Dogs vs. Bulldogs
Pirates go cold in ugly loss to No. 11 Butler
Seton Hall has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the breakup of the Big East Conference, but the Pirates would have been better off if Butler had been left off the invite list.
For the fifth straight time, and seventh in eight meetings. Seton Hall was unable to beat the 11th-ranked Bulldogs, falling further into a slump following a 61-54 loss Wednesday night at Prudential Center.
Seton Hall (13-7, 3-5) suffered its fourth loss in the past five games and saw its 10-game home win streak snapped, a streak which started after a loss to Butler (18-3, 7-2) last season.
“I’ve had dreams the last two nights of Bulldogs chasing me and I don’t think they’re going away anytime [soon],” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “We’re having a hard time understanding how to score on them and I have to do a better job of that.”
Meanwhile, the Pirates couldn’t stop praising the play and planning of Chris Holtmann’s Bulldogs.
“They’re just tough,” junior Ismael Sanogo said. “They match our toughness better than any team in the conference. Their coach does a great job of preparing them for us.”
Seton Hall would have had trouble scoring against any team, shooting under 29 percent from the field after a ghastly 2-for-21 start that included missing its first 10 3point tries. With a chance to claim a much-needed win, the Pirates looked like children picking up a basketball for the first time, fumbling chance after chance and dropping pass after pass, un- sure whether they should be shooting, and missing by counties when they did.
Angel Delgado (12 points, 22 rebounds) became the first player in Big East history with at least 20 rebounds in backto-back league games, but the Pirates’ abysmal shooting — 4-of-24 on 3-pointers, 14-of-24 free throws — negated several of his efforts.
“We have to do a better job of when he gets offensive rebounds of capitalizing,” Willard said. “He’s been phenomenal.”
Seton Hall’s level of ineptitude should have been impossible to match, but Butler nearly did, shooting 35 percent from the floor to allow the Pirates, who trailed 26-19 at halftime, to hang around.
Butler took its biggest lead, 37-24, early in the second half, behind Andrew Chrabascz (16 points), as Khadeen Carrington went to the locker room with a dislocated finger on his shooting hand.
Their leading scorer’s brief absence didn’t stop the Pirates from going on a 10-0 run which revived a crowd silenced since the start. Soon, they took their first lead since the opening minutes, 45-44, on Myles Powell’s 3-pointer with 6:30 remaining.
A stunning comeback was still in play late, but Desi Rodriguez missed a layup that could have tied the game with 3:15 left, and Kamar Baldwin’s 3-pointer 30 seconds later kept Butler up by two or more possessions for good.
“We have 10 league games left. We have a lot of opportunities,” Willard said. “That’s the great thing about this league, it’s not like this is the only one you’re gonna get. Just about every night, you’re gonna have an opportunity.
“Obviously it’s a big opportunity, but not the only opportunity.”