Seton Hall crumbles in loss to Oregon

When the Seton Hall Pirates opened up the second half on a 15-0 run, the game seemed well in hand. At that point, Myles Powell had drained three consecutive 3-pointers on three straight possessions, and was responsible for 12 of the 15 points dropped in at that point of the game. The Oregon Ducks seemed lost and puzzled, and it seemed as though the Pirates were about to steer their ship into the winner’s bracket.

Not all things go according to plan, though. The Ducks would hang around for much of the next few minutes. In fact, they outscored Seton Hall 20-8 from the moment Powell’s 3-pointer swished in to the moment that Chandler Lawson buried a free throw at the 10:48 mark. By then, the lead was cut to just seven, but Seton Hall was able to prop it right back up to 10. A 7-0 run by Oregon trimmed it all the way down to three, but Seton Hall’s response was swift and deft. Er, Myles Powell’s response was that is. Powell scored the next seven points for The Hall to bring them back up by 10 with 6:30 to play.

Well, the Pirates wouldn’t score again until the 2:08 mark. And the two free throws by Shavar Reynolds would be the only points they’d score the rest of the way. Oregon mounted a 14-2 run over that 6:30 time period to win 71-69, stunning Seton Hall in the process.

Integral in Oregon’s comeback effort was guard Payton Pritchard . The All-Pac-12 caliber guard scored 12 points in the second half including four of the final six points they’d score, which featured the game-tying free throws. Pritchard also connected on two 3-pointers in the half as well, and finished with a team-best 16 points on the night. Shakur Juiston scored the game-winning layup with 13 seconds to play, bookending a second half effort that started off with a layup and also featured two made free throws. C.J. Walker and the aforementioned Lawson had big roles in the second half comeback, as well.

Powell certainly had himself a night even in the losing effort. He scored a game-high 32 points, double the high that Pritchard set for the Ducks. He got there going 7-for-15 from 3-point land and 11-for-25 on the night. Myles Cale and Sandro Mamukelashvili were the only other Pirates to get into double figures though, as they each scored 10 points on 50 percent marks from the floor.

The Pirates could’ve certainly stood to get more collaborative efforts from everyone else. But, that doesn’t exactly absolve them of yacking away the 19-point lead they held at one point in the game. This was a disappointing performance for a team that should be significantly better than this. But, tomorrow is another day, and Seton Hall is back in action against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.