WSOU

Recap: Pirates Suffer Upset Loss to Blue Demons in Wild Ending at the Garden

Date: March 9, 2023

By: John Makuch

Samuel Slams it down vs DePaul in the BET.

Wilnir Louis/WillyWill Media

“Did we win? Was it a block? Was it a goaltend?”

The entire arena, DePaul and Seton Hall fans alike, rumbled these questions in their minds before the No. 7-seeded Seton Hall Pirates fell to the No. 11-seeded DePaul Blue Demons 66-65 in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament.

The Pirates were down by just one, Femi Odukale had an opportunity for a layup, and in a flash, it was smacked off the glass by Nick Ongenda of DePaul, and the Blue Demons had won the game.

But then, pandemonium took place. While DePaul was running around and celebrating, the officials gathered, and changed the call on the floor to a goaltend. Seton Hall had won the basketball game for about a minute.

The entire Seton Hall squad was celebrating with Odukale, but the officials still had to review the situation. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the call was changed back to a block, as Ongenda appeared to just get to the ball in time to avoid the goaltend, DePaul won for the second time in three minutes.

This was the first meeting in BIG EAST Tournament play between these two teams, and the Blue Demons came out on top and will play Xavier on Thursday.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with the game’s first points resulting in the score being 1-0 after a one-for-two trip at the line from Odukale, who finished with nine points, three rebounds, and three assists,

Free throws did end up costing the Pirates in the end, and in tight games like this, every single point matters. “I didn’t think defense was an issue tonight, I thought going 11-18 from the line was the issue, I thought 14 turnovers was the issue,” head coach Shaheen Holloway said.

In terms of the first half, there was plenty of sloppy, physical, and gritty play that ended with DePaul holding on to a four-point lead at the end of the first 20 minutes.

DePaul and Seton Hall kept going back and forth until the 13:11 mark, a moment that gave the Pirates some momentum.

The possession looked bleak for Seton Hall with 0.7 seconds remaining on the shot clock, but Tyrese Samuel thought otherwise.

He caught a fantastic pass from Odukale and rose above the defense of DePaul and threw down a thunderous jam to keep the scoring up for Seton Hall. Samuel would end up with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds in what could be his final game of BIG EAST Basketball.

This changed the entire momentum of this game for The Hall and rose the Pirate fans in Madison Square Garden up on their feet.

Seton Hall went on a run that brought their lead to nine, and it seemed that Seton Hall was going to run away with this matchup.

DePaul fought and fought some more though, and continued to chip away at this lead throughout the game.

Jamir Harris made a three that seemed to give the Pirates enough of an advantage to run away with it. Even though falling on the floor, Harris came through and knocked down the shot. This put Seton Hall up by eight and felt like an early dagger.

DePaul still hung on, and Seton Hall had a five-point lead with just a minute remaining. Jalen Terry made a layup to cut the lead to two with seven seconds left, and all the Pirates needed to do was inbound the ball and make free throws.

The Blue Demons stole the inbound, and then KC Ndefo fouled Oklahoma transfer Umoja Gibson from three to give him enough free throws to give DePaul a one-point lead.

All three free throws were nothing but net, and that led to the block by Ongenda to end this one and advance DePaul to the next round.

The Pirates now have the NIT on the horizon, and Coach Holloway plans on taking a potential bid to that tournament. “Yeah, if we get an opportunity to keep playing basketball, who wouldn’t,” Coach Holloway said.

Seton Hall finishes the first season under Coach Holloway 10-11 in BIG EAST play, and it concluded in one of the most heartbreaking fashions one could imagine.

Coach Holloway and his guys will have to watch while DePaul takes on Xavier instead of them, but the Pirates have not seen their last jump ball, and this is not the final game of the season with postseason basketball approaching.

John Makuch is the News Director at WSOU and can be reached at john.makuch@student.shu.edu.

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