JP's 4 Thoughts: Seton Hall stumbles at home to Xavier

Tyrique Jones (0) and Naji Marshall (13) combined for 46 of Xavier's 70 points as Musketeers upset Seton Hall Wednesday. (Photos by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, NJ -- Riding a three-game conference win streak that included a big road victory at Creighton on Sunday, the Pirates came home and nearly came all the way back from a 16-point deficit with under seven minutes remaining, but suffered a 70-69 loss to a Xavier team that came in at .500 on the season, dropping to 7-7 in the Big East in the process.

Here are the 4 Thoughts from the Rock:

1. Let's Get Physical

From the get-go, Xavier out-toughed the Pirates inside, pounding the ball to Tyrique Jones and Zach Hankins. That generated points in the paint galore, with the Musketeers scoring their first 20 points of the game inside, as well as a 12-4 rebounding margin in the first eight minutes.

Head coach Kevin Willard knew that Xavier would be physical, and took the blame for the Hall's slow start in that area.

"Watching Xavier play against Providence on Saturday, I knew we were in for a physical game," Willard said. "I was surprised how we came out not understanding how physical they were playing, and that goes all on me."

Myles Powell also shouldered some of the blame for the effort on the physicality side of things as one of the unquestioned leaders of the team.

"I think we came in prepared for them to roll over for us, and in this league that's not what happens," the junior guard said. "Mike (Nzei) and I have to do a better job preparing (the) team. Coach (Willard) knew what was at stake, we knew what was at stake, and we've just got to do better."

So, the leaders of the Pirates both acknowledged the need to just flat-out be better, which is a good sign. Seton Hall was much better in the second half, particularly on Jones (who didn't have a single point in the second half), and also when they made their big late push to try and pull out the win, but it was too little, too late.

2. Off-Target

One of the reasons the Pirates were in the position they were in to have to make such a run as the 17-2 spurt to end it was poor outside shooting, which may get lost in the rest of the game story. We don't normally bring this up with the Pirates, but tonight, they began the second half 1-for-10 from deep, as they are usually solid in this area (helped, of course, by Powell's regular sniping) and even after a couple late makes to help the run, they finished 6-for-26 from the great beyond as opposed to 21-for-39 (54 percent) inside the arc.

They also clanked five free throws in 14 attempts, including a rare couple of misses by Powell, who Pirate fans know is one of the best free throw shooters around. Sometimes, things just don't fall. It wasn't that the looks weren't good. This includes the end of the game, when after Powell nearly lost the ball around the foul line, he kicked out to Shavar Reynolds, who happened to be standing at the exact same spot where he drilled the three-pointer which beat St. John's to kick off conference play. This time, he was just a tad off. 

3. Crunch Time

The Pirates had the ball with 15 seconds left, down by just one point. The plan was to isolate Powell at the top of the arc, which they did. Powell's Plan A was to drive the ball, as he told the media afterwards, but after getting the ball back from Quincy McKnight, he drove and spun towards the middle, by which point he nearly fumbled the ball when Reynolds' man went to help out.

Powell kicked it out to Reynolds, and you know the rest. He would make the pass again if he could, too.

"We believe in each other," Powell said. "I passed him the ball believing in him to make the shot, and if he's open again, I'll pass him the ball again."

I saw some fans criticizing the play on Twitter afterwards based on the result (which they have a right to do). But Xavier did read it pretty well, and Willard afterwards did credit Naji Marshall for defending it as well as he did. 

Again, them's the breaks. A much stronger argument could be made for the fact that at home, you shouldn't need to be in that position in the first place.

4. Red Storm Rematch

As if the Pirates' next contest at St. John's required any more urgency, it now has some. At 7-7 in the Big East, but with a relatively weak bubble for the NCAA Tournament according to most, a lot of folks have said that a .500 mark in the Big East with what the Hall did in its non-conference slate would put them in a great position.

That still holds true, but the Pirates are now taking the hard road. Their remaining games are at St. John's, at Georgetown (who just beat Villanova), then home against Marquette and the Wildcats to end the year, closing with the two best teams in the Big East.

Realistically, you can't expect the Pirates to win both of those final two home games against such tough competition. If you follow me, that means in order to be .500 or better in this year's topsy-turvy Big East, Seton Hall must win one of its two remaining road contests (and maybe both if it doesn't grab one of those last two home contests), which are never easy. I am a proponent of getting one's work done early, and so coming off a home loss that didn't sit well with anyone -- players, coaches, or fans -- Saturday's game in prime time at Madison Square Garden becomes a pretty huge contest.

And one can also assume that because of the way the first Seton Hall-St. John's meeting ended, that St. John's will be ready to play, especially if they eventually lose at Providence and are looking to get back in the win column, too (and they are down 21 at the under-12 media timeout in the second half as I type).

Bottom line is, you know St. John's will come out with all the reason in the world to throw their best punch at the Pirates. Seton Hall needs to be ready for that. They know an intense game is coming, as the players said after the game tonight, but as we also just saw, knowing it and responding to it are sometimes two different things.

We'll have full coverage for you at MSG for what should be at least a near-sellout and a rocking World's Most Famous Arena. See you there.