Team #92 - Seton Hall

On Saturday January 15th, 2022, I saw my 92nd Division One College Basketball team. On this occasion, I saw the Seton Hall Pirates take on the Marquette Golden Eagles. Seton Hall is the 9th team that I have seen out of the Big East. The Pirates comes into this matchup with a 11-4 and most recently played DePaul on Thursday January 13th. They lost the matchup to DePaul by a score of 96-92. This game was a makeup game from December 23rd. Jared Rhoden has been the leading scorer for Seton Hall this season, averaging 16.9 PPG. Marquette comes into this matchup with a 11-6 record on the year. They most recently played DePaul on Tuesday January 11th, a matchup that they won by a score of 87-76. The leading scorer for the Golden Eagles has been Justin Lewis, he is averaging 15.1 PPG. 

The first half of this game was very unMarquette like. I have mentioned time and time again Marquette struggles in two areas. Rebounding and three point shooting. The first half saw them shoot lights out from three. Something I never thought this Marquette team was capable of. At the 12 minute mark in the first half Marquette lead 19-10. During this stretch they made five threes and were shooting the lights out. Kam Jones and Justin Lewis each had a pair of threes during this stretch. At this point in the game Justin Lewis had already had nine points and figured to have a big day. But then Bryce Aiken happened. Bryce Aiken single handedly keep Seton Hall in the game during the first half. Over the final ten minutes of the first half Aiken scored 17 points. Aiken made four three pointers during this stretch and was a pain in Marquette's side. This was honestly one of the most impressive single games efforts I have seen out of a player. Reminded me a lot of a Markus Howard game I saw a couple of years back. With one minute and 30 seconds left in the first half Marquette lead by a score of 44-33. Here I am thinking that Marquette is going to have a convincing lead at halftime. But after a few stalling possessions that ended in bad shots, the Marquette lead was trimmed to 44-41 at halftime. Marquette finished the first half shooting 9-14 from the first point line. Be far their best effort of the season. Darryl Morsell was the leading scorer for Marquette with 15 points including a perfect three of three from the three point land. Bryce Aiken lead the charge for the Pirates with a perfects six for six effort in the first half to give him 17 points. 

The second half could be described in one word, controversial. Time and time again the officials would try and step in the way of a good game. Many questionable block and charge calls. But the best of the ref show didn't happen until the very end. I will get into that later. The first ten minutes of the 2nd half was controlled by Seton Hall. The Pirates found themselves ahead by five points after eight minutes had passed in the 2nd half. All of a sudden, the game got super drunk. Both teams lost their minds and forgot how to play basketball. I really wasn't sure what to chalk this up to. An early start time? Deflation of both teams after a high end energy stretch? There was a couple of possessions where Marquette let Seton Hall get four offensive rebounds and these were all 50/50 balls. It was a very strange stretch. Finally, after Seton Hall controlled the game Marquette awoke from it's slumber and took a 61-59 lead with seven minutes left. The final four minutes made up for the drunk stretch however. Off a Bryce Aiken missed three pointer, Tyler Kolek found Darryl Morsell ahead of the pack for a dunk to tie it at 65. Then Morsell hit a jumper to give Marquette a 67-65 lead. Bryce Aiken then hit a runner to tie it at 67. Seton Hall then had a Bryce Aiken free throw off a call the fans didn't like too much followed by a layup by Alexis Yetna off an offensive rebound. Seton Hall lead 70-67 but Marquette would not be denied. Greg Elliott would hit a three from the top of the key to tie the game! Jared Rhoden came down and missed a shot, Kolek secured a big rebound. Justin Lewis came down and made a jumper to give Marquette a 72-70 lead. Then Bryce Aiken hit two free throws after yet another questionable call. Marquette ball 31 seconds left. One second difference between shot and game clock. Marquette was going to pay for the last shot. After some weaving action by Morsell and Kolek, a shot was not found. Greg Elliott found himself with the ball up top. Elliott tried to get a shot off but Bryce Aiken had him covered. After a series of fakes, Elliott leaned into Aiken and the refs called a foul. Honestly, it was one of the worst calls I have seen. Elliott literally elbowed Aiken in the neck. Yes, Aiken could have been called for a hand check before that but please don't decide a game on a bad call like this. Elliott would make the first free throw and miss the second. Jared Rhoden grabbed the rebound and called timeout. You would think the ref show was about to end right? Wrong!! Being Elliott missed the free throw, Seton Hall could not run the baseline. The ref told both players involved in the play they can run the baseline. They did and another ref blew a whistle for a travel. Technically the right call, but the other ref had to be overruled due to an incorrect ruling before the play. So basically, we had a redo. This time the Seton Hall pass was off the mark. Marquette was victorious by a score of 73-72. Aiken had 28 for Seton Hall, Morsell had 26 for Marquette. Alexis Yetna also deserves a shoutout in this article for his 15 point and 16 rebound game. Directly after this game, I walked to Panther Arena for the IUPUI-Milwaukee game.