USA Today Sports
Isaiah Whitehead came to Seton Hall wanting to prove something. Up until Tuesday night, Seton Hall had done quite a bit, garnering 57 AP votes and sitting at 30th in the country. On ESPN2 in front of a national audience, he came to play, but the help was lacking, resulting in Seton Hall’s first loss of the season., a 77-68 fall to #11 Wichita State.
A 23 point burst from freshman Isaiah Whitehead was not enough to carry the now 7-1 Pirates on the road. The support from the rest of the team was simply not there.
Eight points from freshman Angel Delgado, six points from senior Brandon Mobley and just two points from freshman Khadeen Carrington helped make up the rest of the Pirates point. Not to mention a big bagel from sophomore Jaren Sina, who was 0-5 from behind the arc and 0-6 overall.
Even junior Sterling Gibbs did not score until the second half.
The Pirates came out of the gates firing, going up 13-8 before the home crowd, and team, took over. A 32-12 run to close the half took the Pirates out of the game halfway through, and the wind out of the sails on the Pirates quest to start this season 8-0 for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
After a blowout win over Mount Saint Mary’s on Dec. 2., coach Kevin Willard said his team needed to be “grounded” for the upcoming contests against rival Rutgers and No. 11 Wichita State.
A blowout win over the Scarlet Knights only helped this young team’s confidence, but tonight’s loss could provide the “grounding” Willard was talking about.
From here, the now 7-1 Pirates will return home for an afternoon matinee with the Saint Peter’s Peacocks on Sunday, Dec. 14., at 12 p.m.
David Heim can be reached at david.heim@student.shu.edu or on twitter @davidheim12.
