Big East Sports Blog

Jamar Nutter led four Pirates in double figures, as Seton Hall (10-4, 0-1) defeated Morgan State 89-81 on Saturday.  The senior scored a game and career-high 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field.  Brian Laing added 20 points and eight rebounds, while Jeremy Hazell and Eugene Harvey added 15 and 12 points apiece.

Despite losing the rebound advantage, 40-38, and shooting ten fewer free throws, Seton Hall shot 50.8 percent from the field and dished out 18 assists, compared to Morgan State’s five.  Seton Hall led at the break 42-35, and played from behind the entire second half.  The Bears got to as close as six points, 63-57, but were unable to come any closer.  Morgan St. shot just 36.8 percent from the field for the game, and have now lost three straight, dropping the Bears under the .500 mark at 6-7.  Jamar Smith led Morgan St. with 28 points, 11 by way of the free throw line.

The win completes a five-game home stretch for Seton Hall.  The Pirates went 3-2 on the home-stand, but face tough road tests this week against Marquette and Pittsburgh. They’ll aim for their first conference win Tuesday night at 9 p.m. when they travel to Marquette to face off against the Golden Eagles.

Connecticut notched their seventh win in a row over Seton Hall behind 27 points from Jerome Dyson, as the Huskies beat the Pirates 98-86 on Thursday night in the Big East opener for both teams.  UConn picks up their 10th win (10-2, 1-0), while the loss puts Seton Hall at 9-4.

UConn had five players in double figures, helping them to their fifth straight win.  The Pirates couldn’t find an answer inside for Hasheem Thabeet, who scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Huskies. 

Despite allowing Seton Hall to score 48 points in the first half and take a one-point advantage at halftime (48-47), UConn woke up defensively in the second half and limited Seton Hall to 38 points in the second frame.  The Huskies used a 14-2 run in the first five minutes of play in the second half to lead 67-56 and the Pirates couldn’t find their groove offensively they had in the first 20 minutes.  Dyson led the 14-2 charge, scoring eight of 27 points during the run.

Freshman Jeremy Hazell led the way for the Pirates with 28 points and Larry Davis had 13 off the bench, but Seton Hall’s two leading scorers didn’t have it going tonight.  Brian Laing came into the contest averaging almost 21 points per game, but struggled from the field shooting 3-of-14 and only had eight points.  Eugene Harvey struggled with foul trouble early and never got into a good rhythm against UConn.  Harvey had 11 points, six below his average. 

Seton Hall will conclude their five-game home-stand on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.  They are 2-2 during their five-game home stretch and they’ll play their last out-of-conference game of they year against Morgan State.  UConn will face off against Notre Dame in an early marquee game in the Big East.  Tip-off is at 9 p.m. from the Joyce Center in South Bend.

Seton Hall had one last tune up before venturing into Big East play and the Pirates made the most of it, blasting Delaware State 77-54 on Monday afternoon.  The Pirates picked up their ninth win of the season (9-3), as they begin conference play later this week.

Brian Laing dominated inside for Seton Hall making his first 12 shots from the field and finished the day with a game-high 27 points.  Jamar Nutter added 12 points for the Pirates who dominated in virtually every aspect of the game.  Seton Hall finished the afternoon shooting 51 percent, holding the rebound advantage 34-24, and capitalizing on 10 steals and six blocked shots. 

Delaware State was in striking, trailing 28-18 with halftime looming, but the Pirates blew things wide open, ending the first half on a 13-5 run to take a 41-23 lead at the half.  The Hornets helped Seton Hall build an 18-point lead by going almost a full nine minutes without a field goal.  It was a lead the Pirates would not relinquish.

Seton Hall will face their first Big East test coming up on Thursday night when they host Jim Calhoun and the Connecticut Huskies at 7 p.m.

Gavin Grant scored seven of his game-high 23 points in the final minute of play, helping NC State get past Seton Hall 79-73 on Thursday night.  The Wolfpack avenged a loss to the Pirates in 2006 on their home soil.  NC State improved to 8-3 on the year and have won four straight.

The Wolfpack used a balanced offensive attack, getting four players in double figures in scoring.  Courtney Fells added 17 points, all coming in the first half, and J.J. Hickson added a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 boards.  NC State shot the ball well on this night, shooting 56 percent from the field against Seton Hall, despite their 18 turnovers.

Eugene Harvey led the way for Seton Hall, scoring a team-high 20 points and Brian Laing added 17 points.  John Garcia had 16 points coming off the bench for the Pirates.  The loss drops Seton Hall to 8-3 on the year.

The Pirates were trailing by one, 66-65 with just over two minutes remaining in the game, but the Wolfpack controlled the crunch time minutes, outscoring Seton Hall 13-8 in the final minutes of the ballgame.

Seton Hall will look to get back on the winning track and close out 2007 with a victory, when they host Delaware State on Monday, Dec. 31st at 1 p.m.  The Pirates must be ready to bring their A-game every night once 2008 hits.  We’ll be able to find out a lot about what kind of team Seton Hall will be once the calendar turns to ‘08.  Of their first six games in the new year, five of them will be against Big East foes: UConn, Louisville and South Florida will be at home, with difficult road tests looming against Pittsburgh and Marquette.

Seton Hall overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat James Madison 112-110 in overtime on Saturday afternoon, earning their eighth win of year (8-2).  With the victory, the Pirates remain unbeaten at home, improving to 5-0.

This marks only the second ever meeting between these two programs.  The first meeting took place 25 years ago on Dec. 30, 1992.  Seton Hall came on top in that meeting as well, marching to a 87-66 win.  This is only the second loss of the year for James Madison (7-2) and snap their five game win streak.

The Pirates get back in the win column after losing to Penn State 89-86 on Dec. 8th.  Seton Hall was unable to hold on to a 10-point lead at halftime, after shooting 61% from the field in the first half, their best half of basketball all season.

Entering today’s contest with James Madison, Seton Hall was averaging 83.7 points per game, good for third best in the Big East.  Senior Brian Laing lead the Big East in scoring, averaging 20.1 points per game and his running mate, sophomore Eugene Harvey hot on heels, ranking fifth in the conference in points per game with 17.2.

The Pirates will get some home cooking for a while now, as today’s game marks the first of five straight home games for Seton Hall.  Next up for the Pirates, they’ll welcome in North Carolina State on Wednesday, Dec. 27th at 7:30 p.m.  The Pirates won’t hit the road until a Jan. 8th tilt against Big East rival Marquette.