The Seton Hall Pirates were back in action on Thanksgiving night in the Advocare Invitational against the Florida Gators. The Pirates came in with a record of 3-0 while Florida came in at 4-0. Before the game we talked to our friend Matt Brannon who covers the Florida Gators, check out his comments in our previous post. Ultimately, the Pirates would fall to the Gators 81-76 in Orlando.

The game started out very close early on. With 12:26 remaining in the first half a three pointer from Justin Leon gave the Gators an 18-12 lead. The Pirates would fight back and with 8:48 left in the half, an Angel Delgado lay up gave the Hall a 2 point lead. The Pirates and Gators exchanged the lead several times in the next few minutes. In the end, the Pirates would take a 40-39 lead into halftime.

In the first half the Gators were led by KeVaughn Allen. The sophomore scored 10 points and grabbed a pair of rebounds in the first half. Justin Leon and John Egbunu led the Gators on the boards by each grabbing 4 rebounds. Canyon Barry added 8 points and Chris Chiozza chipped in 7 for Florida. The Gators shot 38.9% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Pirates were led by Khadeen Carrington and Angel Delgado in the first half. They each scored 11 points. Ismael Sanogo led the Hall on the glass with 7 rebounds. Desi Rodriguez added 8 points and Myles Powell chipped in 6 for the Pirates. The Hall shot 55.6% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Pirates came out quick in the second half and scored the first 5 points to increase their lead to 6. The Gators would come charging back though. With 13:22 remaining in the half, Canyon Barry hit a layup to give UF a 2 point lead. Florida would open up a 7 point lead with 10:17 remaining. The Pirates would cut the lead to one but that’s the closest they would get. In the end the Pirates suffered their first loss of the season by a score of 81-76.

The Gators were led overall by KeVaughn Allen with 21 points and 6 rebounds. John Egbunu led the team on the boards with 10 rebounds. Canyon Barry added 20 points and Chris Chiozza chipped in 14 points. The Gators shot 44.8% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.

The Pirates were led by Khadeen Carrington who scored 28 points. Myles Powell contributed 16 points on the night. Ismael Sanogo and Desi Rodriguez each grabbed 9 rebounds. Rodriguez added 12 points and Angel Delgado chipped in 13 points for the Hall.

With the victory the Gators improve to 5-0 on the season. They advance to the semi-finals of the Advocare Invitational today where they will take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Pirates fall to 3-1 on the season with the loss. They will take on the Quinnipiac Bobcats today.

We would again like to thank Matt Brannon for his help! Check out the PPI below to see which Pirates players stood out. We will have full coverage of the Quinnipiac game today. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.