Pirates Fall to No. 3 Villanova, 80-72

Saturday, January 30

Newark, N.J.

3:30 p.m.

Seton Hall University

9-8,6-5Big East

Villanova

11-1,6-0Big East

Villanova

Seton Hall

1/30/2021 6:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

NEWARK, N.J. – Four Pirates reached double-figures in scoring, but the Seton Hall men's basketball team couldn't overcome a lengthy Villanova first-half run in an 80-72 loss to the third-ranked Wildcats Saturday at Prudential Center.

Seton Hall outscored Villanova in the second half, but couldn't rebound from a 10-point halftime deficit created largely by a 17-3 first half Wildcat run.

Senior Shavar Reynolds, Jr. (Manchester, N.J.) led the team with 13 points on an efficient 5-for-7 shooting from the floor. Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) had 12 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Senior Myles Cale (Wilmington, Del.) and junior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) also chipped in 12 points.

What Happened:
After an evenly matched first six minutes, Villanova went on an 10-0 run to grab an early 19-9 lead with 11:16 to play before halftime. A free-throw by Mamukelashvili and a layup by Cale cut the Pirate deficit to 19-12, but the Wildcats took off again, extending their run to 17-3, and a free-throw by Caleb Daniels put Villanova on top, 26-12, with 7:46 to go before the break. During the run, which lasted for 6:27, the Pirates were just 1-for-6 from the floor and committed four turnovers.

The Villanova lead reached 16 points, but the Pirates closed the first half with six straight points to send them into the locker room down, 37-27.

Trailing 46-31, The Hall went on a 6-0 burst to again cut the Villanova lead to single-digits, but a three-point play by Jermaine Samuels with 13:00 to play again thwarted a lengthy Pirate run. The Hall made a late charge, and cut its deficit to seven points on four separate occasions with under 3:00 remaining, with Cale scoring eight straight Pirates points, but Villanova routinely had the answer. Seton Hall pulled to within six points inside the final 20 seconds thanks to Reynolds Jr., but the Wildcats held on.

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 26-for-60 (43.3%) from the floor for the game, while Villanova was 25-for-54 (46.3%). The Hall was 8-for-20 (40.0%) from three-point range, while the Wildcats were 10-for-22 (45.5%).
The Hall out-rebounded Villanova, 32-to-31, with an edge on the offensive glass, 11-to-9.
Seton Hall was 12-for-14 (85.7%) from the free-throw line, while the Wildcats were 20-for-23 (87.0%).
Both teams committed 11 turnovers, with Villanova having a 15-to-11 edge in points off turnovers.
Reynolds, Jr. led Seton Hall with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting. He also had three assists and three steals.
Cale, Mamukelashvili and Rhoden all added 12 points. Mamukelashvili led The Hall with nine rebounds to go with three assists and two blocks.

News & Notes:

The loss drops Seton Hall to 9-8 overall and 6-5 in BIG EAST play, while Villanova improves to 11-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play.
Seton Hall falls to 43-79 all-time against Villanova and has now dropped both ends of the 2020-21 season series.
Seton Hall is now 142-66 (.683) all-time at Prudential Center. The Pirates are 35-17 (.673) against BIG EAST competition in the building since the 2015-16 season.
Mamukelashvili has now scored in double-figures in seven straight games, 15 times this season total and 46 times in his career. He also moved into the Seton Hall top-50 in scoring and now has 926 career points.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Wednesday, February 3 when it travels to Providence. The showdown inside Alumni Hall will tip at 7 p.m., and the game will be televised FS1. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will handle radio duties on WMCA 570 AM, simulcast on XM 384, the Pirate Sports Network and TuneIn.