3 takeaways from Seton Hall Basketball’s heart crushing loss to Rutgers
By John Makuch
![NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - DECEMBER 9: Head coach Shaheen Holloway of the Seton Hall Pirates and head coach Steve Pikiell of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights embrace before their game at Prudential Center on December 9, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - DECEMBER 9: Head coach Shaheen Holloway of the Seton Hall Pirates and head coach Steve Pikiell of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights embrace before their game at Prudential Center on December 9, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/16bd7816587f4b7818d36d76182164c92268902a445e3fc01f73f8888d9f5b4d.jpg)
2. Al-Amir Dawes, a rough night
Every shooter goes through slumps, and Al-Amir Dawes’s just happened to come at the worst time. Against Baylor, he went 0-8 from the field and 0-4 from three, and that struggle continued despite the stakes and despite being at his home gym. He is a player with all the talent in the world when it comes to shooting the basketball, but this was just not his night by any means.
Against high-major opponents, he has shot 21.9 percent from behind the arc, with a 7-32 clip, that is not going to cut it as you head into Big East play. Dawes has had the green light from coach Holloway throughout his time at Seton Hall, but is it time to at least turn that light to yellow? Two rough nights would not be enough to make a coach remove that light from his best shooter, but lineup changes could be coming after a game like this.
For a team that is not very good when it comes to three-point shooting, making sure that Dawes is in a good rhythm is important, but when you lose a game in this fashion to your arch rival it is hard to not consider alternative options. He is a shooter by nature, those players can get back into their grooves with just one big make, but Dawes’s struggles cannot continue on forever for these Pirates.