Hall dropped by No. 2 Villanova

Faced with the notion of playing the No. 2 ranked team in the country, the Seton Hall Pirates lost to Villanova. 81-71, on Tuesday night at The Pavillion on the campus of Villanova University.

The Pirates kept themselves close in the game, at one point taking a two point lead with 12:55 to play in regulation. However, after Hazell put the Hall up, the Wildcats went on a 25-13 run to end the game.

Junior Jeremy Hazell had a game high 32 points in the game, going 12-23 from the field and 6-12 from beyond the arc.

No other Pirate made it to double figures in the game.

For Villanova, they had four players in double figures, led by red shirt-junior Antonio Pena who had 16.

Senior guard and player of the year candidate Scottie Reynolds had 15 points. He now sits ninth in Villanova with 2008 career points. He is the eighth Wildcat to reach the 2,000 point plateau.

A key stat to the game was the battle of the boards. The Hall was outrebounded by Nova, 50-31. The Wildcats had 21 offensive boards, which led to 17 second chance points.

Statistically, both teams made the same amount of baskets from the floor. However, Villanova made 10 more free throws than Seton Hall. The Pirates comitted 23 personal fouls in the game.

The Pirates return to action on Saturday when the Hall head to Pittsburgh for the back end of their home-and-home series. The Pirates defeated the Panthers in their last meeting on Jan.24, 64-61.

Tip off is set for 6 p.m.

For a complete recap of this game, as well as the loss to USF, check out Thursday's edition of The Setonian.

Tim LeCras can be reached at timothy.lecras@student.shu.edu.