NEWARK NIGHTMARES: Georgetown Falls to Seton Hall After Poor Shooting Early, 67-78

The Georgetown Hoyas (3-5, 1-3) lost to the Seton Hall Pirates (6-4, 3-1), 67-78, in a night where SHU’s star forward, Sandro Mamukelashvili, only scored 2 points on 1-5 FGs. The Pirates’ Myles Cale (30 pts) and Jared Rhoden (26 pts) were more than enough to handle the Hoyas.

Unfortunately a slow start shooting in the first half dictated the game. The Hoyas shot 8-36 FGs in the first with Qudus Wahab shooting 1-8 and Jamorko Pickett shooting 2-9. Jahvon Blair (1-4), Dante Harris (0-4), Timothy Ighoefe (1-4) and Chudier Bile (1-4) were not much better to start. Seton Hall’s Ike Obiagu’s 7 blocks in the half were tough to watch for Hoyas fans. Meanwhile, Seton Hall started aggressively from the three point arc, shooting 17 threes in the first, making only 4 but forcing the Hoyas to chase on the perimeter and open up the middle.

The Hoyas played better in the second half but could not close the gap to fewer than 9 points (2:23). After shooting only one free throw in the first, the Hoyas attacked the rim more got to the line, shooting 11-12 FTs in the second. Fans saw Georgetown in a 2-3 zone for prolonged periods late in the game.

Donald Carey’s shooting (3-7, 2-3 3PT) and Kobe Clark’s defensive hustle continued to be brighter spots. Jamari Sibley (2-3) had two nice jump shots.

From GUHoyas:

Hoyas Fall Short at Seton Hall

Men’s Basketball

Posted: 12/23/2020 8:04:00 PM

NEWARK, N.J. – The Georgetown University men’s basketball team could not overcome a slow start, falling 78-67 to Seton Hall on Wednesday evening in a BIG EAST Conference matchup at the Prudential Center. With the loss, the Hoyas fall to 3-5 on the season and 1-3 in league play, while the Pirates move to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in conference action.

ON THE RECORD

“We need ball and body movement, especially with the size that they have. You have to be able to move their size. That is why we were running different things, to get their big guy in the pick and roll and then try to exploit his size. We don’t have a guy that we can throw the ball to and say ‘go get me a bucket.’ We are going to have to be able to do it as a team, we are going to have to move people around - ball movement, body movement - and then take your shots and make your shots when you have them.” - Head Coach Patrick Ewing

HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Qudus Wahab led the Hoyas with his third double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points and a career-best 13 rebounds to go with a pair of blocks.
• Jahvon Blair was also in double figures with 14 points, hitting a trio of 3-pointers.
• Donald Carey, Jamorko Pickett and Chudier Bile all finished with eight points, while Pickett also contributed nine rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Seton Hall opened a 21-7 lead as cold shooting plagued the Hoyas to start the game before a Pickett layup and Timothy Ighoefe dunk on consecutive possessions ended the slump.
• A traditional three-point play from Wahab and a Carey 3-pointer cut the deficit to 28-17. A jumper from Jamari Sibley made it a 33-19 lead for Seton Hall at halftime.
• The Hoyas came out firing in the second half as Wahab and Carey carried the offense out of the break. However, the Pirates were able to match GU on the other end to maintain a double-digit lead.
• Georgetown used a 9-0 run late, fueled by another Sibley jumper and a 3-pointer by Blair, to pull within single digits at 70-61, but couldn’t pull any closer.

OF NOTE

• Blair connected on a 3-pointer for the 21st-consecutive game and he passed both Markel Starks and Gerald Riley to sit in sole possession of sixth place all-time at Georgetown with 167 made treys.

UP NEXT FOR THE HOYAS

Georgetown’s home game against Creighton, originally scheduled for Wednesday, December 30, has been moved to Tuesday, February 9. The Hoyas will next play on Saturday, January 2 when they return home to McDonough Arena for a matchup against Marquette. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on CBSSN.

From SHUPirates:

NEWARK, N.J. – Senior Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) and junior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) combined for 56 points, and the Seton Hall men’s basketball team had an outstanding defensive first half that catapulted the Pirates to a 78-67 win over Georgetown Wednesday night at Prudential Center. Cale erupted for a career-high 30 points on an efficient 10-for-16 shooting from the field, while Rhoden recorded his third double-double of the season by matching his career-highs with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Ike Obiagu (Abuja, Nigeria) had a strong defensive game collecting nine rebounds and a career-high nine blocks, which ties the overall Prudential Center record with Hasheem Thabeet of UConn originally set in 2009. Obiagu’s rim protection was a big reason why the Pirates held the Hoyas to just 19 points on 8-of-36 shooting (22.2 percent) in the first half.

Seton Hall heads into the holiday break a healthy 3-1 in the BIG EAST, giving the Pirates a 3-1 start or better to conference play for the fourth straight season and fifth time in the last seven. What Happened:Cale and Rhoden got The Hall off to a strong start offensively, each scoring six points as the Pirates tallied 12 of the game’s first 15 points. The Pirates’ impressive start extended to 17-5 on a three-pointer by sophomore Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) with 12:55 remaining in the first half. The story of the first half, however, was the Pirates’ defense. The Pirates held Georgetown to just 2-for-18 shooting from the floor during the first 10:24 of the game while building their lead. The Hoyas were limited to just 19 first half points on only 22.2% shooting thanks in large part to seven first-half blocks by Obiagu. The Pirate lead grew to as many as 17 points, before they ultimately settled on a 33-19 advantage at the break. Both teams came out shooting well from the field to open the second half, but no one was hotter than Cale. The senior connected on six of his first seven shots in the second half, including a trifecta of three-pointers. His old fashioned three-point play with 13:37 left in the game gave The Hall a commanding 55-36 lead. The Hoyas used a late 8-0 run to cut their deficit to nine points with just 2:23 remaining, but couldn’t get closer.

Inside the Numbers:

• Seton Hall was 28-for-62 (45.2%) from the floor for the game, while Georgetown was 24-for-70 (34.3%). The Hall was 9-for-25 (36.0%) from three-point range, while the Hoyas were 7-for-17 (41.2%).
• Georgetown out-rebounded The Hall, 48-to-37, with an edge on the offensive glass, 16-to-6.
• Seton Hall was 13-for-18 (72.2%) from the free-throw line, while the Hoyas were 12-for-13 (92.3%).
• The Hall forced more turnovers, 14-to-9, and had more points off turnovers, 7-to-5.
• Cale had a career-high 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor, 5-for-9 from three-point range and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. His previous career high was 23 at Maryland nearly two years to the day.
• Rhoden tied his career-high with 26 points on 10-for-19 shooting. He also tied his career-high with 12 rebounds to go with four assists and two steals.
• Obiagu had nine rebounds and a career-high nine blocks, which matches the overall Prudential Center record, which was originally set by UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet in 2009.

News & Notes:

• The victory improves Seton Hall to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in BIG EAST play, while Georgetown drops to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in conference play. It’s the fourth consecutive year and fifth out of the last seven that the Pirates have won three of their first four BIG EAST games.
• Seton Hall has now won 10 of its last 12 games against Georgetown, including the last six meetings at Prudential Center. Furthermore, head coach Kevin Willard is now 13-6 all-time against the Hoyas.
• Rhoden’s double-double is his third of the season and the fifth of his career. Rhoden has now scored in double-figures in nine of 10 games this season.
• Seton Hall is now 141-64 (.688) all-time at Prudential Center. Since 2015-16, the Pirates are 34-15 (.694) against BIG EAST competition in the building.
• The Pirates are now 106-14 (.883) since 2015-16 when having a lead at any point in the game of at least seven points.
• With the victory, Head Coach Kevin Willard has tied former Villanova coach Steve Lappas for 11^th on the BIG EAST All-Time wins list (regular season + tournament) with 97 career victories.
• With four points today, senior Bryce Aiken (Randolph, N.J.) reached 1,100 points for his career, including his time at Harvard. He also had a team-high six assists on the night.
• Seton Hall improved to a perfect 6-0 this season when outshooting its opponent.
• It’s the second time this season that the Pirates have had two players score at least 20 points in a game.
• Senior Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) surpassed Andre Sweet (2002-05) for 69th all-time in Seton Hall scoring history. He now has 809 career points.
• Cale jumped four former Pirates to move into 71st place all-time in Seton Hall scoring history, now standing at 799 points.