Seton Hall
No. 19 Seton Hall Suffers First Home Loss of Season in 73-64 Defeat to Xavier
Date: January 20, 2018
(Photo: SHU Athletics)
By: James Justice
The Seton Hall men's basketball team suffered their first home defeat of the season to the stunned silence of the sold-out Prudential Center crowd, falling 73-64 to the Xavier Musketeers.
In a game in which Seton Hall had the lead for most of the game, Xavier pulled in front late in the second half for the first time since the opening minute.
Definitely hearing the noise from a Pirates crowd that voiced their verbal indiscretions throughout the afternoon, J.P. Macura rose above the Pirates and dunked home a follow-up attempt off a missed shot that gave Xavier a 67-60 advantage with 1:24 left. The black and white of the Xavier bench erupted as the blue and white around the arena began to realize the cruel reality of the Pirates first home loss of the season.
"He's not going to crawl in a shell when you boo him," Xavier head coach Chris Mack said after the game. "He played inspired and I think a big part of it was we're 0-3 here [at the Prudential Center]."
Macura heard the boos and jeers that reverberated throughout the arena whenever he made a misstep, and responded with an audacious performance of 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 18 points in the second half.
Fans did fill the entirety of the Prudential Center's lower bowl, and provided an atmosphere that helped the Pirates - who had started slowly in previous games - jump in front to a 13-5 lead.
Things were not perfect, though, as Desi Rodriguez picked up two personal fouls early on. Despite those two fouls, head coach Kevin Willard brought him back in with about 12 minutes remaining in the first half, and Rodriguez picked up his third foul just before halftime.
Ismael Sanogo similarly played a big part in the Pirates early success, while also playing with fire when it came to his personal fouls. Sanogo finished the game with eight points and seven rebounds, but it was his defensive work that was most impactful, as he limited Xavier's leading-scorer Trevon Bluiett to 15 points.
Angel Delgado was productive in several aspects of his offense, collecting rebounds and finding open teammates with precision passing. Still, when it came to scoring, Delgado struggled as he finished the game with only eight points. Delgado has now totaled only 23 points combined over his last three games. Willard said after the game that the team needs to find ways to alleviate the double-teams that Delgado has been experiencing.
"Right now, the way teams are playing us, it's good that we have a bye week; we've got to make a little bit of adjustment," Willard said. "[Opponents] are just not playing Ish and Mike, and they're fronting him [Angel], they're sitting behind him, and it's tough getting him the basketball."
Xavier calmed the raucous crowd down with a run every time Seton Hall seemed destined to pull away. It began early in the first half, with the Musketeers cutting an eight-point lead in half, and then down to two, with 9:21 remaining in the first half.
The Pirates started out the second half with the same rotation that began the game, despite Rodriguez's three personal fouls. It resulted in a similar outcome as the first half, with Seton Hall extending the lead that was five at the half to as much as ten with 17:59 remaining.
Xavier went roughly three minutes without scoring, but ten points was as far as Seton Hall could extend the lead. The Pirates led by nine with 6:40 to go in the first, but were just off on multiple attempts to push the lead into double-digits. Powell saw a three rim out, as did Angel on a put-back, while Jordan Walker airmailed a three during a 3:33 stretch in which Xavier cut the game back to one possession.
J.P. Macura gave Xavier its first lead of the game since the opening minute, converting a three-pointer with 8:22 remaining. From there, the lead went back and forth, but the Pirates never seemed to operate with the same control they had for most of the game.
The Pirates retook the lead once Ismael Sanogo re-entered the game following a hard fall, with Sanogo playing the remainder of the game not only with injury uncertainty, but with foul trouble. Quickly on the other end, though, Xavier did what they had done for most of the game, retaking the lead with a three from Kaiser Gates that made the game 61-59. From there, Xavier would not look back.
Xavier finished the game on a 12-3 run, with Seton Hall running out of answers offensively. Willard did not feel after the game that fatigue was a reason for the Pirates giving up the lead in the end, despite Carrington playing 37 minutes, Powell playing 38 and Delgado playing 39.
Seton Hall will now have a week off before their next contest, which will be on Jan. 28 at DePaul's new Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Ill. Catch the action on 89.5 FM WSOU.
James Justice can be reached at james.justice@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @JamesJusticeIII.
