With losses piling up to eight out of nine games, the men's basketball team looks to score a win against the Connecticut Huskies this Saturday. The Huskies hold a 15-5 overall record with 5-3 record in the Big East and are seventh in the conference standings.
The Pirates' 2-8 record to begin conference play is the worst start the team has posted since starting 1-9 in 1985-86.
Despite the slow start, head coach Kevin Willard believes the team can improve as the season moves forward.
"We're not that far away," Willard said after the Cincinnati game. "Most of our guys are young and going through it right now."
The Pirates have suffered a similar fate in all of their past nine games; not being able to close out the first half or start out the second half strong. It is no secret what the team is struggling with, and the players are well aware of that.
"We just have to be ready to come in after that break," freshman Kevin Johnson said. "Just be ready to play."
Being ready to play is the exact state the Pirates will need to be in when they face the Huskies.
Junior guard Shabazz Napier leads Connecticut with 17.2 points per game along with 4.4 rebounds a game, and 4.1 assists.
Napier is the fifth leading scorer in the Big East and will cause the Pirate guards plenty of trouble if they do not focus their defense around him.
The Pirates notched their first win against the Huskies since 2001 when they upset them, 75-63, last season. At the time Connecticut was ranked No. 8 in the country.
In that game the Hall shut down Napier and held him to just six points on 2-12 shooting.
Injuries to three significant players have added to the current losing streak for the team. Juniors Fuquan Edwin and Brian Oliver, as well as sophomore Brandon Mobley have all suffering from injury.
"They're going to fight and scrap," Willard said in a post-game interview with Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin after facing No. 23 Pittsburgh on Monday. "Brian Oliver playing on one ankle, Brandon Mobley playing on one shoulder, guys really giving it their all for the team and this program, that's what it's all about."
After the game against Cincinnati Edwin explained what mentality the Pirates needed to have to save their season.
"We just have to pull through," Edwin said. "We just have to dig deep and get through. Our season isn't over yet. We just have to get through and get some wins."
Edwin totaled 23 points in the game Monday against Pittsburgh, exactly half of the teams total points scored.
The Pirates will hope to end this recent run of losses Sunday Feb. 10 at the Prudential center when Connecticut arrives for the noon game.
Dennis Chambers can be reached at dennis.chambers@student.shu.edu.
