Game 4: Pirates 76 Buckeyes 79
A Seton Hall Men's Basketball recap of the first loss of the season vs Ohio State
The newly ranked #21 Seton Hall Pirates played a phenomenal basketball game in Ft. Myers against Ohio State but ultimately it wasn’t enough as they suffered their first loss of the season in the final seconds.
First Half
It was a quick start to the game for both teams and it was made obvious early on that the stars would shine bright under these Florida lights as Seton Hall’s Jared Rhoden and Ohio State’s EJ Liddell made their presences felt. Neither team could separate as at the U12 mark the score was 18-17 Pirates but a mini run capitalized by a Myles Cale layup had Seton Hall up 24-19 with 9 to go but then tragedy struck. Cale would leave the game and never return due to a groin injury he suffered seemingly while scoring in what was a massive blow to the Pirates momentum but more importantly the heart and soul of the team was gone and losing what Myles can bring to every aspect of the game could be massive. After the injury timeout Ohio State would go on a 19-4 run over the next six minutes to take a 38-28 lead before the offensive prowess of Bryce Aiken and Jared Rhoden closed the gap as the Pirates trailed 40-35 at halftime.
Second Half
The pendulum of momentum stayed in favor of the Buckeyes in the onset of the second half as they raced out to a double digit lead and thus began the dance that Seton Hall and Ohio State would engage for in most of the half. SHU would get it to about 7 and then OSU would stiff arm the Pirates with a couple baskets to get back to a double digit lead. The absence of Cale was incredibly prominent as Seton Hall scrambled to find someone who could fill his void and with about ten and a half minutes to go the Pirates seemed dead in the water trailing 61-49. But just like in the Michigan game this team refused to go quietly into the night and fought back to finally make this a game with a 12-2 run to close the gap to just 2 points. Both teams exchanged makes but Ohio State kept their lead throughout but with under a minute to go Seton Hall had the ball down 76-74 and got the ball into the hands of Jared Rhoden who, apparently, also happened to have his back foot on the halfcourt line resulting in a turnover. An absolutely crushing blow was only made worse by OSU’s EJ Liddell getting his own rebound after a shot meaning now Seton Hall had to foul. Or so it seemed, a bizarre pass attempt by the Buckeyes landed right in the hands of the standout Jamir Harris who took it all the way to the hoop to finally tie this one up at 76 with 14 seconds left. Now all the Pirates had to do was force a miss and take this momentum into OT. Unfortunately Meechie Johnson Jr. had other plans as despite a hand in his face from Bryce Aiken the Freshman nailed a game winning three with about 1.8 left on the clock.
Aftermath
A gut punch for sure but it was an outstanding game between two teams that will likely be right in the thick of their respective conference races in March. Seton Hall’s constricting 3PT defense met its match in the form of a OSU attack from downtown that is one of the nation’s best. The Buckeyes shot 11-22 from deep and 48% in general from the floor. Seton Hall’s fortunes were not nearly as kind as SHU went 5-23 from beyond the arc and 38% in general. The obvious player of the game was Jared Rhoden who had the best performance of his career with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block and consistently kept the Hall in the game going blow for blow with EJ Liddell. Bryce Aiken had another phenomenal game off the bench as well with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals with a team high +/- of +8. Seton Hall’s bench was again great with 37 total points. Seton Hall also finally had a good night from the charity stripe shooting 85% with 27 attempts.
Up Next
With the loss Seton Hall has been downgraded to the losers bracket of the Ft. Myers tip-off and will face the 2-3 Cal Golden Bears who lost to #23 Florida by 20 points most recently. This game should be a good opportunity for the Pirates to bounce back and it will begin at 6PM on FS1 today.
if it was me there they would’ve won bing bong