Men’s Basketball: Panthers return home to face Seton Hall

eton Hall senior guard Jeremy Hazell has had a run of bad luck this season.

Hazell broke his… Seton Hall senior guard Jeremy Hazell has had a run of bad luck this season.

Hazell broke his nonshooting wrist in the Pirates’ third game of the year, an 83-78 victory over Alabama. Then, on the day after Christmas, he suffered a gunshot wound when he fled from a man trying to rob him. Head coach Kevin Willard said there was a good chance he wouldn’t play at all this season.

Hazell’s bad fortune off the court amplified Seton Hall’s struggles on it. The Pirates — missing their leading scorer — dropped below .500 and fell close to the bottom of the Big East.

But when Seton Hall (8-9, 2-3 Big East) visits the Petersen Events Center Saturday at 7 p.m. to take on No. 5 Pitt (16-1, 4-0 Big East), Hazell will be back.

The preseason All-Big East selection came back from his injuries Wednesday night at DePaul and wasted no time returning to form, leading all players with 23 points and doing it in 30 minutes off the bench. The Pirates won, 78-67.

“We are extremely happy with the decision that Jeremy and his family made to return to the court this season,” Willard said in a statement before Wednesday’s game. “He has meant so much to the Seton Hall community over the last four years. We’re looking forward to having him back in uniform tonight.”

Hazell could have redshirted and returned to Seton Hall for a fifth season.

Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said that Hazell’s return to the floor changes the make-up of Seton Hall’s team.

“With Hazell brought back and playing again, that’s really going to be the biggest change and adjustment that we’ll see, and we only have one game to go by with him being back,” Dixon said. “But we know him and his tendencies and what he’s done. We knows his characteristics from over the years.”

In his 13-game absence, forwards Jeff Robinson and Herb Pope stepped up their games in the paint. Robinson scored in double-digits in all but two games, and Pope pulled down 20 rebounds in a 61-56 loss to No. 4 Syracuse last week.

Pope also had a serious health scare recently. The Aliquippa, Pa., native collapsed and stopped breathing after an April workout. He underwent surgery to correct a birth defect in his heart — and lost 40 pounds during his hospital stay — but returned to start in Seton Hall’s season-opener Nov. 12.

The 6-foot-8 junior is third in the Big East in rebounding.

Pitt, meanwhile, has been cruising through its Big East schedule, earning an undefeated record and a tie for first place in the conference with No. 4 Syracuse and No. 7 Villanova.

The Panthers encountered no problem offensively against Georgetown Wednesday night and center Gary McGhee said the team’s offense has excelled lately.

“We’ve been moving the ball well and getting good shots and open looks so that’s been really helping us out a lot,” he said.

Ashton Gibbs’ performance was the highlight of Pitt’s offensive game on Wednesday. The junior guard made three consecutive 3-point attempts in a 2:27 span in the first half and finished with a team-high 22 points.

At the other end of the court, the Panthers stymied Georgetown’s guards from the perimeter. On Saturday, Hazell and the Pirates will have to do what the Hoyas’ Chris Wright, Jason Clark and Austin Freeman could not: get hot from deep against a stingy defense.

“[The Panthers] are a very good defensive team,” Georgetown head coach John Thompson III said after the game. “There’s no secret about that.”

Seton Hall’s perimeter shooting suffered tremendously without Hazell directing the offense. By tip-off against DePaul on Wednesday, the Pirates had fallen to last in the Big East in field-goal percentage and to third from last in 3-point shooting.

Freshman Fuquan Edwin welcomed himself to college with 10 points per game on average, but that didn’t prevent the Pirates from losing the three Big East games before Hazell’s return.

Snow foreshadowed Seton Hall’s arrival again this year, as forecasts called for up to six inches of snow this week. Last February, 6,681 fans traveled through heavy snow to attend an 83-58 Pitt victory over the Pirates at the Pete.

Pitt held Hazell, then averaging 23 points per game, to just one basket. Pitt guard Travon Woodall reflected on the defense the Panthers played against Hazell last season.

“Try to make him put the ball on the floor and make his shots difficult,” Woodall said. “We just want to get out and bother him a little bit.”

The Pirates won that season’s first matchup, however, as the Panthers fell 64-61. That’s a game Pitt remembers well and is part of the reason why the Panthers won’t be looking ahead to the matchup with No. 4 Syracuse on Monday, McGhee said.

“That’s something that we do a really good job of, not getting ahead of ourselves,” he said. “Last year, Seton Hall beat us, so I feel like we definitely owe them something.”

Staff writer Kelly Flanigan contributed to this report.