Seton Hall basketball squanders huge lead, falls to Villanova

Posted by author February 27, 2025 Basketball

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NEWARK – Villanova has Eric Dixon and Seton Hall doesn’t.

That’s what their basketball game came down to Wednesday.

The 24-year-old forward posted 32 points and nine rebounds as the Pirates squandered a 16-point second-half lead and fell 59-54 before a Prudential Center crowd of just under 6,000.

Seton Hall (7-21 overall, 2-15 Big East) has been exploited all season in the frontcourt and Dixon, who averages 23 pints per game, steamrolled the Pirates’ bigs like a double-decker bus. Mostly going to work against straight man-to-man, he drew a whopping 11 fouls and converted 10-of-13 free throws.

“He’s a great player, an experienced player and he’s been in these situations,” Hall forward Prince Aligbe said. “But it (also) was us not tightening up the screws on him in the second half.”

Villanova (17-12, 10-8) held the Hall to just 21 second-half points as the Pirates shot 24 percent from the field after the break. They also coughed it up at the free-throw line (8-of-17, 47 percent) and missed three layups with the outcome up in the air over the final two minutes.

“It’s focus, it’s lack of concentration,” Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said of the free-throw shooting. “That’s the difference, right? We go 8-for-17 and they go 18-for-22.”

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

1. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Postgrad guard Dylan Addae-Wusu turned in an All-American first half: 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, four assists, four rebounds, no turnovers and numerous hustle plays. He disappeared in the second half – you could say he reverted to the mean or Villanova began guarding him – as he shot 1-for-8 over the final 20 minutes. This was the entire Addae-Wusu experience in microcosm.

“I need his toughness, I need his leadership,” Holloway said. “He’s playing hurt (with a foot injury); he’s probably 65, 70 percent right now.”

In the second half, when the Pirates needed someone else to heat up on offense, standout wing Isaiah Coleman (12 points, 4-of-15 shooting) shot blanks and there was no one else.

“The second half we went more on-on-one,” Holloway said. “When we ran our stuff, I thought we did pretty well, and then we started freestyling.”

2. Pressing matter

It’s been obvious for a while now, since that feverish rally against Oklahoma State in November: this squad is most comfortable while pressing full court.

Numerous examples abound: The stunner over UConn, the rally past DePaul, Sunday’s near-comeback vs. Xavier. The Pirates have the athletes to cause chaos while defending 94 feet, and doing so energizes their offense.

So Holloway pressed from the start against Villanova and sure enough, it worked like a charm in the first half: Villanova turned it over seven times and got just 22 shots off, while the Hall committed just three turnovers and shot 50 percent from the field.

In the second half, however, the Pirates threw up brick after brick, rendering them unable to set up their pressure. And when Holloway went to his bench for fresh legs, the reserves brought nothing to the table, contributing just two points on the night. He could have helped the situation by using more timeouts to give his starters breathers as their minutes skyrocketed.

“We ran out of gas,” the coach said. “It’s tough when you don’t have a lot of guards. Those guys got to be able to press and sustain it. Then you get kind of gassed and you don’t have a deep bench.”

3. The good old days

There have been some classic late-season games between these rivals at the Rock in recent years. A quick trip down memory lane:

2018: Before a crowd of 13,711, Khadeen Carrington missed a go-ahead free throw with 11 seconds left in regulation and Nova, the eventual national champions, prevailed 69-68 in overtime.

2019: Before a crowd of 16,144, the Pirates cemented an NCAA Tournament berth with a 79-75 triumph on Mike Nzei’s Senior Day. In an extremely rare occurrence, officiating crew chief Michael Stephens rescinded a technical foul against Jay Wright.

2020: Before a crowd of 16,863, the Hall squandered a chance to clinch the outright Big East regular-season crown as Myles Powell missed a game-tying shot in the closing seconds.

2024: Before a crowd of 10,000, Kadary Richmond scored his 1,000^th point as a Pirate as Seton Hall prevailed 66-56 to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Wildcats.

This clunker will not enter that pantheon. Villanova leads the series, which dates back to 1921, by a count of 86-44.

4. No Middleton

Sophomore wing Scotty Middleton (5.9 ppg) was on the bench in plainclothes after missing the second half of Sunday’s loss to Xavier for undisclosed reasons. Holloway said Middleton was feeling ankle pain during shootaround.

“Scotty is a tough kid, he’s been playing through a lot of injuries this whole year, so if he says he can’t go, then he can’t go,” Holloway said.

Postgrad guard Chaunce Jenkins (11.4 ppg) missed his 10^th straight game with a knee injury.

5. Welcome back students

Thanks to the ever-popular “Greek Night” promotion for fraternities and sororities, the student section was hopping for just the second time this season (St. John’s was the first, and that fell on a Saturday).

The students stood the entire game, and their involvement clearly sparked the Pirate players.

Improving student attendance, which was an issue even last season as the Hall made an NCAA Tournament push, must be a focus for all the stakeholders heading into next season. It makes a huge difference.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.