Seton Hall hosts Georgetown on Saturday night in Newark, N.J., hoping to start a last-minute NCAA Tournament push.
The Pirates (18-9, 8-8 Big East) are now tied for fourth in the top-heavy Big East Conference with Creighton and were listed as one of the “next four” teams out in the latest NCAA Tournament projection by ESPN.com. They rank last in the league in scoring at 71.1 points per game.
They were taken down by DePaul Wednesday, 69-57, with the visiting Blue Demons closing the game on an 18-5 run.
“We just looked like we were in quicksand,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway told reporters. “We didn’t have (any) burst and did uncharacteristic things down the stretch that we normally don’t do.”
Once ranked in the AP Top 25, Seton Hall has lost three of its last five games. It has four Big East games left, including matchups against league leaders UConn and St. John’s.
Adam “Budd” Clark leads the Pirates with 12.7 points per game and had 19 in the loss to DePaul. Pirates starting center Stephon Payne is dealing with an ankle issue and was limited against DePaul. He has not scored in 43 minutes of action in the last two contests.
“We’ll do better; we’ll definitely do better,” Holloway said. “Got to get these guys’ juice back and their legs back, and come out here and try to get a good win at home. I hate to lose, but especially at home.”
Georgetown coach Ed Cooley called his team out after its 93-89 loss to Butler Wednesday. The Hoyas (13-13, 5-10) trailed by as much as 15 in the second half, and pulled to within two in the final seconds before succumbing.
“We scored 89 points at home and lost,” Cooley said afterwards. “Honestly, that was the blind playing the blind defensive game. Again, we were just probably more blind.”
Georgetown has lost three in a row. Hoyas guard KJ Lewis is eighth in the Big East at 15.5 points per game. Malik Mack is the Hoyas’ other offensive weapon at 14.0 ppg, and ranks second in the conference making 85.7% of his free throws.
“I thought my team played Hoya basketball for four minutes and 10 seconds (Wednesday),” Cooley said. “It was a very lazy group, not connected defensively. Very, very disappointed in our defensive effort, energy, attention to detail and preparation.”
