JP's 5 Thoughts: Seton Hall stifled down stretch in close loss to Louisville

Michael Nzei gave Seton Hall a lift inside with 12 points as Pirates battled Louisville, falling three points short. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, NJ -- Seton Hall had the Louisville Cardinals exactly where they wanted them. They were executing for scores inside the arc, defending pretty well, and turning the visitors over leading to offense. They had a 12-point lead in the first half, and a nine-point lead in the second half.

But both times, they stalled and gave the Cards momentum to come back, on defense in the first half, and on offense in the second half, en route to a 70-65 defeat at the Prudential Center on Saturday.

Here are the thoughts:

1. Out Of The Gates

Let's start with the positives- if you were wondering how the Pirates would respond to winning the Wooden Legacy a week ago, the answer was a resounding "very well." Seton Hall sprinted out to a 19-7 lead in the first 7:17, and looked like quite the confident bunch against the Cards, backed by a blue-out crowd of over 8,000. It's easy to forget that the Pirates are a little less experienced than they were last year when they had four senior starters, and so to see them come out strong was a good sign.

Specifically, I was impressed by the play of the...

2. Big Bigs

It's gotten to the point where whenever Michael Nzei misses a shot, I'm stunned. He actually missed two today, and continued to show off his vastly improved offensive game inside with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. A couple of those assists were big-to-big, finding Sandro Mamukelashvili, who had one of his best games as a Pirate with 10 points, six rebounds, and all four of the Hall's blocked shots. 

"I just tried to stay focused," Mamukelashvili said. "Stay on the boards, battle their big guys... but every game is a lesson. I'm looking forward to improving for the next game."

It was important to find offense from someone not named Myles Powell for this year's Seton Hall team, and while Powell put up 23 to lead all scorers, the Pirates really cooked when Mamukelashvili, Nzei and Myles Cale (nine points) were chipping in.

That being said, where things dried up was on defense in the first half after Quincy McKnight and "Mamu" had to sit with two personal fouls each. In the second stanza, it came down to...

3. The End Game

That's now two close defeats at the Rock for the Pirates this year after Saint Louis picked them off a couple weeks ago. The main culprit this time was a 4:19 scoreless drought that turned a five-point lead into a four-point deficit. The Pirates were just off kilter offensively, missing shots in close when earlier, they were making them.

But it was Powell who canned a crucial three-pointer to slice the deficit to one point at 66-65 with 2:02 remaining. Seton Hall then played good defense and got the ball back with a chance to take the lead, but Cale missed a layup, and on the other end, after the Pirates defended Christen Cunningham well on the pick-and-roll, he found the one guy for the Cards that you cannot leave open: Ryan McMahon. The senior drilled the wide open shot, and it ended up being a dagger. Seton Hall did end up getting Powell the ball down the stretch, but he was heavily contested and wound up airballing a three to tie the game with just seconds remaining. The Pirates' head coach was asked about how teams key on Powell in those situations, and Kevin Willard was honest in his answer.

"The biggest thing is that the other guys have to get a little more confident in that they have to make a play," Willard said. "It's obviously tough because you want your main guy to have the rock, but (other) guys have to continue to get confident that they're going to have opportunities to make plays."

4. Troublesome Triples

All things being the same, where the Pirates lost was at the three-point line. Louisville was about to be run off the floor thanks to that whale of a start by the Pirates, but they used the three-point shot to their utmost advantage to storm back in both halves. The Cardinals shot 9-for-27 from deep, a very respectable total that included some contested shots.

But it was McMahon who hit three killer threes in the second half that turned the game. Yes, his final such make with 36 seconds left will get the publicity, but with the Hall up nine at 52-43 with 13 minutes and change remaining, he hit two straight threes to get Louisville back within three points.

Heck, he nearly made another shot in succession on the following Cards possession. It was off the mark, but you get the point. When asked about his killer shot in the final minute, Willard was pretty blunt about it.

"I don't know how we lose him late in the game," he said.

Meanwhile, the Pirates struggled all day long. They made two of their first three shots from deep in the game, then missed their next 12 attempts from the 14:22 mark of the first half until the aforementioned three with under three minutes remaining in the second. Powell had an uncharacteristic off night, going 2-for-12 from deep himself, but the shot selection also left something to be desired.

"I never mind Myles Powell shooting a three, but I thought there were a couple on the fast break where we fanned out and took a tough one where we could have gotten a layup," Willard commented. "Getting this group to understand time and score, opportunities... they made good plays, and we didn't."

5. Long Road Ahead

Seton Hall has a quick turnaround from this game, as they host a lesser opponent (relative to the Cards) in New Hampshire on Tuesday. Oftentimes, having a game close to a tough loss is a help to a team as they have no choice but to move on to the next game immediately. That game is important, however, as the Pirates will take on Kentucky at Madison Square Garden four days after that. We knew based on the schedule outside of the Big East that it would be a difficult one, and so at this point, to paraphrase Dennis Green, the schedule is what we thought it was. 

And the Hall needs to take care of the lesser Wildcats before the date with the big-boy Wildcats next Saturday.