4 Thoughts: Seton Hall’s fight not enough in close loss to Villanova

Kevin Willard looks on as Seton Hall’s seven-man rotation battled Villanova Saturday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEWARK, N.J. — Most coaches would rather not deal in moral victories, but Kevin Willard is the rare bird who will tell it like it is regardless of result.

And after a New Year’s Day matinee where his Seton Hall program, limited to seven available players against perennial Big East powerhouse Villanova as the Pirates — like many teams in the nation — navigate COVID protocols and college basketball amid the pandemic, fought valiantly in a 73-67 loss to the Wildcats, Willard was confident in his team’s end game despite starting Big East Conference play 0-2 after compounding Wednesday’s loss to Providence with a setback to open 2022.

Seton Hall (9-3, 0-2 Big East) missed Ike Obiagu and Tyrese Samuel — two players in protocol and not expected to be back until Saturday’s meeting with Dan Hurley and UConn at the earliest — dearly as it struggled to keep up with Villanova (9-4, 2-1 Big East) on the glass, being decimated to the tune of a 42-28 margin as the physicality and size of the Wildcats ultimately proved too much for the undermanned Pirates.

With a road trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse and Butler on tap Tuesday, Seton Hall heads to Indianapolis in a confident mindset, something that was discussed at length postgame Saturday. That, and more, fill the first set of Pirate thoughts in the new year:

1) The Magnificent Seven

All things considered, Seton Hall’s thin rotation acquitted itself well Saturday, rebounding from Villanova’s 11-2 run to start the game by wresting the lead away on several occasions while battling in the trenches of a knock-down, drag-out affair that has come to define the Big East’s most competitive rivalry of the past decade. The Pirates, who have not been able to practice with the absence of several players, forced the Wildcats into an atypical 17 turnovers, but their lack of size on the boards was consequential.

“You’ve got Tray Jackson out there,” Willard assessed as he was unable to use Obiagu or Samuel to combat the Villanova muscle. “Usually it’s Ikey and Tray, or Tyrese and Lex (Alexis Yetna). You’re taking away a 7-footer and a 6’11 guy who are two great rebounders.”

“It’s tough, but it is what it is at this point,” Myles Cale added with regard to the depth issue. “Other teams across the country are going through the same thing, so we try not to look at that as a disadvantage. We just try to focus on the eight people we have and do our best to go out there and win this game. A lot of those offensive rebounds could have been ours if we had that extra size.”

2) A ‘Mir Difference Maker

Jamir Harris, whose outside shooting prowess was hyped in the offseason when the Patrick School product transferred back to his home state from American University, had a breakout game of sorts, scoring all 12 of his points from behind the 3-point line, connecting on four of his six attempts in what could be a get-right game for the North Brunswick native.

“I feel like I have the utmost confidence in my ability to shoot the ball,” Harris remarked. “I just try to get a lot of reps and stay disciplined in my shot, so I have the utmost confidence I could knock them down. It definitely gives me more of a push to keep shooting.”

“I think the one he made at Providence in the second half kind of relaxed him a little bit,” Willard revealed. “The issue I’m having right now is, with our lack of size, trying to play Jamir and Bryce (Aiken) at the same time. It’s really difficult because, as you see what happens when they’re both out there, we can’t rebound very well.”

3) A.C. Slater

Brandon Slater’s impact went far beyond his 17 points Saturday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

On Saturday, the homage to Mario Lopez stood for “always clutch,” as Brandon Slater made an impact on almost every possession for Villanova, scoring 17 points but having a hand in almost every key play for the Wildcats in both halves.

“I was really proud of him today because he’s had some tough shooting nights and if a player only defines himself by whether his shot’s going in or not, he’s not much of a player,” head coach Jay Wright said as he prefaced his praise of Slater, who has become more integral to the Wildcats with Caleb Daniels unavailable and Cole Swider having transferred. “Brandon’s got so much more to his game, and he just found so many ways — defensively, rebounding, screening, passing — to affect the game. He’s a big part of our team, and I think he’s starting to really feel confident about that.”

“He’s just tremendous, and he does everything they ask him to do,” Willard echoed. “He plays the three, he plays the four, he guarded our best player at times tonight. I think that’s what I love about Jay’s players. He always has guys that understand their role and embrace their role.”

4) Minor Setback to a Major Comeback

Both Willard and his players reiterated, despite the lack of a win in Seton Hall’s first two league contests — the first time the Pirates have started winless through two Big East games since 2009-10 — that the Pirates will be much better when their full contingent of players returns, something that could happen as early as Saturday against UConn, the last home game before a Midwest swing to DePaul and Marquette.

“I’m still as positive as I was after we beat Rutgers,” Willard confidently stated. “Nothing’s changed. I know where we’ll be at the end of the year. Losing two games is not going to change that when you have eight guys. Under difficult circumstances, I think they’re showing their true colors.”

“I don’t want our teammates to think we’re in a bad spot because we lost two conference games and we can’t make up for them,” said Cale. “We’re still in a very good spot that we put ourselves in, and we’re going to succeed down the stretch.”

The opposing head coach, no stranger to 12-round heavyweight fights against Seton Hall, concurred.

“We’re not surprised,” Wright said of Seton Hall’s moxie. “We in no way came in here thinking, ‘they’re down two starters, this is gonna be an easy game.’ The guys that they play, they’re old guys, so I think the beauty of their depth — when they get their guys back — is that their depth is old experience. Aiken comes off the bench, it feels like he’s been in college for six years, but those guys are men and that’s what makes them so good.”