5 Thoughts: Seton Hall starts sluggish, falls short at Providence

Myles Powell broke out of shooting slump with 27 points, but Seton Hall’s comeback attempt was three points short against Providence. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Owners of a two-game lead in the Big East Conference standings, Seton Hall sought to maintain its cushion Saturday night, visiting a Providence team clinging precariously to a rather tenuous position on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, the high hopes soon gave way to a redux of the first half against Xavier a fortnight prior, as the Friars built a big lead, then held on late for a monumental 74-71 victory inside a sold-out Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Following the first media timeout of the first half, Seton Hall (18-7, 10-3 Big East) allowed Providence to find a 3-point shooting rhythm after missing its first seven attempts from the field, the contributing factor in the 25-point deficit from which the Pirates were forced to extricate themselves. The visitors did pull within two points late in the second half, but would get no closer as the Friars went on a 12-4 run to extend their advantage back into double digits before holding on late and surviving a bizarre conclusion that we’ll address later in this post.

Before that, though, we have some other takeaways to unpack from a prime-time showdown in the Ocean State. Let’s begin:

1) Slow Starters

Much like the 30-6 hole Seton Hall dug against Xavier, the Pirates created the same arduous task for themselves Saturday, as Providence’s massive first-half advantage reached a 25-point crescendo with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening stanza, the score at that juncture an ominous 34-9 amid Alpha Diallo draining shot after shot on his way to a 35-point, 10-rebound tour de force while the Friars outhustled Seton Hall on the glass the entire night.

“It’s happened to us a little bit too much,” head coach Kevin Willard lamented as the Pirates were unable to atone for a home loss Wednesday against Creighton, who now sits just one game off Seton Hall’s conference lead with a rematch between the two programs looming in Omaha on the final day of the regular season, March 7. “We’ve gotten down in the first half a lot and we’ve been able to kind of claw our way back, but we just couldn’t do it. We couldn’t get over the hump today.”

2) A shorter leash?

The final stat sheet will show that Willard played ten Pirates, but three of those ten — Myles Cale, Anthony Nelson and Ike Obiagu — saw only a combined 13 minutes and 19 seconds of action Saturday. Willard, usually laconic and grounded in the management of his rotations, addressed this issue moving forward in an uncharacteristic display of fire from the normally stoic head coach during his postgame radio interview with Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin.

“We have some guys with bad attitudes right now, to be perfectly honest with you,” he divulged while on the air. “When you have a bad attitude and you’re pouting, and complaining that you’re not playing enough time, yet your team is 10-2, you have issues.”

“The bench is going to get shortened,” he continued, declining to single players out by name. “Either you’re going to show up and play, or you’re not. I’m really disappointed in a few guys. Either they regain their focus, or I'll just play six.”

3) Myles to go on the Rhode(n)

Myles Powell’s 1-for-7 start did little to quell the skeptics who highlighted an apparent shooting slump for the transcendent senior, but the All-America candidate was able to discover a groove just before halftime and maintain it over the final period, finishing with 27 points on 9-of-20 shooting and passing Jeremy Hazell for third place on Seton Hall’s all-time scoring list in the process.

“What him and Markus go through, these two guys are getting attention that no one else gets,” Willard said, defending Powell and Marquette’s Markus Howard for managing to withstand having everything but the proverbial kitchen sink being thrown at them. “The other night, Markus was 4-for-15 at one point before he got it going. They’re the only two guys in the conference that get the attention these two guys get. We saw a triangle-and-two the other night, and two guys were on him (Powell).”

For what it’s worth, David Duke and Maliek White frequently double-teamed Powell over the course of the night. The focus on the superstar left Jared Rhoden open to post yet another consistent performance, recording 10 points and eight rebounds.

“I think the biggest thing with Jay is he’s always been a guy that brings great energy, but I think he’s bringing a consistent effort right now on both ends of the floor,” said Willard. “He’s just bringing such great energy to everybody out there that good things are happening.”

Alpha Diallo had career night for Providence Saturday, lighting up Seton Hall for 35 points and 10 rebounds. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

4) Divine Providence

As Seton Hall begins a five-game gauntlet to close the regular season Wednesday against Butler (Good news for Pirate fans: Brian Custer, with whom Seton Hall is 25-0 when he handles play-by-play duties, will work Wednesday’s FS1 telecast), Providence now has a Quadrant 1 win on its resume, a much-needed pick-me-up for a team now 14-12 on the season, and 7-6 in Big East play.

“I thought Alpha played the best game of his career here,” Friars head coach Ed Cooley remarked. “I haven’t seen many people have performances like that in my 14 years as a head coach. “We’re still fighting for our lives, but one game at a time. I was just proud of the team toughness and really impressed today.”

“That’s a good basketball team,” Willard concurred. “Alpha’s a senior, Pip (Luwane Pipkins) is a senior, and I think David Duke’s going to be one of the best players in the league next year, by far. He had a tough game, but his upside’s unbelievable.”

5) The Final Countdown

The capacity crowd of 13,255 — a majority of which were Friar faithful — rattled Seton Hall early in the first half, then reached deafening roars once more whenever Providence would answer a Pirate basket going down the stretch. The student section could hardly contain itself in the final seconds, prematurely rushing the court when the game appeared over with a 74-68 lead for the hosts having briefly been delayed after a whistle with two-tenths of a second remaining after Quincy McKnight drew a foul. A technical foul was then assessed on the Friars for the errant court storm, granting McKnight three free throws in total, each of which he made to provide the final margin on the scoreboard. While the timing of the events was surreal to those in attendance, the coach of the home team — who had to take to the house microphone to usher the students off the floor so that the game could be properly completed — praised the ultimate outcome.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about how great our crowd was,” Cooley gushed. “Our crowd helped us win this game, there’s no question about it. I don’t know what they fed them in here today, but I can’t wait to get back home next Saturday. Whether it was the Bud Lights or the Natty Lights, the Pabst Blue Ribbon — I don’t know what they gave them today, but it was awesome. I know it got out of hand at the end when the game was over, but it’s hard to get mad at them. They’re kids, and it’s just something we’ve got to deal with. Hopefully we don’t get fined for that, but if we do, I’ll pay. It’s worth it to me.”