Big East Basketball: Creighton, Villanova lead latest power rankings
9. Seton Hall Pirates (1-3)
- Wins: vs Iona (86-64)
- Losses: at Louisville (71-70), at Rhode Island (76-63), vs No. 20 Oregon (83-70 Neutral)
- Next Game: Sunday 12/6 at 8 pm ET at Penn State
After losing their star guard, Myles Powell (21 ppg in 2019-20), to graduation in the offseason, life for the Pirates hasn’t been easy to start this season.
In their season opener at Louisville, Seton Hall suffered a devastating loss when point guard Bryce Aiken, left the game in the first half due to an ankle sprain and has been ruled out for at least one more week.
The Pirates defense kept its matchup against Louisville close, by forcing the Pirates to shoot just 2-for-14 (14.3 percent) from the perimeter. However, the Pirates struggled to generate convert on their shots, making only 33.3 percent of their shots against Louisville.
In the end, junior guard Takal Molson was fouled from three-point range trailing 71-68 with less than one second remaining against Louisville. Molson made his first two shots at the free-throw line, but missed his last one sending Seton Hall a heartbreaking 71-70 loss against Louisville.
In their second game, Seton Hall bounced back nicely, winning 86-64 against Iona.
On Wednesday, the Pirates dropped their second game of the season 76-63 at Rhode Island. Seton Hall played URI close throughout, but was not able to close it out, as the Pirates shot a poor 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) at the free-throw line. Seton Hall had no answers defending the perimeter against URI’s backcourt, allowing Fatts Russell to hit three shots from the outside, and Jeremy Sheppard and Ishmael Leggett to each make two three-point shots.
On Friday night, Seton Hall made the trip to the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska to take on the Oregon Ducks. Seton Hall dropped their third game of the season, losing 83-70 to Oregon.
In their season opener, the Pirates were able to lock down the perimeter against Louisville, holding the Cardinals 2-for-14 shooting from the outside.
However, during Seton Hall’s last three-games, the Pirates have had difficulty stopping its opponents from the outside. Seton Hall has allowed its opponents to shoot a combined 26-for-60 from three-point range during its last three games.
Senior forward, Sandro Mamukelashvili (18.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg) has shined for the Pirates carrying the team as its top scorer and rebounder, while also being a perimeter threat once again this season.
To recover from its 1-3 start, Seton Hall will need to find more players to step up. One potential player that could be in line for a much-improved season is senior guard Shavar Reynolds (9.5 ppg, 5.5 apg). Reynolds had a great game versus Oregon going 4-for-5 from the perimeter, scoring a career-high 17 points, while tallying eight assists.
Seton Hall has faced a tough schedule so far, but there were all games that the Pirates could have won on paper. The Pirates were also on pause before starting their season due to COVID-19.
Seton Hall will need point guard Bryce Aiken to be healthy once he comes back to give the Pirates more depth on the roster.
The Pirates have a must-win game for their NCAA Tournament resume against Penn State today. The Nittany Lions are 2-0 and are coming off a victory on a buzzer-beater by Myles Dread against VCU on Wednesday.
This game should give us a clearer picture of where Seton Hall stands against a Penn State team that is projected to finish at the bottom of the standings in the Big Ten Conference this season.