20 in a row (the bad way) as Seton Hall beats DePaul 79-71
NEWARK, N.J. -- While it is still learning how to close out games, Seton Hall is finally turning the Prudential Center into a homecourt advantage.
Jeremy Hazell scored 18 points, Jeff Robinson added 16 and the Pirates held off a late DePaul rally to post a 79-71 victory on Sunday.
The victory was the fifth straight at home for Seton Hall (14-9, 5-7 Big East) and it handed the Blue Demons (8-16, 1-11), their 20th straight true road loss. The skid does not include games at neutral sites.
"You've got to protect home court in this league," Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "It's vital because winning on the road is so difficult."
The Pirates have not won a conference game on the road this season and they will play four of their final six regular-season games away, with the only ranked opponent being No. 5 West Virginia. The others are against St. John's, Marquette, Providence and two with in-state rival Rutgers.
"We know we have a lot of tough games coming up, but we feel we have a great chance to win them, too," Hazell said after the Hall followed a win at home over Notre Dame on Thursday with another. "We need to take them one at a time, and we should do good if we do that."
If the Pirates want to be considered for their first postseason berth in Gonzalez's four years at the helm, they probably need to win at least four more games.
"We're trying to finish strong," Robinson said. "Every game in the Big East is tough. Anything can happen on any given night. We're just trying to get on a roll."
Herb Pope added eight points and 15 rebounds for the Pirates, who saw a 17-point lead early in the second half dwindle to four points twice in the final minute.
"It's tough being a run-and-gun team because sometimes we get a little out of control," Hazell said of almost losing the big lead. "We lose focus and it takes a toll on us. We let teams come back and slip into the mix, but once they get close, we pick up the tempo. We need to close out games at the end and keep the pressure on them."
Will Walker had 19 points to lead DePaul, while freshman Tony Freeland scored a career-high 18 points. Mac Koshwal added 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Blue Demons matched their season-high by losing their sixth straight game and for the 12th time in 13 games.
"We've been stressing that lately, about digging ourselves into a hole early and having to fight back so hard," said Walker, who was 7 of 24 from the field. "We won the second half. It's just those starts. They mess us up."
Seton Hall, which shot 49 percent from the field, opened a 52-35 lead in the opening minute of the second half, only to see DePaul respond with a 14-3 spurt to draw within 55-49 on a layup by Michael Bizoukas with 15:09 to play.
The Pirates quickly pushed the lead back to 10 points, and they led 68-56 after Robinson hit a layup with 7:26 to play.
DePaul then made its final run, drawing to within 73-69 on a follow by Koshwal with 19.2 seconds to play.
After Robinson made two free throws and Freeland scored on a dunk, Seton Hall closed out the scoring with Hazell scoring on a breakaway layup and Keon Lawrence tacking on a basket.
DePaul, which had allowed only five opponents to score 70 or more points this season, played its worst defensive half, allowing Seton Hall to shoot nearly 57 percent and score 50 points in taking a 15-point lead.
Hazell, who was quiet in the opening 20 minutes after scoring 35 in the win over Notre Dame on Thursday night, capped the half by hitting a 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Pirates' front line of Robinson and Pope provided most of the scoring, combining for 20 points, while the defense was big early, forcing five turnovers and limiting the Blue Demons to three points in the opening 5 minutes in taking a 14-3 lead.
DePaul made one big run in the half, outscoring the Pirates 17-6 to close to 37-33 on 3-pointer by Walker with 3:53 left in the half.
The Hall responded with a 13-2 closing rush that ended with Hazell's long-range dagger.
"Any time a team scores 50 points in the first half, that's NBA basketball," DePaul interim coach Tracy Webster said. "That's not who we are defensively. I just think we have to come out ready to play on the defensive end. We can't allow giving up that many points. We got back into the game but we couldn't get over the hump."