Seton Hall University
Marquette
Pirates Fall to Marquette
2/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2014
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NEWARK, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team dropped the first of three-straight home games Tuesday, fading late in a 77-66 setback to Marquette at the Prudential Center. The Hall (13-11, 4-7) connected at a healthy 53.3 percent (24-for-45) shooting clip, but it was the Golden Eagles (14-10, 6-5) who tallied 27 of the final 37 points to sweep the season series with the Pirates.
Four Pirates scored in double-figures led by senior Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.) who knocked down 5-of-7 from behind the arc to finish with a team-high 15 points. Point guard Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) added 12 points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists, topping the five-assist mark for the ninth time this season and the sixth in BIG EAST play.
Patrik Auda (Brno, Czech Republic) was the third Seton Hall starter in double-figures, recording 10 points on 4-of-6 from the floor, while junior Brandon Mobley (Savannah, Ga.) chipped in 12 points and had two blocks in 22 minutes off the bench.
Turnovers and rebounding plagued The Hall throughout the contest as the team totaled 17 giveaways and grabbed a season-low 19 boards compared to 32 for Marquette. The Golden Eagles finished the game with a 14-to-2 edge in second-chance points. Marquette also scored 30 points from the charity stripe on 34 attempts (88.2 percent). The Pirates shot just 8-of-14 from (57.1 percent) the foul line as a team.
After staging a late first half rally to head into halftime down just 34-33, Seton Hall emerged from the intermission as the aggressors, outscoring Marquette 16-to-10 in the first six minutes of the final period. The Pirates stayed ahead until Deonte Burton converted on two free-throws to put Marquette up 50-49 with 11:06 to play. Although, the lead was short-lived as Oliver sank a 3-pointer on the next possession to kick-start a 7-0 stretch for Seton Hall that included an acrobatic fastbreak finish from Edwin that gave The Hall its largest lead of the game, 56-50, at the 9:22 mark.
The Golden Eagles responded with 11 unanswered points of their own over the next four minutes - seven of which came from Jamil Wilson - including a layup with 6:28 on the clock that resulted in the 12th and final lead change of the contest. Down the stretch, Marquette made the Pirates pay down low, scoring their final five field goals from inside the paint and making 15-of-17 free throws in the final eight minutes to seal the victory.
Jamil Wilson paced Marquette with a career-high 25 points to go with 10 rebounds, notching his second double-double against the Pirates this season in the process.
Marquette moved ahead early as Wilson scored 11 of the Golden Eagles' first 13 points, including eight-straight to help open a 13-4 advantage just over four minutes into the action. Mobley put an end to the run with a layup at the 14:37 mark, but five seconds later Wilson buried his fourth 3-pointer to give Marquette its first double-digit lead of the game at 16-6. The Golden Eagles twice stretched the gap to as many as 12, which is where the Seton Hall deficit stood when a lay-in by Auda ignited a run of eight unanswered points. Back-to-back threes from Edwin and Oliver trimmed the Marquette edge to 26-22 with 6:58 before intermission, but four consecutive points for the Golden Eagles seemingly stemmed the tide.
In the closing minutes however, Seton Hall forced turnovers on three-straight Marquette possessions and capitalized as Gibbs and Mobley combined to sink three triples to give The Hall its first lead of the game (31-30) with 1:57 before the half. Two Davante Gardner free-throws in the final 90 seconds put the Golden Eagles back on top heading into the locker room.
The Pirates are scheduled to take the floor at the Prudential Center again on Thursday when they will square off with St. John's for the second meeting this season. The Red Storm held on for a 77-76 win when the two teams met at Carnesecca Arena on Jan. 23. The Hall has won six-straight at home in the series dating back to the 2001-02 campaign. FOX Sports 1 will provide a live national telecast with tip-off slated for 9 p.m. Seton Hall broadcast team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the call for 970 AM (WNYM) and the Pirate Sports Network on SHUPirates.com.
