Seton Hall basketball rocked at Creighton in first leg of tough road swing
It was a buzz-saw you could see coming.
Seton Hall basketball walked into the lion’s den Wednesday and got taken to the woodshed at 12th-ranked Creighton 85-64.
The Bluejays were returning home off an embarrassing loss at St. John’s and have played lights-out in Omaha, beating top-ranked UConn by 19 there just a week ago.
Seton Hall (18-10 overall, 11-6 Big East) slipped into fourth place in the league but remains firmly in the NCAA Tournament hunt. The larger issue is an illness that began ripping through some staff over the weekend and has jumped to the players. Sixth man Isaiah Coleman (5.6 ppg), who has been the Hall’s only reliable sub, scratched due to a non-Covid illness along with reserve Sada Nganga. They stayed home, and others played despite being under the weather.
Creighton (21-8, 12-6) has taken four straight from the Hall, including a triple-overtime verdict in Newark last month.
3 THOUGHTS
1. Full-team letdown
Everything went sideways, starting with the absence of Coleman. The Pirates’ bench, which contributed zero points in Saturday’s win over Butler, was unable to reinforce struggling guard Dylan Addae-Wusu. When ace playmaker Kadary Richmond picked up two early fouls, the train flew off the tracks.
The Pirates’ 3-point defense was somnolent, though the Jays do a great job of making many teams look bad with their spacing, ball movement and shot fakes.
And postgrad center Jaden Bediako, who has been rock-solid most of this season, got steamrolled by elite Creighton 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner.
It should be noted, of course, that Creighton is a legitimate Final Four contender.
2. Gaffney and Richmond
One foul call doesn’t determine a blowout loss, but it was eyebrow-raising to see John Gaffney’s crew tag Kadary Richmond for foul No. 2 midway through the first half when Richmond got bumped while going for a loose ball. The Pirates trailed 12-8 at the time; it was 23-11 when Richmond made it back onto the court a few minutes later.
Why was it eyebrow-raising? Gaffney’s crew also had a hair-trigger whistle for Richmond in Seton Hall’s blowout loss at Villanova. Something to monitor if he turns up at a Pirate game down the stretch.
3. Win your home games
Earlier Wednesday, Providence gave up 50 first-half points and got throttled at Marquette 91-69. UConn’s banana peel in Omaha last week was already noted. These results happen at top teams in college basketball – home court is that valuable.
The moral of the story: Win your home games. Expectations should be low for the Pirates' visit to third-ranked UConn Sunday, but it will be noteworthy how they respond. Will they show some fight? They've built enough cushion to absorb a rough ride in the season’s toughest week, but two straight blowouts would be a bad look.
The metrics hit from losing at Creighton was only three spots in the NET (from 61 to 64). That doesn't change the mandate with three regular-season games left.
The final two home games, next week against Villanova and DePaul, will tell the story. Win those, and the ticket is punched.
3 QUOTES
From Shaheen Holloway’s postgame radio interview:
1. What happened in the first half: “It was a good, old-fashioned ass-whipping, period. Disappointed in our effort. The last couple of days I tried everything to get us going. We just didn’t have it at all.”
2. On the illnesses: “I’m not making no excuses. A couple of guys were sick – a couple of guys stayed home and a couple of guys probably shouldn’t have played tonight. So I want to give those guys credit for trying to play.”
3. Going forward: “The gear wasn’t there like it needed to be there, which is disappointing. This game was a huge game. These guys got to understand: Every game from here on out, we’re fighting for our lives, and we didn’t come out tonight and fight for our lives. We’ve got to turn the page, obviously learn from this and fight on Sunday.”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball vs. Creighton: Pirates get rocked
