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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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24 hours later, I still have no idea what to make of the Cal Baptist Lancers.

They were ranked No. 1 for awhile in the NAIA, but lost to the league’s No. 18 over the weekend. None of the players, conferences or even schools in the NAIA ring any bells, which is going to lead me to believe that not many folks have scouting reports on these kids.

I can tell you that they rely on three players to do most of their heavy lifting, however. Seniors Omar Krayem and Mark Roussin average 18.2 and 17.8 points a game, respectively, while sophomore Davey Hopkins chips in 14. Yes, his name is Davey.

The Lancers have okay depth on the bench, including a 6-foot-three-inch FORWARD (that’s what he’s listed as, anyway) that averages just over 10 points a game.

Regardless, tonight’s matchup should be a runaway win for the Pirates. The Lancers have no real size outside of Roussin, which will allow John Garcia, Robert Mitchell and maybe even Mike Davis dominate the small Cal Baptist team. I could see Garcia popping for 20-plus points and 15-plus rebounds easy, if they even need him on the floor that long.

Cal Baptist is a great team for their league, but shouldn’t be butting heads with a Big East school, especially right before getting into their own conference schedule. Cal Baptist seems to know this, though, and officially list the game as an exhibition.

If anything I’d say that gives them a few points… they have legitimately nothing to lose in this game, and can play without any regrets. Seton Hall, meanwhile, would be torn to pieces if they lose.

I’m still calling a massive win for the Pirates, though I could see Cal Baptist giving them a good 15 minutes.

If you need somewhere to listen to the game tonight, check out www.wsou.net, where the call’s free.

That’s all for now, folks.

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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.

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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,
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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.

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It’s amazing how four days can change a season’s perspective.

The Pirates entered the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tipoff Class as one of the second-tier teams – a power conference club, yeah, but no Memphis, Xavier, or USC. Grabbing a win would be great, two phenomenal, and then it would be back to life as one of the Big East’s bottom dwellers.

Instead, the Hall left 2-1, with third place honors and wins over a ranked Southern California and a very talented Virginia Tech. Oh, and they scored a couple votes in the AP Top 25.

How’d they do it? First, Jeremy Hazell was phenomenal. He had 15 points in the win over USC, an astounding 32 in the loss to Memphis, and 23 against the Hokies. John Garcia had two more double-doubles. Eugene Harvey returned to form, and the rest of the team fell into line behind him.

It was a great weekend to be a Pirates fan, but it sets up an even better month. The Hall has Delaware, Monmouth, Cal Baptist (still don’t know why), St. Peter’s, IUPUI, James Madison and Fairleigh Dickinson left before they start the Big East schedule. Those are seven winnable games.

Heck, Delaware, Monmouth, Cal Baptist, Fairleigh and St. Peter’s should be guaranteed wins. IUPUI isn’t what they were last year (not easy when your best player bolts for the San Antonio Spurs) and James Madison took this team to the last second in 2007 before ultimately falling.

So, if I’m right, we’re looking at a Hall team that could be anywhere between 9-3 and 11-1 going into the Big East opener against Syracuse. That’s scary, and nowhere near what most folks were projecting

I’ll break the team’s performance down a bit more in the coming weeks, because games are going to get sparse for awhile. But for now, know that Seton Hall could well be one of the earliest surprise stories in this still young college basketball season.

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If you’ve been living under a rock, you may have missed the latest chapter in the Bobby Gonzalez saga – the one where he allegedly starts a controversy with one of the more respected college hoops reporters in the region.

I’m not going to get too deep into this one – I’m just not close enough to the situation. However, for the full scoop, go ahead and check out Adam Zagoria’s column on SNY right here.

It’s a shame that this comes after what wound up being a great game for the Hall. Jeremy Hazell stayed hot, John Garcia and Eugene Harvey both had double-doubles, and big Mike Davis actually still had a foul to give at the end of the game. It leaves the Hall at 2-0 entering their trip to Puerto Rico next weekend, which I’ll talk about more as it gets closer.

Meanwhile, the Pirate women are also 2-0, coming off resounding wins against Rider and Caldwell College (yeah, I know).

That’s all for now folks.

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