of four straight, and destroyed Ohio State last weekend.

The Mountaineers are 10-2 on the season, only falling to Kentucky and Davidson. They aren’t as hyped as an upper echelon team this season, but have plenty of talent – and certainly come packing with enough to be heavy favorites today.

Local kid Da’Sean Butler killed the Hall last year, and will likely do so again today. He’s a step ahead of what the Pirates can throw at him. Alex Ruoff and Darryl Bryant are talented enough to run with the Pirates’ guard heavy attack and, like everyone else in the Big East, West Virginia has a deeper bench than the Hall.

For Seton Hall to come out of this with a win, they’ll need Jeremy Hazell to be lights out, and Robert Mitchell will have to play like a man that’s five or six inches taller. Otherwise, it could get ugly.

Every team wants to get its first conference win, but todays really represent something for the Hall. The Pirates next three games are against Villanova, Notre Dame, and Connecticut – which means a loss today makes an 0-5 start all that more likely.

I’ll be back throughout, or after, the game.

-Skip

Oh what a difference conference play makes.

Bobby Gonzalez’s one game suspension for the Big East opener or no, the Pirates got whacked by Syracuse on Tuesday night. The 7 percent mark from three point range was a nice kick in the rear too, especially considering the Hall’s general success from long distance this season.

In the end, a loss really could have been anticipated. Syracuse is an elite team, Seton Hall is not – pretty simple math. It’s, as usual with the Hall, the how that really grinds things home. The Pirates were never in this basketball game, and looked entirely overmatched in every aspect.

Worse, in Mike Davis’ first chance to really impress he looked like… well, Mike Davis. It seems quite apparent to me that until John Garcia returns, the Hall will need a minor miracle to beat the Big East teams with legit big men.

Fortunately for the Hall, they won’t be outsized all that much by West Virginia in tomorrow night’s contest. The Mountaineers are good, but sheer size isn’t their game.  That said, Da’Sean Butler could still eat the Hall up in his homecoming (he hails from Newark, so I’m envisioning quite a following for him at the Prudential Center).

I’ll have more on the game itself tomorrow, now that I’m back from my unfortunate hiatus.

That’s all for now, y’all.

-Skip

A couple quick things as I take a momentary break from the final exams that have been breaking my back this week…

The tight wins over Cal Baptist and St. Peter’s (and I consider 12 and 14 points tight against an NAIA team and a MAAC team anyday) were good wake up calls for the Hall last week. IUPUI and James Madison, two of the tougher non-conference, non-tournament games that Bobby Gonzalez scheduled are coming up next.

IUPUI is a legit program that has a player sometimes starting for the Spurs, so the Pirates will want to look out on Saturday. A game like they played in Jersey City WILL be a loss, no questions asked.

Meanwhile, Fox Sports is reporting that JC recruit Cliff Dixon has “unverbaled,” leaving the Hall again without a recruit for next season.

I’ll have word on Keon Lawrence when I get it.

That’s all for now.

-Skip

The Cal Baptist Lancers roll into Newark tomorrow night, and I really don’t know how to project them.

Hailing from the NAIA (that’s a division of play, by the way, not a conference) Cal Baptist isn’t a team that pops up on the radar very often – even if they are currently ranked No. 1 in the NAIA.

I dug through some Cal Baptist schedules, and honestly haven’t been able to locate their last game against a “power conference” team, let alone one from the Big East. In short, Tuesday’s contest could easily be a massacre of massacres.

If Jeremy Hazell, Eugene Harvey and John Garcia do what they’ve done all season, the Cal Baptist game should be a cake walk. That’s why it really won’t count as a win (I’m being serious, here, folks) on Seton Hall’s record come tournament consideration time. Conversely, a meltdown would count as a loss.

It’s a game that really doesn’t have much going for it, and really should just function as a way to keep the team fresh and active before the approaching Big East season.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a full breakdown of the “powerhouse” Lancers.

-Skip

The Pirates got up big Tuesday night, and never looked back. The thumping of Monmouth was a resounding one – especially when you consider the fact that last year the Hall had to take the Hawks overtime before securing the victory.

Jeremy Hazell continues to dazzle. He dropped 32 points and had a ridiculous one-handed throw down off a pass from Eugene Harvey that was one of the few things that seemed to inspire a rather small and dour fandom on Tuesday.

Hazell is still flopping an awful lot, though. Yes, every now and then he does get hit with a legit foul – but the kid continues to hit the hardwood when no one is even near him. I’ve seen him fall into people, chairs and anything else that gets in his way. Short of that, though, he’s been astounding.

Robert Mitchell, though his 23 points may say different, still seems lost. He took 21 shots, which should never happen again and only knocked down seven. He chucked up eight threes, most of which were ugly. Mitchell is undersized at the No. 4 spot, yes, but against smaller non-conference foes like Monmouth he’s not at much of a disadvantage, and needs to get inside far more often.

The rest of the crew did their usual, and John Garcia (with 16 minutes) was finally able to get a break courtesy of the blowout. Brandon Walters and Mike Davis were relatively inconsequential off the bench, but that’s something fans are getting used to.

Regardless, the win is something to take to heart, especially since the Hall won’t play another semi-decent opponent until IUPUI or JMU. Cal Baptist, the NAIA “powerhouse” comes next Tuesday, and then it’s St. Peters at the Jersey City Armory. That 11-1 non-conference schedule is certainly looking attainable.

In other news, MSG is reporting that Melvyn Oliver has been cleared to practice. More on that as it develops.

Until later,
-Skip

The Pirates have to be happy to be 5-1 20 percent of the way through the year’s schedule. The wins over USC and Virginia Tech weren’t expected, and the Hall has cleaned house against lesser opponents – something that hasn’t happened consistently in the Bobby Gonzalez era.

They’ve got Monmouth and the second half of their non-conference schedule coming tomorrow night, but today I want to talk about what went right and what went wrong through the first six games.

The Right:

-Jeremy Hazell has been lights out. He’s averaging 21.8 points per game, and hasn’t had a dry spell from behind the three point line yet. He’s fitting into the No. 3 spot fairly well, which is good, because he’ll be there for the duration of the Big East season when Mike Davis stops getting playing time.
-The rest of the guards – Harvey, Gause, Theodore – have come together too, and are keeping the team straight
-John Garcia is averaging a double-double a night, finally becoming the big man the team needs. Better, his knees are good enough to give him 33 minutes a game and keep him on the floor.

The Wrong:

-John Garcia is playing 33 minutes a contest. Yes, I know I’m contradicting myself, but this is both good and bad. Good because it’s helping the Pirates win now, bad because there’s no way Garcia holds up throughout the season at this rate. He’ll be done for mid-way through the Big East schedule if he doesn’t get some breaks, and that’s a bad, bad thing.
-Brandon Walters and Mike Davis still look lost. This is the problem that keys Garcia’s 33 minutes. Walters and Davis have not stepped up, and are only getting more playing time because the bench is so short. It’s not good, and they’ll have to turn things around fast.

I’m still undecided on Robert Mitchell, though he has boosted the offense.

Again, the team goes for 6-1 when they play Monmouth tomorrow night. I’ll be back in the morning for a breakdown of that.

-Skip