You like family affairs?

Well then what better way to follow up the Notre Dame debacle than with a visit from Kevin Willard's longtime mentor in a game that's absolutely huge for both teams?

Here's the rundown on Rick Pitino and the Cardinals:

Louisville

2011-12 record: 16-5 (4-4 Big East)

All-time series record: 5-9

Last meeting: 1/3/11 (73-54 SHU L)

It's ironic that Louisville comes to town tonight following the horrific offensive night on Wednesday because the last time I can remember the Pirates having that bad of an offensive night, it was their last meeting with Louisville, at the KFC Yum! Center, when they fell behind 24-2 after the first 10 minutes of the game and were basically cooked despite the long amount of time they had to come back from that. In that game, they didn't score in the first 6 minutes of the game. Their shooting percentage? 29% (compared to 26% vs ND on Wednesday).

Last year's Cardinals were a surprising team- Peyton Siva and Preston Knowles were able to make Louisville surpass many people's expectations and ramp the tempo up to break-neck speeds, overcoming a perceived (at least in the preseason) lack of talent to overachieve. This season has sort of been the opposite. The Cardinals were picked 3rd in the conference's preseason poll, but struggled mightily after opening 12-0, losing 4 out of 5 to wrap around the new year, including a home loss to the Irish and a blowout loss at Providence.

That caused the Cards, ranked as high as 4th in the country earlier this year, to nearly drop out of the polls, receiving votes in the AP Poll and tied for 25th in the Coaches' Poll. The reason that Louisville has had a bit of a disappointing season so far is mainly due to their offense. Usually, you never see a Rick Pitino-coached team struggle like this to score the ball, but the Cards are shooting just 43% from the field as a team, including 32% from beyond the arc (which would be the worst mark ever by a Pitino-coached team if the season ended today). Their defense is as good as it ever was, ranking 2nd in the Big East in both FG% defense and steals (the Cards rank 6th and 4th in the nation in those categories, respectively), while ranking 4th in the conference in rebounding and 5th in scoring defense.

Offensively, the Cardinals' offensive struggles can best be summed up in electric volume scoring guard Russ Smith. Hampered by injuries last season, Smith has emerged this season, averaging over 12 PTS and ranking 2nd to Fuquan Edwin in the Big East in STL. He's also shooting just 38% while taking the most shots on the team so far, including a 31% mark from deep. Smith is a player that can take (and make from time to time) some truly heinous shots. He's extremely quick and once he gets on a roll, look out because that roll can last pretty long to where he'll hit 5-6 shots in a row.

Other weapons at Pitino's disposal are the ever-so-efficient sharpshooter Kyle Kuric (who's been on the floor for 40 minutes per game in Big East play and who leads the Cards in scoring at 13.5 PTS), another knockdown perimeter shooter in Chris Smith (who's a NJ-native and St. Benedict's Prep grad, by the way), and two post players with bright futures and pretty darn good presents in the strong freshman Chane Behanan and the much-improved Gorgui Dieng. Behanan has been great on the boards all year long, using his strength to get his way down low. Dieng was a raw shot-blocker type a year ago, but this year, he's developed the nice beginnings of a post-up game, while still being as good as ever on the boards (9.5 per game, 3rd in the conference behind Kevin Jones and Herb Pope), and blocking shots (leading the conference with 3.3 per contest).

Peyton Siva, a preseason All-Big East Second Team selection, hasn't performed up to that level mainly because he's struggled mightily with his shot (36% from the field, 17% from deep). But he's still making plays for others (5.8 AST) and getting his steals on defense (2.1 per game, 6th in the conference) while remaining a great athlete out on the court.

The other story of the year besides the offense struggling to pick up the defense at times has been the litany of injuries that have besieged this team since Day 1. The only player to play in and start ever single game is Dieng. Nearly every other rotation player has missed time with one injury after another, including Rakeem Buckles and Mike Marra, both lost for the year with torn ACLs. McDonald's All-American guard Wayne Blackshear hasn't even suited up yet because of a shoulder injury sustained in a preseason practice. Behanan and Chris Smith have played in every game, but due to the offensive struggles and injuries, they haven't started every game.

Seton Hall will win if:

- They get their leadership mojo back

The leadership has been a little lacking lately, and that has led to "too much 'I' and not enough 'We'" according to Coach Willard. Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope are the keys to putting that ugly Notre Dame loss (plus the two before it) out of the collective minds of the team. They have to step up and lead, especially tonight, where they'll be facing a team that is very similar to Seton Hall in terms of style of play. Which leads me to this next point...

- They beat the Cards at their own game

Kevin Willard was a Rick Pitino disciple from the late 90s with the Boston Celtics all the way up until his hiring at Iona in 2006. Watching the Pirates, you definitely see the influences in terms of style of play. Both teams are great defensively and have guys who can get into passing lanes and create turnovers. Both teams shoot a lot of threes, and have multiple guys to do it with. Both teams love to capitalize off of turnovers and thrive when that statistic is crookedly in their favor. If the Pirates do those things better than the Cardinals, they should have a wonderful shot to break this losing streak and get some confidence heading into their toughest stretch of the year on the road.

Louisville will win if:

- They make enough shots

The Pirates' D has been strong all year, and the Cards have struggled to consistently make shots. Though that may seem tougher to do against a tough defense, the advantage that Louisville has (and really that both teams have) is that they play almost the same base defense. Advantage? I honestly have no idea. But if the Cardinals have a good day shooting the ball, that will put untold amounts of pressure on the sliding Pirates to match it under pain of losing 4 in a row heading out to Marquette, UConn and Rutgers.

- Chane Behanan plays well

As the Pirate fans out there know, and as I've been saying the entire season, when you have two post players playing well at the same time, it makes it tough on opposing front lines. I think Dieng will get his. Behanan has been on a roll, averaging 14 PTS and 8 REB in his last three games, and if he and Dieng are both playing well, it will make it tough on the Seton Hall bigs. Freshmen on the road are almost always wild cards in terms of their level of play, and the Cardinals hope that wild card turns up aces for them tonight.

This game is ENORMOUS. I really cannot overstate that fact. It's enormous because of the standings (the winner will remain above .500 in the conference and move ahead of the other in the standings; the teams are currently ranked 9th and 10th in the Big East). It's enormous for the Pirates because if they go on that three-game road stretch having lost 4 in a row it could easily continue to snowball to 6 or 7 in a row. It's enormous for the Cardinals because they need to continue to climb the standings after a really rough start to conference play. And did I mention the similarity in style of play and the relationship of the coaches?

This game represents a crossroads game for both teams. Win, and your fanbase gets some confidence. Lose, and your fanbase goes back to the drawing board again. I'll be on the call for WSOU. Who wants it more? We'll find out tonight.

Because I was down in Tampa, Florida during the majority of this game, I could not watch it live. All I saw was about 8 minutes of the second half. All I knew about was the box score. I figured this was going to be a brutal write-up- how in the world could a game that set the mark for lowest points scored in the Kevin Willard era have anything positive in it whatsoever? I was set to type in all-CAPS a lot.

But when I watched it, I wasn't as mad anymore. The tape wasn't pretty, but it wasn't as ugly as I anticipated.

Here are the Thoughts:

- Big D

Let's start with a positive- the defense, especially in the first half, was TREMENDOUS. This couldn't have been at the forefront of many Pirate fans' minds given that the offense couldn't get anything to drop through the net. But looking at the tape I was super-impressed by the defense. They were rotating fantastically in their zone, swarming the ball when it got into the paint, and playing with great effort to try and knock the Irish out of a semblance of offensive rhythm. The post defense was very good, the perimeter defense nearly matched it.

Unfortunately for Seton Hall (and you may not want to hear this), the Irish defense was also better than I thought it would be. Yes, the Pirates couldn't buy a bucket, but the sheer extreme in which that happened overshadowed what was a very good defensive performance by the Irish's standards. They didn't make life easy for Herb Pope or anyone down on the block, negating to some effect the inside-outside movement the Pirates wanted to get.

If you like defense, like me, you LOVED that first half. If you like offense, you probably averted your eyes after the opening 4 minutes (score: 0-0).

Also unfortunately for the Pirates, though, the first half was played at the Irish's pace. Notre Dame couldn't get any threes to drop so they could create separation, and neither could Seton Hall. Which brings me to....

- Turtle Basketball

That's the pace Notre Dame likes to play at. They take care of the ball, and did so again last night, while waiting for the defense to get impatient, whereby they make good passes and get a good shot off. Well, the Pirate defense was tremendous for the first half and the beginning of the second half. Then the Irish hit a couple threes, which created separation while Seton Hall continued to struggle to put the ball in the basket.

The burn offense was more of a slow crock-pot type gameplan. And the Pirates got slow-cooked like a Sunday roast.

- Pope's Woes

They continued in a big way on Wednesday night. The numbers were not pretty- 2-16 on FG, 5 PTS, 5 fouls, and only 7 REB. He's not been himself ever since Big East play began, and really ever since Dayton, when teams started doubling him. This time, he wasn't necessarily doubled that much, but he was WAY off on his first three attempts and his subsequent shots just would not go down. Just one of those nights for Pope, who was clearly annoyed by the time he finally scored a bucket.

- Donut Offense

This has two meanings. One, the scoring and shot-making was clearly lacking, but the looks were almost all good ones, even Pope's myriad of misses. Nothing was really forced by Seton Hall, and Jordan Theodore was under control this time (in fact, a little too under control- we'll touch on that next).

Second, there was almost no effort to get the ball inside to Pope in the second half. The offense came out of the locker room still unable to purchase some points, and that wore on this team, as the offense devolved into pick-and-roll sets almost exclusively. That's not Seton Hall Basketball.

- State of the Pirates

Since the State of the Union was this past week, I think now is as good a time as ever to do a "State of the Pirates."

The main reason that Seton Hall got off on a roll was the leadership of Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope. And that's been the reason for the three-game slide. Pope dominated the shorter front lines of early season opponents and put up some monster lines, while Theodore was a leader and floor general who was glad to defer to his teammates. Pope's production went down hill as the conference season got started, but the Pirates stayed afloat because Theodore upped his game. The last three games, neither guy has played well, with Pope continuing to backslide offensively and Theodore either trying too hard (USF, Villanova) or not enough (Notre Dame).

The Pirates cannot afford off-games from both players. Aaron Cosby has been phenomenal as a shooter, as has Fuquan Edwin with his multi-faceted game. The reserves compete, and that's what you need from your bench. Patrik Auda's skill set makes him very valuable when on the court, but he can't stay there long enough to be a factor. The defense (as expected) keeps them in every game thanks to the complex nature of said defense.

This team is at a crossroads heading into Saturday's primetime matchup with Louisville. Both teams are 4-4 in Big East play. The Cardinals (16-5) play like the Pirates (15-5) and vice-versa due to the fact that Kevin Willard was a disciple of Rick Pitino. The Pirates are sliding, while Louisville has gotten back on track following a rough start to their conference slate. In order to triumph against a team so similar in style, the Pirates need to have Pope and Theodore lead like they did before. Also, they need to keep Pope involved down low. Running the offense through his touches in the post worked wonderfully earlier this season, and the lack of paint touches was stark on Wednesday night. It's not easy against enhanced competition, but no one ever said it would be easy.

Bottom line- this team started 15-2 on the year, making visions of a return to the postseason dance through the heads of every fan who bleeds Pirate blue and white. They need this game if they're going to have a realistic strong shot of doing that. It is a must-win in almost every sense of the word in that regard. With a 3-game road trip after this coming up on the schedule, with all three sites possessing tough environments, words cannot express how big this game is in the big picture of the season. I'm calling this one for WSOU, and I've got those big-game broadcast jitters even as I'm writing this piece.

A full preview of the game will be up tomorrow morning here on South Orange Juice

The Seton Hall Pirates, mired in mediocrity their previous two games, came out tonight... worse, far worse. First, let's give credit where credit is due; Mike Brey's team (now just 2-8 away from South Bend) burned the clock effectively in their offensive end and disrupted the Pirates offense (or, whatever you'd like to call that display) to no end. Seton Hall shot an abysmal 26% from the field.

I don't mean to go all French Lit. on you, but (I will) Victor Hugo's famous character from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is Quasimodo; the Latin words "quasi" and "modo" mean "almost" and "the standard measure" respectively. Essentially, this means that Quasi, (loopy mug, though he may be) is "almost the standard measure" of a human person. Tonight, Herb Pope and Jordan Theodore did not meet this minimum requirement (as players / leaders) going a combined 6-28 from the field. JT had 1 assist and 5 turnovers; essentially the inverse of his season numbers. Not to be outdone, Pope went just 2-16 on the night and was one of three Pirates to foul out (Edwin and Auda the others). Edwin, however, added another 3 steals and 12 boards but managed just 7 points.

Roughly 8 minutes through the first half of the game, the score was 4-2. Please allow me to repeat; FOUR. TO. TWO. I played hockey for Seton Hall and had higher scores though equivalent time elapses. I get it, Brey is a master of the "burn" system (eating the clock), but Notre Dame had similar shooting woes early on, then made adjustments. Seton Hall? Not so much. I'm mostly vexed because Seton Hall had exactly one week in which to prepare for this game. Instead of coming out sharp and fresh, they mirrored the same Seton Hall team who played St. Francis (NY) in the first game of the season. Sloppy, tentative, scattered, undisciplined and devoid of urgency and direction. Especially after the loss to Villanova (not to mention the USF loss preceding the 'Nova loss) I simply don't see how a team with such ability can come out that flat against an objectively mediocre Big East team, and on their home court taboot! Serenity Now.

The most interesting personal effort out of Seton Hall (to me) came from Brandon Mobley. Logging just 15 minutes off the bench, Mobley still managed to tally 5 offensive boards (7 total), 2 steals and two assists (he should have had more assists, but it appears that Seton Hall was shooting into a circus hoop, on both ends of the floor, up hill, in the snow.)

I'd also like to mention one more player: Patrick Auda. I saw 3-5 good looks from beyond the arc he could have taken, but he pumped, cut, and dished in traffic, resulted in precisely zero points. At some point, Auda is going to need to shoot the rock from deep and keep defenders honest. I've heard from players, coaches, administrators and scouts that he can really shoot it. This must become a part of his game.

Next up for the Pirates this Saturday evening is Kevin Wilards mentor, Rick Pitino (please wear a white suit, please wear a white suit, please wear a white suit), and his erratic Louisville Cardinals who bested Villanova tonight. Saturday is a "milestone birthday" for me, so the idea of taking the NJ Transit train back to NYC without a win is simply unthinkable. We are now in "must win" territory, as the amount of home games has dwindled along with January days. There is only one full month until March --- and that's where I will stop, because further discussions, at this point, would simply be preposterous.

As an aside, I still remember, vividly, Jeremy Hazell's freshman year when he dropped bombs at the Rock all the way from gate 26B at Newark Airport the entire second half against Louisville. Sweet mother of mercy, that was a thing of beauty. Lets hope that this team can draw from that experience and develop the same fearless confidence (sans bad shot selection) and return to the form they had in beating teams like, oh, I dunno, UConn, WVA, Dayton, St. Joe's and VCU to name a few.

Does this team have the ability to do great things? Yes, I still believe they do. Will they? .................

As always, HAZARD ZET FORWARD, my friends.

This week is huge for the Pirates.

I'm not saying it will necessarily make or break their season, but often in Big East play, one loss can easily turn into two, which turns into four, etc... I said last week that Seton Hall needed to nip the lack of team play that marked the end of the USF game in the bud on the Main Line. It didn't happen. As a result, the Pirates are coming off their worst loss of the year, while Notre Dame is coming off one of the biggest wins of the year by any team, knocking off #1 Syracuse in South Bend. Seton Hall hasn't lost at home yet this season, and if they want to keep the two losses from snowballing into something that could make/break the expectations of many for this season, this game and the game on Saturday are paramount in their importance.

Here's what you need to know about Notre Dame:

Notre Dame

2011-12 record: 12-8 (4-3 Big East)

All-time series record: 8-17

Last meeting: 2/26/12 (60-48 SHU L)

Right away, you'll notice that the Irish's record in-conference is the same as Seton Hall's, in case you were wondering if there was another reason this game is big. Also, you'll notice the absence of Tim Abromaitis, a preseason First Team All-Big East player who is out for the year with a torn ACL. The last time the Irish came to the Rock, Luke Harangody came down awkwardly and ended up being lost for a few weeks after that. When he went down, Mike Brey (who really doesn't get enough credit for the coaching jobs he's done the last few years) slowed down the tempo, switching to the "burn" offense you may have heard of.

It's the same thing this time around with no Abromaitis. The burn offense seeks to minimize possessions, putting a greater emphasis on execution and shot-making, and for a team missing its best offensive weapon by far, it's been successful. The statistical numbers are like the record for Notre Dame- average in most every category. They are a team that historically is an offensive-minded team that shoots the three well, but they're 13th in scoring and 3-point percentage this year.

The Irish aren't talentless, though. Eric Atkins leads the team in scoring and he's a quick guard out there on the court to whom attention needs to be paid. Jack Cooley (who resembles Harangody almost to a T in physical appearance) is a wide-bodied, strong center who's having a very good year in his first year as a starter. Scott Martin was a big shot-maker for Mike Brey last season, but this year, he's struggling mightily with his outside jumper. Alex Dragicevich and Pat Connaughton (the lone true frosh on this team) are capable shot-makers. Connaughton is a deceptive athlete as well.

The most intriguing player the Irish have is Jerian Grant. He missed last year with an injury, but he's having a very quiet great year. He's right behind Atkins in scoring, hitting 37% from beyond the arc, and leads the team in free throw shooting and (despite standing 6'6") assists as well. He also doesn't turn the ball over, possessing an AST/TO ratio of nearly 3:1.

Against Syracuse, Notre Dame played their best possible game, knocking down their threes with regularity (sort of like the Pirates did to the Orange last season at the Carrier Dome) while holding the then-top team in the nation to a low shooting percentage. I don't think you'll see that performance again from the Irish, but it shows that anyone can beat anyone in the Big East this year. Seton Hall will need to bring their effort because the Irish certainly will.

Seton Hall will win if:

- They enjoy some home cooking. The Pirates are undefeated at home this season, and Notre Dame has always been a markedly different team on the road than they are at home; in South Bend, the Irish are very tough to beat, but on the road, they just seem to play differently. Coming back home (and having a week to prep) is exactly what the Pirates needed following a loss like Villanova was, and if things hold true to form for both teams, Seton Hall should win.

- They come out swinging. Notre Dame is a finesse team, reliant on their shooting touch and pace to out-execute opposing teams. What Rutgers did earlier this season was they came out with a bunch of energy that threw Notre Dame off their rhythm right away. Seton Hall surprised DePaul in this fashion, and if they can do it again, it will benefit their game.

Notre Dame will win if:

- They win the battle behind the arc. The Irish are 13th in the conference in three-point percentage, and 10th in three-point percentage defense. Seton Hall meanwhile leads the conference in three-point percentage and are second in three-point percentage defense. The numbers don't lie- if the Irish can make shots from out beyond the arc, and/or guard against the Pirate shooters, it will be a big stat in the game.

- They take care of the ball. Notre Dame's pace emphasizes possession. By default, that includes not turning the ball over. They didn't do a good job of that against Syracuse, but they generally take care of the ball. Seton Hall has an affinity for forcing steals, so if the Irish want to win, they'd better not turn the ball over 17 times again.

Last week, South Orange Juice released the official, #hallsohard #thatSHUcray T-Shirts via the link to our store in the right hand sidebar. I had the folks at SBN and Custom Game Day Depot load the shirt after the DePaul game and I planned to make a formal announcement following the NEXT Pirates victory, when I could once again use the hashtags appropriately. Unfortunately, ten days later and that day never came.

Yesterday, it was brought to my attention that someone created a knock off using MS Paint and began selling their variant during a losing streak - how dare they! For that reason, (and the fact that I'm leaving for vacation), here's your formal announcement. Let's hope the Pirates see these Tee's flooded around South Orange (and Newark), and once again remember the swag they displayed during their first 17 games this season. Have at em! Purchase one and rock it when you're protecting The Rock! We need more blue in the house and what better way than to sport the hashtags!

Visit the South Orange Juice store, today!

I honestly cannot believe my eyes.

This team started 15-2?! You wouldn't know it after tonight's extremely poor performance on the Main Line. It's their worst loss of the year, and the worst they've looked since Syracuse.

A late flurry didn't matter one iota. This game was sealed far before that.

Here are the 5 Thoughts. They are not for the faint of heart:

- Leadership??

Non-existent tonight. I don't recall a worse game that I've seen out of Jordan Theodore. He forced enough shots to choke and army of horses to death. The kick-out passes were there EVERY SINGLE TIME he took the ball into the paint on the drive, yet time and time again Theodore drove the ball blindly into the defense. He couldn't get around his man on defense, but instead of running solid offense, he tried some fancy dribbling that had no purpose whatsoever except to get Theodore riled up enough so that he would force a wild shot. The difference in the last two games has been Theodore- he's not making plays for others nearly as much. He's tried to be Kemba Walker and he just plain isn't that type of player. Two games in a row this has happened. Trying to lead a young team is one thing, but trying to do everything yourself is another thing altogether.

Coach Willard said that he had talked with Jordan following the USF game and that Jordan was prepared to put that game behind him. Yeah, that didn't happen. Not by a long, forced, unnecessary shot.

- Shooting???

It picked up in the second half, as more open shots were made. But the collective effort from the perimeter in the first half was putrid. Villanova's defensive gameplan was to pack the paint on all drives. That left countless kick-out opportunities. Those were made by the Pirates when they were denied passage into the lane. The shots were not falling at all. They were wide open, but none were dropping. They dropped in the second half. I really cannot fault the Pirates for continuing to shoot the ball, because the makes were bound to come with all the open looks they got. But this game would have been different if some of those shots dropped.

- Foul Issues

Surely the gameplan was not to allow the Wildcats to get to the line FORTY ONE TIMES. Surely the gameplan wasn't to hand the best free throw shooting team in the entire conference nearly 35 free points. There were a number of bad calls by the officials, but Seton Hall put the Wildcats on the line way too much. JayVaughn Pinkston shot more free throws than the Pirates did. There's your main difference in the game, score-wise. The Wildcats got 27 of their 47 second-half points from the free throw line. Try and comprehend that for a second. The defense was great for Seton Hall in the second half. But they fouled too much. And these were not effort fouls- the majority were dumb fouls, such as not playing straight up and down on help defense, not moving your feet instead of reaching in, and other things that my high school coach would have benched the star player for doing.

- Mob Rush

Thank goodness for Brandon Mobley. The freshman forward has been huge off the bench ever since he returned from his injury. He hit all three of his triples in the first half (the rest of the team was 0-14), the biggest reason the score was as close as it was at the half. He scored 12 PTS off the bench and it gave the Pirates a lift they really needed. Quite honestly, if Patrik Auda can't demonstrate that he can play the first 10 minutes of the ballgame without fouling, Mobley's played well enough to be able to start.

- Disturbing Trend

The team, and specifically Theodore, isn't playing well at all. Old habits are starting to resurface with the point guard, and they are spreading to the rest of the team through the scoreboard and the results. I said that USF was a bad loss because of how the loss occurred as much as to whom it occurred. I also said that because of the last 6 minutes against the Bulls, this game needed to be the one the team bounced back in, to get the way they played out that game in Tampa as far out of their minds as possible. It didn't happen.

Now there is a full week off between games for the coaching staff to re-focus the team on doing what made them great. Not just good, great. The next two home games are of paramount importance. Notre Dame and Louisville are teams that the Pirates can definitely beat in Newark. The ship needs to be righted, and fast. Sure, the record still says 15-4. But the season doesn't end today.

On Wednesday evening, the ugly basketball which reared it's ugly head in South Florida returned for a twin billing. The Villanova Wildcats (9-10, 2-5) won for the 52nd time in their last 54 contests at the Pavilion, handling Seton Hall (15-4, 4-3) 84-76, in a game in which the 'Cats should have won by a much greater margin. We all know the history, but it bears repeating, the loss leaves the Pirates winless at the Pavilion over the last 18 years. Although the young Wildcats are experiencing a down year, it's very tough to win games in their home venue and it certainly calls for a better effort than what Seton Hall had to give tonight.

In the first 12 minutes, the Wildcats jumped out to a 23-11 lead and wouldn't look back over the final 28 minutes. Seton Hall would cut the lead to as little as 2 points halfway through the second, but every time they pulled within striking distance their offense would go stagnant or Villanova would respond with a big bucket or two of their own. Maalik Wayns (25pts/7ast/5reb) and JayVaughn Pinkston (23pts/11reb) had their way with the Pirates defense, combining for a near-Ulysses S. Grant note. James Bell, hurt the Pirates behind the arc making good on 4 of 8 attempts, often responsible for those big buckets noted above.

Frequent readers of the Juice know I'm not one to harp on officiating, never have and I never will, as I believe the number of games decided by, "bad officiating" is so marginal, it's really not worth discussing on most nights. Tonight, Villanova went to the line 41 times, whereas Seton Hall, just 16. That's telling. Take out the 10 FTA the Wildcats took in the final minute when the Pirates were intentionally sending them to the line and that's still 31. Now take out Mobley's intentional foul and we're STILL looking at a 29-16 difference. Hate to say it, but I'm just saying, that's quite the disparity.

Speaking of Brandon Mobley (12pts/3reb/26min), it's time he gets a crack at the starting rotation. Without him, Seton Hall would have shot 0-for-14 from distance in the first half. Mobley made all three of his 3PTA and other than one foolish moment, carried his weight in keeping Seton Hall competitive for the majority of the night. I'm sure this will remain a highly contested debate as there are plenty of fans who believe Auda deserves to continue starting. I understood the argument that he should have stayed in the starting lineup as the team was winning and the fact that Mobley provided a spark off the bench, but enough of all that. You've got to start your best five players and Mobley fits the bill.

In fact, there was a telling moment in the second half after Mobley just picked up his 3rd PF (matching Auda), on a boneheaded intentional foul. After the timeout, Willard decided to roll with Mobley, while the sophomore remained on the bench. Due to the foul trouble, Auda played timid on defense and on offense, he was flat. Often a step slow to react, he looked unsure as to what his role was when his team had possession of the basketball. Following the game, I was asked where the bench scoring will come from if Mobley wins the starting job. Why can't it come from Auda? As I noted earlier in the year, relieving him of his starting role and bringing him off the bench could take a giant weight off his shoulder. I don't see why his confidence would be rattled if he comes in off the bench, looks for his shot, plays solid defense and contributes to the "second team." It also wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to bring Auda in with Geramipoor to spell both Pope and Mobley. Patrik Auda is a talented basketball player and there's a very important role for him on this team. Many players thrive in a sixth man role. There's also Haralds Karlis to provide bench scoring as we know he's more than capable. Look, the team has lost 2 in a row and has played some of their worst basketball over that span. We can keep rolling out the same lineup as is and take the chance that we won't keep playing from behind, or we can play our best five players from the jump. It's Mobley time.

Seton Hall's trio finished just 11-of-40 from the floor, lowlighted by Jordan Theodore's 2-of-16 shooting night. He tweeted after the game that he couldn't throw a rock in the ocean tonight. That's true, but neither could his teammates and when you can't make shots and finish at a 36% clip, you're not going to win many ballgames. Herb Pope (10pts/8reb) and Fuquan Edwin's (14pts/9reb) numbers weren't all that bad, but I'm expecting more out of Pope and for Fuquan to return to more consistent nights shooting the rock (5-of-16 tonight).

As a team, the Pirates died by the 3-pointer tonight. If it weren't for Mobley, they would have shot a collective 0-for-14 in the first half. A stretch of hot shooting in the second half (9-of-19), kept the final score close and brought their 3PT mark to a respectable 33%, except it came on THIRTY-SIX attempts. 36? Our coach believes we have the best PF in the country (and we do have a very good one), so why on earth are we launching it 36 times from deep? Good God. I always say 8-10 makes from distance is a winning formula for this basketball team, but that's assuming you keep the attempts at a reasonable pace. We took 71 shots from the floor tonight, SEVENTY ONE and we just BARELY outscored the number of shots we took with our final score. That's alarming. Had we shot somewhat decently in the first half, we probably would have come away with the victory. The team made 14 buckets from inside the arc, at least half of which were layups and putbacks. That, of course, is not a formula for winning basketball. Let's hope we work on our mid-range games during the week off.

Frankly, the fanbase is drained from watching this brutal road trip, myself included. Luckily, I'm leaving for a much needed vacation during the weeklong lull in action and will be away for some time, hopefully returning in time for Louisville. No fear, SOJ remains in the trusted care of my colleagues, J.P. and Rob (HallBall99), who will have the recap following Notre Dame at The Rock, next Wednesday. Right now, our NCAA discussion is on life support and it would behoove the fanbase to put all discussion on the back burner, immediately. You'll be doing yourself a favor, at least until the Pirates return to playing some winning basketball. Oh, that includes all talk about potential seeding, which is outright ridiculous. We're on the fast track to Big East mediocrity (that USF team some considered a bad loss now sports a better record than us); this team will need to play very good basketball the rest of the way just to play themselves back into the discussion. It's time to protect the Rock. We'll (myself not included) see what this team is made of come Wednesday. Adios, Juicers!