Two teams struggled on offense and the game was played at a tedious, plodding pace. It was not a performance that could easily draw a positive critique, but each side attributed the result to excellent execution by Seton Hall's defense. And, if nothing else, the Pirates came away from the game with an improved record.
Despite shooting 21.9 percent from the field in the second half, Seton Hall outlasted St. John's 62-55 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
"It was probably one of the sloppier games to be found in the Big East," St. John's coach Norm Roberts said.
No one disputed his description. The teams combined for 32 turnovers, 19 by St. John's and eight by the Red Storm's Eugene Lawrence, a freshman guard. St. John's (7-10, 1-6) shot just 33.3 percent in the game and 27.6 percent in the second half. The Red Storm missed 12 of 27 attempts from the free-throw line.
The usually positive Roberts did not single out any players, but he made it clear that he was not pleased with his team's effort.
The play of the sophomore guard Daryll Hill must have been especially irksome.
Leading the conference with an average of 20.9 points a game, Hill made 3 of 15 field-goal attempts and scored a season-low six points.
He had attempted 19 or more shots in five of his last six games, but Hill did not seem to be looking for his shot in the final 10 minutes against Seton Hall.
"I didn't think I played with enough energy today," he said. "That's it, really."
Seton Hall (10-7, 2-4 Big East) probably contributed to Hill's malaise. Coach Louis Orr emphasized to his players before the game that stopping Hill was critical, and the Pirates were successful at preventing him from consistently penetrating the lane.
"You have to make Daryll Hill a priority," Orr said. "If you don't make him a priority, he will beat you. It's not about stopping him. That's not what we did. We just didn't want him to have his way in the lane. We didn't want him to get in there and make easy plays. He'll make his 3's, but he's particularly dangerous in the lane and in the open court."
Leading by 27-25 with 2 minutes 41 seconds remaining in the first half, the Pirates took control with a 10-0 run, and they were ahead by 37-27 at halftime. The Red Storm opened the second half with an 8-0 run and later tied the score at 39-39 on a dunk by Dexter Gray with 14:18 remaining.
on again, off again
But St. John's offense went cold, managing just one field goal over a 10 1/2-minute stretch.
Seton Hall, which was also sputtering on offense, stretched its lead to 55-47 on two free throws by Andre Sweet with 3:20 left. St. John's did not threaten the rest of the way.
Lamont Hamilton led the Red Storm with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lawrence scored 13 before fouling out for the third straight game.
Sweet led Seton Hall with 15 points. The starting guard J.R. Morris was 1 for 10 from the field for the Pirates, but he grabbed 15 rebounds.
Whatever momentum St. John's built with its 65-62 upset victory over Pittsburgh on Jan. 18 seems long gone. The Red Storm has lost three in a row, and its performance on Saturday was among its worst this season.
"You can't get back what is lost," Roberts said.
"It is gone. What we have to do is correct what we can correct and make sure we come out next time with a better effort."
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
Top seeded Jessica Pegula on Friday once again fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Charleston Open semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Russia’s Diana Shnaider. Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three of her matches at the tournament so far, but again dug deep to maintain her hopes of retaining the title. The world No. 5 from the US took 2 hours, 10 minutes to defeat 19th-ranked Shnaider, relying on a formidable service game that included eight aces. Shnaider battled well in the first two sets and broke early for a 2-0 lead
RSS