West Virginia University
Seton Hall
Rally Falls Short
March 05, 2005 03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – West Virginia dug itself a deep hole in the first half and couldn't crawl out of it losing 66-63 to Seton Hall Saturday afternoon at Continental Airlines Arena. Senior John Allen poured in 18 points on Senior Day to lead Seton Hall to just its fourth Big East Conference victory of the season.
Another Pirate senior, Andre Sweet, added 12 and Donald Copeland put in 10.
The cold-shooting Mountaineers made just six first-half field goals and trailed by as many as 16 when Sweet hit a jumper with 2:40 remaining to give the Pirates a 26-10 lead.
"They really came out and just got into us like Villanova got into us and it took us a while to adjust," Beilein said. "We had a couple open threes and a couple open driving opportunities that we weren't able to finish to get a little bit closer. Then your confidence goes a little bit."
West Virginia was able to cut its deficit to 11 at halftime.
The Mountaineers (18-9, 8-8) made a run at the start of the second half to cut Seton Hall's lead to five, 37-32, after a Patrick Beilein three.
West Virginia got it to four on a three-point play by D'or Fischer, who stuck one in off the glass and was fouled on the way up by Grant Billmeier.
The Pirates (12-15, 4-12) pushed their lead back out to nine on a Justin Cerasoli three-point basket before Mike Gansey went baseline for a pretty reverse layup. He was fouled on the drive by Kelly Whitney and Gansey was able to convert the three-point play.
A J.D. Collins three-point basket from the top of the key with 5:46 remaining closed Seton Hall's lead to four, and Kevin Pittsnogle made a tough-three just right of the top of the key and was fouled on the attempt by Whitney, his fifth, with 3:47 to go. Pittsnogle made the free throw for a four-point play to make it 54-52, Seton Hall.
After a Sweet turnover, West Virginia had a chance to either tie it or take the lead, but Patrick Beilein tried a tough fallaway three from the top of the key that missed everything. Seton Hall was eventually able turn Beilein's miss into a three at its end by Jamar Nutter.
Joe Herber answered inside off the glass to cut Seton Hall's lead to three. An Allen turnover gave West Virginia the ball with 1:34, but Herber turned the ball right back over to the Pirates trying to make a play in the lane.
West Virginia had another great opportunity slip through its grasp when a trap forced a loose ball into Fischer's hands at the top of the key with numbers going the other way. But the center couldn't get a grip on the ball and it wound up going to Nutter, who took it in for a layup and was fouled by Collins (his fifth) with 1:01 remaining. Nutter missed the free throw to keep the Pirate lead at five, 61-56.
A baseline layup by Sally with 51 seconds left once again pulled West Virginia to within three, but Cerasoli delivered the dagger with 23.7 seconds left when he made a three to put the Pirates up by six.
"They made big shots," said Beilein. "Whether it was against zone or man we needed their young kids Nutter and Cerasoli to miss a shot and Cerasoli's last one was a dagger. It was NBA-plus and he just knocked it down. I think they might have made their last four threes and that really killed us."
Seton Hall made 23 of 47 field goal attempts for 48.9 percent. The Pirates shot 49.3 percent in a 10-point loss against the Mountaineers the first time these two met in Morgantown seven days ago.
West Virginia shot 48 percent in the second half to finish the game 37.3 percent overall (19 of 51). The Mountaineers were eight of 26 from three for 30.8 percent.
Herber and Sally finished with 13 each for West Virginia. Pittsnogle contributed 11 and Gansey had 10. Herber pulled down eight rebounds.
Seton Hall had 16 turnovers but wound up going eight of 17 from three.
"For every turnover they made they hit a three," said Beilein. "That's not necessarily a good trade off. That's three points on two possessions and you don't want that."
The loss was a tough blow for the Mountaineers' NCAA tournament chances to the 10th-place Pirates. Regardless of what Georgetown now does against Providence today West Virginia is locked into eighth place in the conference standings and will probably face Seton Hall once again in the 8-9 game in the first round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden next Wednesday at 2 pm.
West Virginia is just 1-8 in Big East tournament play dating back to 1996 and has lost its last seven in a row at Madison Square Garden in the conference tournament.
"We all know that we're in a situation where one game might be pivotal," Beilein said. "But we have an option on Wednesday now. We just need to advance in the Big East tournament to be in the hunt."
West Virginia came into today's game having won its last four in a row and six of its last seven.
