Men's Basketball Downed by UConn, 98-86

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NEWARK, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team dropped its BIG EAST opener to Connecticut, 98-86, at Prudential Center. The Pirates (9-4, 0-1) went into halftime with a 48-47 lead, but the Huskies used a 14-2 run early in the second period to pull away for the win. Freshman Jeremy Hazell (Bronx, N.Y.) scored a career-high 28 points, including 13 in the opening 4:46, to lead the way for Seton Hall.

Hazell scored the Pirates' first five points of the game, but UConn (10-2, 1-0) jumped out to an early 14-11 lead after sophomore Eugene Harvey (Brooklyn, N.Y.) picked up his second personal foul. Seton Hall rallied after Larry Davis (Middle Village, N.Y.) canned back-to-back treys, and Hazell added a third to put the Pirates on top, 27-24, with 10:02 to go in the half.

Seton Hall extended the lead to 37-31 after a Paul Gause (Pittsgrove, N.J.) rebound and long outlet pass to senior Brian Laing (Bronx, N.Y.) for a dunk. Jerome Dyson drilled a triple from the wing to cap a 7-2 run that put the Huskies ahead, 44-43, but Davis nailed a jumper to give the lead right back to Seton Hall as the Pirates held a one-point edge at the break.

Dyson scored eight of his 27 points during UConn's big second half surge to give the Huskies a 67-58 advantage with 14:50 remaining. The Pirates looked to come back after a steal and layup by Gause cut the deficit to seven, but UConn outscored Seton Hall 10-2 in the next 6:12 to put the game out of reach.

Gause, who ran the point while Harvey sat with foul trouble, finished up with 11 points, six assists, and three steals. Davis scored all 13 of his points in the first half on 5-of-9 shooting.

Hasheem Thabeet recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards for the Huskies, who had all five starters score in double-figures.

UConn shot 50.9 percent compared to the Pirates 39.3 percent, and out-rebounded Seton Hall 46-40.

The Pirates wrap up their non-conference schedule against Morgan State on January 5 at Prudential Center. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.