For Holloway, Hall, Iowa loss a learning experience

Despite 16-point loss to Iowa, Shaheen Holloway found positives for Seton Hall, using defeat as a lesson to be learned as Pirates come together. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEWARK, N.J. — Even through two resounding wins where the final scores left no doubt and offered a glimpse of a potential powerhouse in the making, Shaheen Holloway insisted his Seton Hall team was still a work in progress with much more on-the-job training to be completed, a side effect of not having a full complement of players with which to practice and instill the philosophies during the offseason that he is hopeful to employ as Big East Conference play beckons in just court short weeks.

Wednesday’s step up in class against an Iowa team owning the nation’s third-best offense, per KenPom, afforded a glimpse of what still needs to be done, as the Pirates were unable to salvage a hot start in which they stifled the Hawkeyes in the opening minutes, but were done in by the combination of sensational play from Kris Murray and foul trouble against Tyrese Samuel in an 83-67 setback on Seton Hall’s home floor that served as a stark reality check for a team still finding its way together.

“Sometimes it’s going to be like that,” Holloway again insisted after Seton Hall (2-1) was carved up by Murray’s 29 points and 11 rebounds, and was unable to counterpunch the veteran Hawkeyes down the stretch despite drawing within earshot on several occasions. “Sometimes your offense isn’t going, and when your offense isn’t going, you’ve just got to worry about playing defense. I think our guys are learning that right now.”

“I just think we’re still a new team,” Jamir Harris conceded. “We’re still learning each other, still trying to find everyone’s niche. But it’s our first big game, it was a pretty good test. Iowa’s a great team, and I just think we’re going to go back to practice tomorrow and find what we need to work on, what we need to fix. We’re just going to push forward. This is just a lesson at the end of the day.”

Such is life in college basketball, which does not discriminate by age, conference, or any other mitigating factor. Seton Hall found guarding Iowa's size and length difficult, which became an even harder assignment in the midst of a 33-13 disparity in free throw attempts that rendered Samuel into a spectator for nearly 14 minutes in the second half when the Canadian forward picked up his third foul on a somewhat egregious charge call just 87 seconds removed from the intermission. Samuel, who finished with nine points and eight rebounds, had set the tone for the Pirates on both ends of the floor, and was — along with KC Ndefo — instrumental in beginning the game on a 10-2 run and getting Iowa disjointed in the opening minutes.

“We sent them to the free throw line a lot,” Samuel admitted. “That kind of hurt us when we tried to make runs. Putting them to the free throw line so much was probably the frustrating thing that hurt us the most, I feel like.”

“The game definitely changes,” Harris said when asked of the differences when Samuel is absent from the proceedings. “Rese was on his way to a big game. Him cleaning up the boards and being a force in the paint was huge, and gave us a lot of momentum when he was in there. It’s unfortunate that he was in foul trouble.”

Seton Hall gets a three-day respite, which it will use to go back to the drawing board, before a Sunday tuneup against a Wagner team that has started the season strong under former Pirate star Donald Copeland, the new head coach on Staten Island. A brutally honest Holloway did not hold back his thoughts on his group’s defensive efforts, but at the same time, realized the teaching moment a night like this can become.

“Sometimes you’ve got to lose to win, right?” Holloway posited. “Tonight, we lost, and you kind of get what you deserve. We haven’t practiced well the last couple days, and you can’t play like that against a team like Iowa. So we’ve got to make some adjustments, we’ve gotta watch film, make a few adjustments and kind of go from there.”

“He said, ‘there’s no Ls, only lessons,’ Harris shared when asked of Holloway’s postgame message inside the locker room. “That was his last message he gave us, and I think that was huge for our team just to know that it’s one loss and we have to bounce back from it, regroup and stay together like we always do.”