newjerseynewsroom.com

BY MIKE BECKER

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

NEWARK---The Seton Hall Pirates cannot seem to get out of their own way.

The Pirates dropped their fourth consecutive game on Saturday night, falling to Louisville 60-51. After shooting only 26.3 percent against Notre Dame on Wednesday, Seton Hall didn't fare much better this time around, shooting 27.6 percent.

"I think right now we're kind of, I think everyone's a little afraid to be the guy that makes the play,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said.

Seton Hall (15-6, 4-5) fell behind early and faced a 15-point deficit at the half.

“We can't get down 15 and then decide we want to play now,” Seton Hall senior guard Jordan Theodore said.

They trailed by as many as 17 in the second half, but battled back and were able to cut it to four points on a Herb Pope free throw at 55-51 with 1:00 left. It could have been even closer, had Pope not missed three consecutive free throws before that.

“I feel like it's a different outcome to the game if I make those three free throws that I missed in a row,” Pope said.

“Pope finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but struggled mightily, shooting 4-of-13 from the field as he missed a number of close shots throughout the night he would normally make.

“I've been getting the ball three, four feet around the basket and I'm not executing right now,” Pope said.

Pope wasn't the only one who struggled. Theodore led the Pirates in scoring with 18 points, be he too struggled from the field, shooting 6-of-20.

“We just didn't knock shots down and we were getting good looks,” Theodore said. “It's just not the team, it was me. I was missing a lot of easy looks tonight.”

Russ Smith led Louisville (17-5, 5-4) with 14 points while Chris Smith added 11 and Gorgui Dieng had 11 points to go with 14 rebounds and five blocks.

Seton Hall's defense stepped up big time in the second half, as they forced 16 turnovers and held the Cardinals to 6-of-15 shooting, but a five minute stretch in the second half in which Seton Hall failed to score didn't do them any favors.

"I think everything on the offensive end is a step too slow, and I think that's what's really hurting us right now, is we've gotten a little bit too mental and stopped just playing,” Willard said.

Three weeks ago Seton Hall was a 15-2 team ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll and headed to an NCAA Tournament berth.

Now, they're 15-6, losers of four straight and appear to be missing the NCAA Tournament for a sixth straight season, unless they can turn things around quickly.

The Pirates now head out on the road for the next three games with games at Marquette, Connecticut, and Rutgers, where they can either save their season from its current downward spiral or watch it sink even further.

Will Seton Hall be able to get out of its own way? Time can only tell.