Seton Hall leaves Philly with more questions than answers after blowout loss to Villanova

Shaheen Holloway and Seton Hall will go back to drawing board following 80-54 loss Sunday at Villanova. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

PHILADELPHIA — Seton Hall began a four-game stretch of its season Sunday that, given the Pirates’ metrics and rather tenuous standing on the NCAA Tournament bubble, could inevitably make or break Shaheen Holloway and his players’ chances of crashing the postseason party next month.

Inevitably, The Hall forgot when its gauntlet had begun.

Thrust into playing behind the proverbial 8-ball almost from the opening tip after Kadary Richmond picked up two fouls before the first media timeout, and with Dre Davis being effectively neutralized by Villanova’s defense, the Pirates offered up a lackluster effort Sunday, allowing the Wildcats to dictate the terms of an 80-54 drubbing from start to finish at the Wells Fargo Center. The loss was the 21st for Seton Hall in its last 22 games at Villanova, either in Philadelphia proper or on campus at Finneran Pavilion, with the one win coming in February of 2020.

“This was an embarrassing performance by us,” an irate Shaheen Holloway fumed as Villanova torched the nets with 14 made 3-point field goals in a game the Wildcats desperately needed to salvage their own March aspirations. “They came out and punched us in the face, and we took it and just ran away. Embarrassing all around.”

Seton Hall (15-9, 8-5 Big East) did not have a full complement of players available to practice following Wednesday’s win over Georgetown, Holloway revealed, as both centers — Jaden Bediako (flu) and Elijah Hutchins-Everett (hamstring) — each missed time the past few days leading up to Sunday’s contest, something the coach cited as a contributing factor to what looked like a no-show for a majority of the afternoon.

“We didn’t do all the things that we talked about the last two days,” Holloway reflected. “But it’s hard to do that when you don’t have a full roster practicing, right? You have guys watching from the sideline instead of going through it, and this is what happens when you don’t practice and you don’t prepare.”

Villanova made 30 of its 56 field goal attempts on the day, and 14 of 30 from long distance, placing four players on the scoreboard with at least a dozen points. Forward Eric Dixon’s 18 markers were a game-best, but the 17 off the bench from Brendan Hausen — who shot 6-of-9 and made five of his eight 3-point efforts — were undoubtedly the most backbreaking.

“He’s a great shooter,” Holloway conceded with regard to Hausen. “He moves, he can shoot it from deep and get it off quick.”

Seton Hall must now turn the page to a homecoming Wednesday against Xavier that becomes even more critical than it already was, with the Musketeers having defeated the Pirates by 20 in their previous meeting this season, on December 23 in Cincinnati. From there, two more big games at St. John’s (February 18, UBS Arena) and at home against Butler (February 24) remain for a team that now needs to work from behind to offset the damage from Sunday’s letdown.

“I don’t think our focus was there,” Holloway reiterated. “It wasn’t there the last couple days and it definitely wasn’t there this afternoon. We just got embarrassed. Like I said, they punched us in the face and we ran away.”