Notre Dame's Bubble Chances Hurt with Loss to Seton Hall

Trailing by three points with seconds to go, Notre Dame fired two uncontested three-point shots, but failed to connect on either shot. The lack of defense displayed by Seton Hall in the closing seconds was consistent with the way both teams played throughout the game, neither able to slow down the opposing offense. The loss knocks the Fighting Irish to 17-8 overall, but more importantly 6-6 in the Big East Conference. With remaining games against St. Johns, Georgetown, Louisville, Connecticut, Pittsburgh and at Marquette to close out the regular season, Notre Dame will likely need to find a way to win at least three more games to have any chance at an NCAA tournament bid.

All season, Notre Dame has shown difficulty defending in the post, but it was Seton Hall's perimeter offense that lit up the scoreboard on Thursday night. The Pirates connected 12 times from three-point land, led by junior phenom Jeremy Hazell's eight three-pointers and 35 points. Hazell led all scorers in the game, besting a career night from Notre Dame's Tory Jackson, whose 25 points could not save the Fighting Irish from defeat.

Notre Dame was without former Big East Player of the Year, Luke Harangody, who left the game after landing awkwardly on his right leg with a little under nine minutes to play in the second half. The extent of Harangody's injury is unknown at this time. Without Harangody, the Fighting Irish scrapped their way back from a double-digit deficit, but were unable to close the gap in the final moments.

Coming into the game, Notre Dame led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, averaging 1.8 assists per turnover. Uncharacteristically, the Fighting Irish turned the ball over 14 times in the game to Seton Hall's eight. For Seton Hall, the win breaks a three-game losing streak, improving their conference record to 4-7 on the season. Barring a late season flurry, the Pirates will not be in the NCAA tournament picture, but a strong finish could lead the team to an NIT bid.

Despite the sloppy play and injury to Harangody, Notre Dame had a shot with seconds to go in the game; two actually. Tim Abromaitis, the nation's 14th leading three-point shooter at 48.5 percent missed a wide-open three-point shot that would have tied the game. The miss was rebounded and saved by a hustling guard Ben Hansborough. Hansborough found fellow guard Jonathan Peoples who kicked the ball out to an open three-point attempt by Carleton Scott, but the ball rimmed out at the buzzer