Regional Sports

Kansas was too good for Seton Hall

Seton Hall gave Kansas all they could handle, but Kansas had better guard play.

The Seton Hall Pirates knew what they were up against when they saw their bracket. They knew what was at store if they won their opening round of the NCAA Tournament. They were going up against the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks in the Midwest Region.

That was the disadvantage of being the No. 8 seed in their region. That was the consequence of having an underachieving season. If they were going to the Sweet 16, it was going to be the hard way.

They weren’t going to think about it at the time since they had other issues to deal with such as winning a tournament game. They hoped to get that opportunity, and they did. It didn’t turn out well.

Seton Hall gave Kansas all they could handle, but in the end, Kansas’ guards were long and tall for the Pirates to beat, and that’s why their season ended after a 83-79 loss to the Jayhawks Saturday night at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.

The hope was the Hall would play a respectable game against Kansas and things go their way. The first part happened, but the second part didn’t. Kansas’ guards found ways to make shots the entire game, especially when they countered by making shots of their own after Khadeen Carrington scored the final 13 of Seton Hall’s last 16 points (and 28 in all). Sure, Seton Hall fouled Kansas to keep the game going, but they were delaying the inevitable of losing this game, as the strategy did not really do much for them with Malik Newman (28 points) and Devonte’ Graham (eight points) making their free throws.

Face it. Seton Hall was up against it. Playing hard is wonderful, showing grit is beautiful and praying for luck can be sweet. But all of that becomes irrelevant when Kansas has much more talent and depth than the Hall. Playing close was the best the Hall could do, and deep down, they knew it.

Seton Hall could not afford to play from behind if they were going to beat Kansas. That was the best scenario for them to have a chance. It didn’t turn out that way as they started the game missing two layups and committing a turnover. They shot 3-of-13 from the field in the first half at one point as a result of the excellent defense being played by Newman and Graham.

They were fortunate to be in this game to the point they had a brief 24-20 lead. But the Jayhawks got right back to work by finishing the first half on a 11-2 run to take a 31-26 lead.

Seton Hall stayed afloat because of Angel Delgado’s double-double in the first half by scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He was effective in neutralizing Kansas big man Udoka Azubuike in the first half to the point he had him in foul trouble. Overall, he finished his Seton Hall tenure by scoring 24 points, grabbing 23 rebounds and dishing out five assists.

Delgado can only do so much. It’s a sound strategy to feed him the ball, but the Hall needed to get more out of their guards for a puncher’s chance against Kansas.

Desi Rodriguez (six points on 2-for-10 shooting) continued to struggle in the second half by shooting an air ball in a 3-point attempt, and Myles Powell (14 points) missed a three-pointer and a layup , as Seton Hall’s struggles to start the second half paved the way for Kansas to take their largest lead in the game at 52-39 by making  11 of its first 15 shots (73 percent).

Powell and Carrington eventually figured it out to the point maybe Seton Hall could tie the game against Kansas. It never happened. Kansas continued to get scoring from Newman, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Graham to neutralize what Seton Hall’s guards were doing. That’s where depth matters. There’s where balance scoring matters. Kansas had it while Seton Hall never did. That was why Kansas was the favorite to win this game and maybe winning it all.

All Seton Hall could do is give Kansas credit. Their seniors could only reflect what a great run it has been for them in their four years there. Understandably, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard was in tears after the game when he mentioned what his seniors meant to him and his program.

Seton Hall acquitted themselves well against a national championship contender. This is what anyone expected out of them.

Their only mistake was fooling around and losing games they had no business losing to such as the Marquette Golden Eagles, Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Georgetown Hoyas. If they won those games, they would have had a better seed and a better shot of going to the Sweet 16.

They paid the price for an underachieving regular season by playing Kansas to end their season.

Related Articles

Check Also
Close