The Seton Hall Pirates could not secure the upset as they fell to the Marquette Golden Eagles, 76-59, at the Prudential Center on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Ranked the 10th-best team in the nation by the Associated Press in their most recent rankings, Marquette looked to rebound after a home loss to Xavier last week. After picking up their first conference win against DePaul, notably without their starting guards Chance Jenkins and Dylan Addae-Wusu, Seton Hall looked to end their current three-game losing streak with a win against the Marquette Golden Eagles. Addae-Wusu is nursing a foot injury and Jenkins is dealing with a hyperextended knee.
“We’re talking about 10 or 11 days of not doing anything,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said regarding Addae-Wusu’s status. “Not shooting, not doing anything, just getting treatment.”
The Pirates shot 30% from the field and went 0-8 from long range in the first half, not quite the start they wanted. To pair with it, the Pirates turned the ball over 14 times compared to Marquette’s six. Although not shooting much better, the Golden Eagles put up 13 more shots from the field.
Preseason All-Big East First-Team honoree Kam Jones, senior forward David Joplin, and junior forward Ben Gold each had nine points for the Golden Eagles in the first half. For the Pirates, Isaiah Coleman led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, with no other Pirates scoring more than three in the half.
Taking a 33-21 lead at halftime, Marquette started the second half on fire, making eight of their first 12 shots from the field. Jones already scored more in the first five and a half minutes of the second half than he did in the entire first half (10-9).
Although shooting 12-18 from the field, which was a huge improvement to their first-half performance, Seton Hall would accrue nine more turnovers throughout the second half. Despite a game-high 27 points and a team-high, including nine rebounds from Coleman, it wasn’t nearly enough to push the Pirates through.
Jones finished with 19 points, as Joplin and Gold finished with 12 and 11 respectively. Marquette were relentless in their pursuit of steals, notching 18 of them—the most that the Golden Eagles have had in a Big East conference game.
Along with the 24 turnovers, there was not much scoring outside of Coleman, who ended the game with 27 of Seton Hall’s 59 points.
“We gotta find other guys to score the basketball besides Isaiah,” Holloway said. “Especially if Chaunce and Dylan are not going to be there for a minute.”
With the status of Jenkins and Addae-Wusu being uncertain, Seton Hall will look to get more out of other players like sophomore guard Garwey Dual and freshman guard Jahseem Felton, to take the lead. Dual played a career-high 34 minutes and Felton played 23 minutes, one minute less than his career-high.
Coach Holloway also expressed that he likes what he has been seeing out of freshman center Godswill Erheriene.
“He’s a freshman, kinda got thrown in the fire,” Holloway said. “He’s battling, he’s trying. That’s all I ask.”
Seton Hall is now 6-14 overall and 1-8 in the BIG EAST. The Pirates will face the Providence Friars on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Prudential Center.
John Misiewicz writes for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at john.misiewicz@student.shu.edu.
