5 Thoughts: Custer streak ends, Pirates fall to Providence in OT

Sandro Mamukelashvili’s 20 points were not enough as Seton Hall lost to Providence Sunday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

Add another one of the great joys in life that the scourge that is the Year of Our Lord, 2020 has claimed.

Seton Hall's win streak with Brian Custer on the call for Fox Sports, a 26-0 can't-make-this-stuff-up run, has come to an end, as A.J. Reeves' 3-pointer with three seconds left in overtime gave Providence an 80-77 victory over Seton Hall Sunday.

There's a ton to get into, so let's roll with it.

1. That's A Travel, Dudes

With the score tied 77-all and just seconds remaining in the extra session, Friars star David Duke, who had burned the Pirates down the stretch, drove the baseline. Seton Hall's defense swarmed him, and Duke slid his back foot when stopping his momentum and looking for a teammate.

Except the baseline referee, Jamie Luckie, who was (on replay) looking right at the play, stayed silent. Duke ended up finding Reeves in the corner, and he sunk the wide-open, game-winning 3-pointer. On the list of ways to lose a game, this contest certainly ranks up there with the brutal ones.

"During the game, obviously we thought it was a travel," Myles Cale said afterwards. "But we have to blame ourselves on that loss. We were up, we let them come back. He made a good pass, and Reeves made a good shot."

Now, as Cale alluded to, there are plenty of reasons why Seton Hall lost this game that are not a flat-out missed call by an official, and a veteran one at that, which I'll get into. First, though, the Pirates were down late in regulation, and were able to come back and force OT. How did they do it?

2. Mamu Jekyll

Sandro Mamukelashvili has looked at times unstoppable this season, showing off all of the ball skills, vision, and shot-making ability that makes him such a tantalizing pro prospect. 

Tonight, when the Pirates needed him late in the game, he was able to come through. Mamu converted two conventional three-point plays down the stretch, and one more in overtime, to help the Pirates erase a deficit. The latter two of those tied the game, including a drawn-up play to end regulation that saw him get up to full speed going towards the basket. Despite a slow start, Mamukelashvili finished with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists.

"My game was not good," he said after the game about the play at the end of regulation. "But even so, Coach (Willard) trusted me to go in there, and my teammates trusted me, so I felt like I needed to get that basket. I appreciated Coach trusting me and giving me the opportunity at the last second."

In order to be successful in the Big East in big spots, the stars have to be stars when it counts, and Mamu was one when it counted late in this game. Still, though...

3. Mamu Hyde

Mamu admitted himself that his game was off today, and before his late flurry of activity he was 3-for-13 from the field and 5-for-9 at the free throw line. Part of that was Providence working their tails off to deny him the basketball, which is no easy task.

But another part was alluded to by both player and coach in the postgame press conference, getting involved in the offense earlier in the game in terms of scoring. 

"He's got to understand that he's got a target on his back," head coach Kevin Willard said. "When you get 20-25 points a game, you're going to be the guy to stop, so he's got to come out and be a little more aggressive, I think, early in games. He's working hard, but he's coming out a little bit too casual early in games and I think he has to understand that guys are going to be really on him... they're going to want to go at him, try to stop him, and he has to understand that part of getting the basketball as often as he's getting it, I think he's got to be ready a little earlier."

Mamu gets praise for not just his scoring, but also his passing ability, which was very good early in this game, particularly because Myles Cale, Jared Rhoden, etc. were knocking down their shots. 

The big guy was just off today. A lot of his misses were shots he usually can make, and the misses at the free throw line proved costly, as the Pirates missed five as a team, with Mamu accounting for four of those.

4. The Turning Point

The reason that Seton Hall and Providence play each other to such close games all the time is that both teams' identities are never to give in. Ed Cooley's bunch never lays down for anyone, a testament to him and what he's built the Friars into over the years. With a team like that, especially in conference play, if you have a chance to run up a good lead, you'd better do it.

Seton Hall had its chance in the second half. The Pirates expanded a two-point halftime lead out to nine, at 49-40 with about 16 minutes left, and then got a whopping four chances on their next possession to push it into double figures, with three solid looks from three-point land for Mamukelashvili, Cale (who was 4-for-4 from deep at that point), and Shavar Reynolds. They came up empty on those, and also on a putback layup by Ike Obiagu.

What happened next was a 12-2 run by Providence to take the lead away from the Pirates, who never led the rest of the way, including in the overtime session. It wasn't for lack of effort, but those are shots in that situation that have to be hit, and coming up with no points on four shots on the same possession ended up turning the tide.

5. Elementary, My Dear Watson

During the game, I tweeted out that the Pirates would not miss Nate Watson when he graduated, as I seemed to recall that he always gave the Pirates a hard time. Well, I went back to the box scores of years past, and that actually was not the case. He had only reached double figures in scoring once against the Pirates in six previous games.

But I always thought that he had potential just watching him play over the last few years, and tonight, his 23 points and 11 rebounds on 10-of-16 shooting were the reason the Friars walked out of Newark with a victory. The Pirates struggled to get stops in this game, and in the second half in particular, the main reason was Watson being a beast inside. It's not often that a team with as much size as Seton Hall struggles with an opposing post player, so for now, kudos to the big guy.