The sequence of Seton Hall appearances in NCAA tournaments has probably ended. Weeks ago, this was unthinkable. After Friday night, it’s hard to imagine the Pirates being selected.
Georgetown and coach Patrick Ewing are the reason, after defeating Pirates for the second time in three weeks, 66-58, in the Big East Tournament semifinals at the Garden.
“All teams go through difficult times,” said junior Jared Rhoden, who led Seton Hall with 22 points and was the only Pirates player to reach double digits. “I felt like we hit our bad times at the wrong point of the season.”
Eighth-placed Hoyas (12-12) was the best team. Better at first. Better in the end. Smarter and sharper at great times. And, for the first time since 2010, they will play for the conference title on Saturday night, against Friday night’s winner between No. 2 Creighton and No. 3 Connecticut.
Seton Hall’s series of four consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament began five years ago with the Big East Tournament title. COVID-19 ended the season prematurely for last year’s high-ceiling team.
Three weeks ago, the Pirates (14-13) seemed prepared to return to Big Dance. The rest of the season seemed to be about sowing. But four consecutive defeats followed, starting with a defeat at Georgetown. An overtime victory over St. John’s on Thursday offered coach Kevin Willard’s team hope of doubling the situation. It just delayed the inevitable.
The same problems – subpar match, inconsistent defense, slow starts – reappeared. The continued absence of Bryce Aiken, who was transferred from Harvard, who was hired to offer experience and strikes in the backcourt, was great. Aiken has played just 14 games this season due to several injuries and was unavailable this week. He put a lot of responsibility on Shavar Reynolds, who committed five turnovers on Friday.
“Obviously, not having it technically in the last half of the season, it really hurt us to put too much on Shavar’s plate, not just offensively, but defensively,” said Willard. “I feel bad for him. It’s a difficult way to end his career without being able to play all year.”
In the final minutes, Georgetown made the right moves, as he had done against Villanova the day before. Chudier Bile’s 3-point play with 1:36 left gave the Hoyas the advantage forever. Seton Hall scored just one point the rest of the way.
Reynolds was blocked at the other end, so Dante Harris failed in a 3-point attempt with 21.4 seconds remaining. Harris, who finished with 15 points, hit three free throws to freeze.
Missed free throws – the Pirates were 2-6 on the line in the final 5:51 – did not help. Nor is the nightmare shooting performance of senior star Sandro Mamukelashvili. Pursued by Jamorko Pickett (who led Hoyas with 19 points), Mamukelashvili made it 3-16 to finish with just eight points, the third game in the entire season in which he failed to reach double digits.
On Thursday, Ewing made headlines for telling reporters that Garden’s security often prevented him during the tournament. He spoke with Knicks owner James Dolan, and was ready to get over it, focusing on his team’s impressive run to the final.
“It’s great to be here,” said Ewing. “It has been my home for many years.”
Seton Hall’s season, however, may be over, except for a surprise invitation from the NCAA. When asked about his interest in playing at the NIT, Rhoden declined to comment. Willard said he would have to speak to his superiors, but it seemed to indicate that it was unlikely. He would not like Mamukelasvhili to play and risk injury.
Willard later focused on his own shortcomings, rather than on what went wrong against Georgetown. He blamed himself for an aggressive non-conference schedule after his team’s COVID-19 shutdown, which delayed the Pirates.
“I just think it probably wasn’t the best decision,” said Willard.
With all that said, Seton Hall was still there for a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. On February 20, the Pirates made a trip to Georgetown that started a faint from which they never recovered.