4 Thoughts: Seton Hall dealt heartbreak again in loss to Providence

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — The last time we saw the Seton Hall Pirates at home, they were in the midst of a blowout loss against 10th-ranked Marquette last week. Then, without Chaunce Jenkins and leading scorer Isaiah Coleman on Saturday in Omaha, they played a solid first half against Creighton, but could not sustain it in a fifth straight loss.

But despite facing their first repeat opponent of the Big East season in Providence, and storming back to take the lead in the second half, the Pirates could not nail the door shut, as the Friars hit just enough shots from both the field and free throw line to win, 69-67, at Prudential Center on Tuesday night.

Here are the Thoughts from another tough defeat, Seton Hall's fifth this season by a single possession:

1. First, The Stumble

Seton Hall actually started this game pretty well, with good activity on defense forcing Providence to shoot 1-for-7 to start. The Pirates held a 14-13 lead midway through the half, but then went into a drought, not hitting a basket for over seven minutes and not scoring for three, during which Providence surged back in front.

The Friars then extended their lead out to eight points, at 25-17, before the Pirates came back. They got within four points at the break for their efforts, trailing 30-26.

Head coach Shaheen Holloway credited an adjustment made from the two teams’ first meeting in Providence a couple weeks ago for the lower-scoring, close tilt. 

“We slowed the game down,” Holloway said. “I don’t know what we were doing up there trying to get into a track meet with those guys, that’s how they want to play.”

The second half started very much not well. Providence came out of the break roaring on both ends of the floor, and while they couldn’t quite turn the contest into the aforementioned track meet, the Friars hit five of their first six shots en route to a 12-3 run that put Seton Hall down 13 before the Pirates could blink. The visitors ended up with a 44-29 lead at its greatest, and were still up by that margin with 13 minutes to play.

And then, a familiar sight at Prudential Center....

2. The Comeback, Again

With the Friars shooting the ball from three so well for almost the whole game, it turned out that the best defense against it was to not let them get shots up at all. 

Stop me if you've heard this before: Seton Hall was able to claw its way back into the game thanks to a swarming full-court press. And boy, did it swarm. 

As a result of the Pirates’ pressure, ten of Providence’s 19 giveaways came in the second half, and thanks to that, the Pirates were able to score a whopping 27 points off turnovers, keeping them in the contest despite allowing 49 percent shooting overall and nine three-pointers.

It is the third time they had fallen into a cathedral-sized hole this season and come all the way back to within striking distance this year, but the difference this time is that unlike Oklahoma State and Georgetown, they actually completed the comeback and took the lead. 

That is what makes this loss such a tough pill to swallow. And despite a couple key missed free throws down the stretch, Holloway knows where the contest was lost.

“What lost the game for us was the first five minutes of the second half,” he said. “The locker room is a mess right now. They are super down, crying, and it’s supposed to hurt, right? It’s supposed to sting, but we can’t come out like we did. We can’t wait until we get 10 points down, 12 points down, then try to play hard. We gotta play hard from the door. If we play hard from the door, then we won’t be in that hole, but we’re keeping ourselves in holes.”

3. Prince Power

Prince Aligbe played a huge role in Seton Hall’s comeback. Holloway ditched a conventional lineup, put the Boston College transfer at the five spot, and it turned things around. He was able to be a reliable pick-and-roll man, finishing around the rim, several times through contact, and scored 17 of his team-high 19 points after halftime as a result, tying his career high. 

Holloway was asked about Aligbe after the game.

“I thought what helped us—and what helped him—was when (Providence) went small,” Holloway said. “Then he could start playing the five and things start switching, and we start reading the mismatch how we should have read it, and now he’s got a guard with him going up. So that helped, but overall, like, he’s a good player and he’s gotta act like a good player. Like, sometimes, he gets lost in the sauce, but Prince, he overthinks everything. I need him to be consistent.”

While Holloway meant more consistent minute-to-minute as opposed game-by-game, Aligbe has been pretty consistent looking at the final stat sheets lately. After averaging just 4.6 points per game in his first 14 games despite being a regular starter, Aligbe is averaging a cool 14.0 points per contest in Seton Hall’s last seven games, beginning with the overtime triumph over DePaul on January 8.

While he isn’t the biggest guy in the world, he’s quick enough at 6-foot-7 to exploit mismatches against bigger players while also being strong enough to outmuscle smaller defenders, and that’s what you saw tonight against the Friars. It’s a real asset for Seton Hall going forward.

4. Felton Flexing

Pirate fans can see how talented freshman guard Jahseem Felton is just by watching him on the offensive side of the floor. He can attack off the dribble, he can shoot, he’s got pretty good court vision, all the things you could want in a point guard. But on the defensive side of the floor, he has struggled, so much so that Holloway hasn’t been able to use him for extended stretches to help out what has been, for most of the season, a struggling offense. 

Tonight, he was actually on the floor for the first part of the Pirates’ comeback—yes, also in the press defense—and offensively, he scored six of his eight points in the second half, helping to turn all those Providence turnovers into production. His plus-5 at the end of the game was tied for the third-highest on the team behind Gus Yalden (plus-12) and Aligbe (plus-6).

“I’ve got confidence in him, but he gotta guard,” Holloway said of Felton. “I told him and Isaiah, they started picking up those two guys, those two guards started doing isos for him (on defense), and I’m not blaming Jah at all. But down the stretch, (Jabri) Abdur-Rahim, they went at Jah because he was on him, and he scored five quick points. But overall, his confidence and his scoring ability is helping us, and I thought he had some good reads as well.”

What Holloway said about Abdur-Rahim rang true. After the Pirates took the lead, Providence responded with a 7-0 run to regain the advantage, a stretch that included back-to-back baskets by the son of former NBA player Shareef Abdur-Rahim. 

So things are still in progress for Felton, but hopefully, he can continue to learn and grow for the Pirates, who kind of have a knack for developing point guards as a program. It’s something Holloway himself has done not only as a player, but also as an assistant and head coach.