Seton Hall Athletics
The Pirates losing skid increased to six straight on Saturday as Seton Hall fell to the St. John’s Red Storm 85-72 at Carnesecca Arena in Queens.
With the loss the Pirates fall to 15-12 and 5-10 in Big East play. Heading into the game all eyes were on Seton Hall’s Isaiah Whitehead who had the opportunity to be the focal point of the offense with the absence of junior Sterling Gibbs, serving the first game of his two-game suspension for punching Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono on Monday during the team’s 80-54 loss. Whitehead led the team in scoring with 19 points, but struggled from the field shooting 8-for-24 including 2-for-12 from behind the arc.
The first half was a back and forth affair that saw the Red Storm take a 41-40 lead into the locker room. With Whitehead struggling with his shot, the story of the first half for Seton Hall was Khadeen Carrington. The Pirates’ other freshman guard had 10 first half points.
The Pirates had a strong start to their second half taking a 52-49 lead off nine straight points from Whitehead in the first six minutes of the half. Seton Hall kept it close until finally St. John’s began to take advantage of the Pirates’ missed shots.
The Red Storm went on a 10-0 run and took the first double digit lead for either side at 69-59 with 5:52 left on a three pointer by Phil Greene IV and did not look back. St. John’s was led by Sir’Dominic Pointer who posted a double-double with 22 points and 10 boards.
Seton Hall struggled all afternoon to find consistent scoring outside of Whitehead and Khadeen Carrington who finished the game with 16 points on 6-13 shooting. No other Pirate scored in double figures. Both Stephane Manga, who got the start today in place of Gibbs, and Angel Delgado finished with nine points. Delgado, who leads Division I freshman in rebounding, finished with a game high 13 rebounds.
The game came down to the Pirates not being able to hit their shots as the Red Storm shot 48.4% from the field opposed to 40% for the blue and white. St. John’s also shot 42.3% from deep compared to an abysmal 29.2% for the Hall.
Senior Brandon Mobley returned after sitting out the Villanova game with a knee injury. Mobley scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds, but was in foul trouble early and sat out the majority of the second half.
The Pirates who were a projected NCAA tournament team a month ago have not recorded a victory since their January 31st victory over Xavier in the return of Isaiah Whitehead. They now sit at eight in the Big East.
Seton Hall will return home to face the Creighton Blue Jays on Saturday, February 28th. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
Matthew Zeigafuse can be reached at matthew.zeigafuse@student.shu.edu or on twitter @mattzeigafuse
