Men's Basketball Outlasted by #5 Syracuse, 80-73
12/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
NEWARK, N.J. - Junior Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) scored 38 points, but the Seton Hall men's basketball team dropped an 80-73 decision to #5 Syracuse in front of a sold-out crowd on Tuesday night. The Pirates, who led by as many as 12 points in the game, are now 9-3 overall and 0-2 to begin BIG EAST play.
Hazell connected on 6-of-15 attempts from three-point land and added five steals in 37 minutes of action. Sophomore Herb Pope (Aliquippa, Pa.) netted 15 points and 17 boards for his ninth double-double of the season.
Andy Rautins connected from downtown to give the Orange an 18-12 edge with 13:39 left in the first half. Seton Hall turned up its full-court pressure and sophomore Keon Lawrence (Newark, N.J.) picked up three steals, sparking a 13-2 run and putting the Pirates on top, 29-23, at the 7:26 mark of the period.
Hazell connected beyond the arc to extend the cushion to 12, but Syracuse held SHU to just one field goal over the final 4:35 of the half to even the score, 43-43, at the break.
The teams traded buckets for approximately six minutes to open the second until the Pirates strung together six straight, capped by a Pope dunk to give Seton Hall a 57-51 edge with 12:56 remaining in regulation.
The Orange ripped off a 15-0 run over the next 7:11 to take a nine-point cushion, its largest lead of the night. The Pirates kept the contest a two-possession game down the stretch, and pulled within 73-70 after a Hazell trey with 31 seconds on the clock.
Syracuse's Wes Johnson launched the ensuing inbounds pass to a streaking Kris Joseph, who hit a wild layup while being fouled for a traditional three-point play to put the finishing touches on the win.
Johnson finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds, and five blocks to lead the Orange. Joseph scored 16 points off the bench, going 4-of-5 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.
SHU shot just 33.8 percent from the floor, compared to Syracuse's 47.5 percent. The Pirates forced 20 Orange turnovers, but only turned them into 17 points.
Seton Hall travels to Cancun, Mexico to face Virginia Tech in its final non-conference game of the year on Saturday, January 2. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
