Tuesday’s 64-56 loss to Villanova at home was a disappointing one for Seton Hall men’s basketball, who put up their worst offensive performance of the season.
The Pirates (now 11-2, 1-1 in the BIG EAST) had season-lows in field-goal percentage, three-pointers made, and assists, as well as a season-high 23 turnovers.
SHU head coach Shaheen Holloway voiced his disappointment in the team's performance after the game.
“This was a tough one, man,” Holloway said. “I’m disappointed in our effort, I’m disappointed in the way we played, I’m disappointed in a lot of things.”
But Holloway also noted what he saw as the silver lining in Tuesday's game, which was the performance of senior forward Josh Rivera off the bench.
“I thought one of the good things was that Josh gave us positive minutes,” Holloway said.
Senior forward Josh Rivera against Rutgers in the Garden State Harwood Classic | Photo by Dominique Mercadante | The Setonian
Against the Wildcats, Rivera scored a season-high ten points, while shooting an efficient 3-for-4 (75%) from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity strike. This was the best performance in a Pirates uniform so far for the New Brunswick native, whose minutes have only increased over the course of the season, especially after sophomore guard Jahseem Felton went down with a season-ending injury against Fairfield. Rivera logged a season-high 15 minutes on Tuesday after playing nine minutes in the Pirates’ win at Providence, and 11 in their win over Rutgers in the Garden State Hardwood Classic.
The Fordham transfer was responsible for one of the lone highlights in the game for the Pirates, which came just before halftime. Following a missed layup from junior guard Tajuan Simpkins, Rivera flew in the lane for a two-handed putback that got Pirate Nation on its feet. The dunk capped off a 4-0 run for the Pirates that brought them within four points of the Wildcats at the break, as they trailed 31-27.
Rivera did most of his damage in the second half, during which he spearheaded the Pirates’ full-court press. Tasked with pressuring Villanova’s inbounder, the 6-foot-6 wing made it difficult for the Wildcats to bring the ball past halfcourt. After trailing by as much as 20 points in the second half, a steal and score by Rivera in the backcourt capped off another run for the Pirates—this one a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to 14 with about eight minutes left.
But Rivera and the Pirates’ late pressure wasn’t enough, as the Wildcats held on for the 64-56 win. Nevertheless, Holloway was impressed with Rivera’s second-half effort. He emphasized after the game that such an effort will only do good things for Rivera and might even earn him a larger role moving forward.
“For him, that’s good, that’s positive for him because he’ll get more confidence, and he’ll understand what I want from him,” Holloway said. “He gotta play like that all the time, not just sometimes—play with that type of energy and that passion—and if he do that, he’ll see more minutes.”
Rivera also spoke to the media after the game. While reflecting on his best performance as a Pirate, he downplayed it, placing more emphasis on his role within the team and the final result than any individual accomplishment.
“My job is to just come and play hard, get rebounds—everything else will come,” Rivera said. “But it doesn’t really matter, [because] we lost today.”
As for how the Pirates bounce back from the loss, Rivera said that “we just got to get back in the gym and work harder for the next game.”
Rivera and the Pirates’ next game will be on Dec. 30, when they travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to face the 5-8 (0-2 in the BIG EAST) Marquette University Golden Eagles for both teams’ third game of conference play.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
