Seton Hall Basketball: 3 takeaways from Pirates' painful loss to Providence

1. This was a loss they could not afford to suffer

Yes, the Pirates are fine when it comes to the rest of their schedule and finding a way into a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament, but this was just one of those wins that great teams find a way to stick out. After losing in triple overtime to the Creighton Blue Jays, you have to find a way to get your fire and momentum back, but the Pirates just ran into such a tough situation. Missing your star player, and not having the energy you need, it felt like watching the nonconference Seton Hall Pirates that did not do well at all.

And it does not get any easier for the Pirates as they take on those Golden Eagles, and given the fact they beat them already, Marquette will be out for some revenge in that game. Now they are in a position where it feels like they have to win in Milwaukee if this team wants to regain its foothold in the top three of the Big East, but now there is a real scenario they are a borderline top-five squad. Their schedule gets a bit easier after the Marquette game, but a win against Providence would have given them the wiggle room to afford a loss like that, now they need a strong performance to avoid losing three straight.

This is not one of those losses where you hit the panic button and it is all over, but it feels like one of those losses that might bring Seton Hall back down to reality, a reality where they are a bottom-half team in the conference. But this all depends on the health of Richmond, if their superstar can return, they can go out and beat Marquette again. But without Richmond, they could find themselves on a slump similar to the one Providence went through after Hopkins wet down.

So, this then goes to Coach Holloway, how will he get his team locked back in to respond to this situation? That question may just be the most important one of the season so far, and we will get our answer very soon.