Men's Basketball Falls at #11 Georgetown, 85-73

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Seton Hall couldn't overcome a 16-point halftime deficit due in part to 10 first half turnovers and fell to #11 Georgetown, 85-73, in the nation's capital on Thursday.

Junior Jeremy Hazell (Harlem N.Y.) led the Pirates with 17 points, eight of which were scored in the game's final 47 seconds.  Sophomore Herb Pope (Aliquippa, Pa.) finished with six points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman Ferrakohn Hall (Memphis, Tenn.) made the first start of his career and finished with eight points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.

To open the game, Seton Hall grabbed a brief 7-6 lead at the 16:16 mark of the first half and then Georgetown took over.  The Hoyas went on a 15-0 run capped by a breakaway layup by Chris Wright to give Georgetown a 21-7 lead with 11:44 before halftime.

The Pirates cut the deficit to 11, but then Georgetown's Hollis Thompson nailed three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put the Hoyas up 29-12 with 8:31 left in the first half.

Seton Hall answered with a 10-1 run of their own capped by a thunderous breakaway dunk by Jeff Robinson (Trenton, N.J.) to pull to within eight, 30-22, with 4:41 before the half.  But Georgetown had one last burst in the first half as well.  The Hoyas went on a final 8-2 run to send the teams into the locker room with Georgetown leading 44-28.

Georgetown shot an incredible 69.6% from the floor in the first half compared to 40.0% for Seton Hall.  

Sophomore Jordan Theodore (Englewood, N.J.) led the Pirates with six first half points, while Austin Freeman led the Hoyas with 11 points.

Seton Hall didn't fair much better coming out of halftime and a layup by Chris Wright off another Pirates' turnover gave the Hoyas their largest lead of the night, 57-38, with 13:47 left in regulation. 

The Pirates' fortunes were dealt another blow when Herb Pope picked up his fourth personal foul with 11:25 left.  He would eventually foul out with 4:06 still to play.

Seton Hall upped their defensive pressure and their press created a pair of Hoya turnovers.  As a result, the Pirates cut the Georgetown lead to 59-48 with 10:32 left to play.  Then, a pair of layups by Keon Lawrence (Newark, N.J.) cut the Hoyas lead to seven, 61-54, with 7:40 remaining.

Georgetown, however, would pull away.  A three-pointer by Jason Clark, his second in 1:27, bumped the Hoyas lead back up to 14, at 73-59 with 4:26 left.  The Georgetown lead would grow to as many as 18, before Seton Hall made a small run in the closing minute of the game to make the final score closer.

Jason Clark led the Hoyas with 20 points.

For the game, Georgetown shot a robust 68.2%, compared to a merely respectable 42.9% for Seton Hall.  The Pirates did however out-rebound the taller Hoyas, 29-to-28, and despite committing 10 first half turnovers, Seton Hall finished with only 12 for the game, compared to the Hoyas' 16.

Seton Hall shot better than 75% from the free-throw line for a fourth straight game going 16-for-20 for 80.0% in the losing cause.

Seton Hall will return to action on Thursday, January 21, 2010 when they host Louisville at Prudential Center.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.