Lessons Seton Hall Basketball Can Take from the Wichita State Loss
One thing different about this year's Pirates is the introduction of youth. After losing four seniors to graduation and another big man to professional basketball overseas after last season, there were a lot of questions as to how head coach Kevin Willard would get his team ready for year two of the new Big East conference.
Also, after an improbable defeat to then No. 8 Villanova in last year’s Big East tournament, the Pirates needed to find an identity with this young group in order to be in a position to make some noise in the conference this season.
Nonconference schedules are supposed to be tune-ups for the real show—in this team’s case, Big East play. The Pirates have excelled in their “noncon” slate, opening the 2014-15 campaign on a 9-1 start (the team’s best since the 2009-10 season).
The first ten games have seen the expected leadership out of guys like senior Brandon Mobley (10.9 points per game) and junior Sterling Gibbs (16.6 points per game), as well as the emergence of highly-touted recruit Isaiah Whitehead. The freshman has even contributed 12.6 points per contest on his end.
Above everything, the Pirates have even gotten national attention, receiving as many as 57 votes for the Associated Press’s Top 25 Coaches Poll. There’s no question the first couple of weeks for the Pirates have seen a surplus of highs as this team gets ready to take on the likes of the conference, but perhaps no game this season has been (or will be) more important to this young team than the 77-68 loss to No. 11 Wichita State on December 9.
The loss grounded the Pirates, who were riding high on the national attention. One could say the loss is just what the Pirates needed before the conference schedule begins. Here is how the Pirates can build off of that loss.
How Did It Go?
The Pirates had done everything right for the first five minutes of their Tuesday contest with No. 11 Wichita State. Up 13-8, the Pirates had been creating shots, attacking the boards and distributing the basketball—three things that could lead to a rising school upsetting a top-ranked team on its home floor.
But the 10,000-plus Wichita faithful took back Koch Arena as their team took over the momentum. After that 13-8 start, the Shockers finished the first half on a 32-12 run, creating enough distance between themselves and the Pirates—a telling sign of just where these 2014-15 Pirates are at.
The sound basketball of Wichita State was unlike anything Kevin Willard’s group has seen all season, and rightfully so: The Pirates had breezed to a 7-0 start to the season, winning by an average of 15.7 points per game. After a close win over George Washington last week, Willard told his group it needed to be grounded.
Blowout wins over Mount St. Mary’s and Rutgers helped fuel his young team’s confidence, but the loss that night could pay more dividends to the Pirates as they move forward.
Gaining Experience Down Low
The Pirates are extremely thin in the frontcourt this season after losing Eugene Teague to graduation and Patrik Auda to professional basketball in Europe. Freshman Angel Delgado has carried the load at the center position for the Pirates this season, averaging 8.5 points and a team-best 9.8 rebounds per game.
But after Delgado, the Pirates are seemingly grasping for support on the boards. Senior Brandon Mobley is second on the list with just five boards per game, and the team’s backup center, redshirt sophomore Rashed Anthony, averages just 2.4 rebounds per contest.
The thinness in the frontcourt has definitely not hurt the Pirates this season, based on their results and record. However, Wichita State’s big bodies down low provided tough competition for Delgado, as well as the Pirates' other big men when Delgado was not on the floor due to his foul trouble.
Playing with the Big Boys
If the Pirates gained anything from their first loss of the season, it is familiarity with a big-game atmosphere. Playing a top-ranked team on the road on national television is not something the Pirates do very often outside of the yearly Big East Championship at Madison Square Garden. So for them to not only gain the experience in a game against Wichita State, but also to cover the pregame 13-point spread as well is something to feel good about.
The Skinny
In that aforementioned big-game atmosphere, some players showed up and some clearly did not. Highly-touted recruit Isaiah Whitehead scored 18 of the team's 25 first-half points en route to 23 total points in just 27 minutes. (He missed time due to a shoulder injury that occurred late in the first half.)
Other top offensive components like junior Sterling Gibbs and sophomore Jaren Sina did not show up for the team’s biggest game of the season to date. Gibbs, on one hand, did not score a single point until the second half and was an abysmal 1-of-5 from the free-throw line. Sina’s early season struggles continued, as he shot 0-of-5 from three-point range and 0-of-6 overall.
As a guy who the Pirates lean on to his three-pointers, Sina is going to have to shoot a lot better in games if he wants to keep his name etched in the starting lineup.
Where to Go from Here?
The Pirates can only get better and build off their 77-68 loss to Wichita State.
They bounced back nicely in the two games following the loss to Wichita State. The Pirates beat Saint Peter's 67-52 at home on December 14, and cruised past University of South Florida (89-69) on Thursday night.
The Pirates are in a good position to run the table the rest of the way in their nonconference schedule. They return to action Sunday, December 21, when they travel to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. The Pirates wrap up their nonconference slate against Maine at home on Saturday, December 27.