Bost. Coll.81
Seton Hall66
They couldn’t get a big stop when they needed one. They couldn’t get the ball to their hot shooter when he wanted it. And they discovered just how far away they are from the team they want to be.
And yet, none of that qualified as the day’s biggest letdown for the Seton Hall Pirates.
“I thought we dropped our heads a little bit toward the end,” coach Louis Orr said. “That’s probably the biggest disappointment.”
Indeed, it was far from a stellar effort for the Pirates, who dropped their Big East opener yesterday, 81-66, to Boston College at Continental Airlines Arena. Despite a robust crowd of 8,509, the Pirates somehow failed to sustain their intensity for the full 40 minutes.
“Until we [find a way to win],” said point guard Andre Barrett, “we’re going to be that team that stays in a game and then decides to die off at the end.”
Whatever the case is, the Hall (7-6, 0-1) was no match for the 11th-ranked Eagles, who improved to 12-1 by displaying all the attributes of a conference champion.
How impressive were the visitors? Consider this: Troy Bell, BC’s splendid two-guard and the country’s fourth-leading scorer, had only two points in the last 16:33. He wasn’t even needed.
Bell, however, made his mark early, when he wrested the game from Seton Hall’s grasp almost single-handedly. After the Pirates opened a 9-5 lead, BC ran off 15 unanswered points, 10 from Bell on two treys, a pull-up and a putback.
The Eagles would never trail again. Rarely, in fact, would they be threatened.
The Hall’s best chance came with 11:35 remaining when Darius Lane nearly shot the Pirates back into it.
Down 11, Lane drilled three straight 3-pointers to bring Seton Hall within 57-52. At that point, however, two things happened – the Pirates couldn’t stop the Eagles, and Lane couldn’t get off a shot.
Uka Agbai (13 points) made two straight long jumpers for BC and Kenny Walls (game-high 20) later added a key alley-oop. It was a game-long theme, as the Hall repeatedly cut into the Eagles’ lead, only to watch helplessly as the visitors answered with a big shot.
The biggest came with five minutes left on a 3 from Ryan Sidney, who was marvelous with 15 points, six assists, six rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, after sinking his final 3-pointer with 8:55 remaining, Lane didn’t get another shot until 2:42 was left. By that time, the lead was back to 12.
“Coach Orr told us that we have to get the ball to our hot shooter,” Lane said. “I guess that’s just a learning experience for us.”
